House Republicans' AIG Bill Will Recover 100 Percent of the AIG Bonuses Immediately; Democrats' Bill? Some of It ... and Maybe In a Year

Prior to today’s debate on the Democrats’ half-hearted attempt to recover some of the AIG executive bonuses a year or more from now, House Republicans will move to force a debate and vote on legislation to get 100 PERCENT of taxpayers’ money back IMMEDIATELY.
Let’s be honest. The legislation House Democrats are bringing to the floor today, which they claim is the best way to recover the AIG bonuses, is a sham. In a perfect world, it would lead to partial recovery of the bonuses a year or more from now – when the executives get around to paying their income taxes. And because the legislation is so riddled with loopholes, it wouldn’t even lead to the recovery of all of the bonus dollars.

How is that a fair deal for taxpayers?

Don’t taxpayers deserve to get 100 percent of their money back?

After all, they aren’t responsible for the AIG executives getting the $165 million; Democrats in Congress and the Administration are. They’re the ones who rushed through the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill that allowed the bonuses to be paid in the first place.

House Republicans are committed to being the party of better solutions, and the Democrats’ AIG mess is no exception. That’s why Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and the rest of their freshman GOP colleagues have introduced a better – and quicker – way to recover 100 percent of the AIG bonuses. Their bill would allow taxpayers to recover 100 PERCENT of the AIG bonuses IMMEDIATELY – not some of the money a year or more from now.

Will House Democrats allow a vote on the GOP bill to get 100 PERCENT of taxpayers’ money back IMMEDIATELY? Or will they continue to provide political cover for their fatally-flawed “stimulus” bill that allowed the AIG bonuses to be paid?

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CNN sets debate criteria 1% above Kucinich’s latest poll results, campaign files complaint with Federal Communications Commission

RNS Note: You'll note that on occasion we include info on Democratic races... that's simply to keep you informed on some of the more interesting aspects of "that side" of the Presidential race.

The Kucinich for President campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission yesterday against CNN and its parent company, Time Warner, Inc., for arbitrarily establishing criteria for its scheduled Monday Presidential debate that will exclude the Democratic candidate from participation.

On Wednesday, the campaign was notified by CNN that its criteria included a showing of 5% or better in a national poll. In two polls completed earlier last week by CBS News/New York Times and by the Pew Research Center, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich scored 4%.

“The CNN criteria specifically exclude the diverse and anti-war voice of Mr. Kucinich and his grass-roots supporters,” according to the complaint. “The exclusion of Mr. Kucinich undermines the purpose of the (Federal Communications) Act and is a blatant violation of the Act, including its equal time provisions.” Also, “Mr. Kucinich is a successful candidate because of his anti-war message and strong criticism of the American healthcare system, issues that are not championed by his presidential primary opponents. In these and other policy issues, his opponents share very similar policy platforms that differ from Mr. Kucinich.”

The filing also points out that Kucinich was invited to participate in the upcoming South Carolina debate by the Congressional Black Caucus, which is co-sponsoring the event. The invitation, which he accepted on May 20, stated, in part that Kucinich “will be guaranteed a rare opportunity to present your message to millions of voters unfiltered by any political organization or by any news organization.”

The complaint also argues that the Monday event “is not a true presidential primary debate without including all credible candidates. Instead, it is effectively an endorsement of the candidates selected by CNN” and is a breach of the federal requirement “to operate in the public interest and to afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of issues of public importance.”

The campaign is asking the FCC to order CNN to allow Kucinich to participate.