It looks like all the talk Obama did about AIG yesterday was nothing but a smoke-screen:

President Barack Obama said Monday that he would “pursue every single legal avenue to block” $165 million in bonuses to American International Group Inc. employees who were in part responsible for the insurance giant’s near collapse. But hours later, administration officials said the payouts made Friday couldn’t be extracted from their recipients without a legal fight that would cost the taxpayers even more.

Instead, officials said the White House will focus on ensuring taxpayers recoup the cost of the bonuses and, going forward, executive compensation at AIG would be on a much tighter leash. As leverage, the government said it would apply new rules to the next round of AIG bailout funds, a $30 billion infusion pledged earlier this month.

Does the administration even know what in the hell they are doing? This is beyond the pale, and it looks like the other financial giants are looking for ways to get into this game:

Anticipating restrictions on bonuses, officials at Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley are exploring ways to sidestep tough new federal caps on compensation, the Wall Street Journal said.

Executives at these banks and other financial institutions that received government aid are discussing increasing base salaries for some executives and other top-producing employees, the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Yup – the greedy terrorists on Wall Street are now going to find ways to screw us even more. If the Democrats don’t act soon, then their new big majority is going to be short lived. They need to pass legislation this week stopping all this mess, and possibly even a vote of no-confidence in Geithner.

Of course the Republicans won’t be any better. Hell they were the key players in creating this mess. I think it’s going to take a massive populist movement to get anything done.

This populist movement is already starting. It’s the whole “tea party” thing. I totally oppose the reasons that started. They originally did that to oppose bailing out homeowners, but after what happened here in Cincinnati Sunday, it looks like the thing is being taken over to include outrage over the Wall Street bailouts. They weren’t expecting the thousands that showed up Sunday, but AIG was the final nail in the coffin. That’s why Democrats were even there. I know some of them – some who even worked on the Obama campaign. People are starting to feel betrayed, and rightfully so.