Obama orders Treasury to block A.I.G. bonuses

President Barack Obama on Monday said he ordered the Treasury Department to try to block A.I.G., a corporation that has received substantial bailout money, from giving large bonuses to its staff.

“In the last six months, A.I.G. has received substantial sums from the U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Obama said. He ordered Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”

Speaking in the White House East Room Obama said A.I.G.'s financial woes were due to recklessness and greed.”

“Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G. warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Obama said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”

ABC News

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