It sounds like Obama has told Tim Geithner to go back to Edward Liddy and explain that $100 million bonuses are unacceptable.

I’m glad that Obama did this (after seeing the outrage in Congress no doubt). I’m still astounded that Geithner needed to be told. And I’m still suspicious that Geithner was responding to threats from AIG that no one is much talking about.

If anyone needed a reminder how good it is to be rid of these bunch of criminals we called the Bush administration, Cheney’s appearance on CNN this morning was it.

There’s plenty of blame to go around in the AIG disaster, but a huge rashers certainly go to Joseph Cassano, head of the Financial Products Division that wrote $562 billion risky and dangerous unhedged credit default swaps. The office was located in London to take advantage of the country’s lax financial oversight laws, and lavishly rewarded for their efforts:

Pakistani lawyers have succeeded in their effort to restore an independent judiciary. I like it when the good guys win. Well done, brethren.

Bad news for taxpayers is good news for AIG counterparties.

The White House is worried about backlash over AIG’s payout of $450 million in executive bonuses to the executives in its high flying Financial Services Group, the out-of-control derivatives trading arm that looted the company, destroyed its stock and contracted for huge bonuses even after they saw the risk of collapse.

You know it’s bad when even the WSJ’s headline screeches about growing wrath toward AIG’s bonuses. Retention bonuses for companies on the brink of financial ruin are not new. KMart paid them when they filed restructuring bankruptcy a few years ago to keep upper management who knew how to run supplier networks or other crucial components from jumping to a healthier business.  Under certain stressed conditions, they can make good business sense. But, as we reported yesterday, the AIG bonus issue is a bit more complex than simply “is this a retention bonus.”

• Stuff happens.
• Bracing for the AIG/bailout backlash.
• And man — here it comes.
• Fixing FDA.
• Buncha bad apples and frat pranks.
• Worried about Europe.
• MC Steele takes a time out.
• Goldfarb v. Silver — who do ya think wins?

Topless Love

Roberto Lovato checks in from El Salvador:

Just spoke with electoral commission people on the DL and they told me that their latest count shows a 17-18 point advantage, which, even with fraud, even with missing ballots, even with illegal voters means El Salvador has ended 150 years of rule by oligarchs and military dictatorships.

And feel free to quote me on that.