Especial Tim Geithner (I): a entrevista à CNBC

1. O secretário do Tesouro explicou a Erin Burnett os pormenores do «Bank Plan», que já está a conseguir reacções positivas nos mercados bolsistas:



2. Apesar de ter estado sob fogo cruzado nas últimas duas semanas, Geithner resiste e parece vir a ser um dos elementos chave do sucesso da Administração Obama, pelo menos nos primeiros dois anos:

Obama está «muito confiante» no sucesso do Plano para atacar os «toxic assets»

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Barack Obama no «60 minutes» -- toda a entrevista

1.OBAMA FALOU SOBRE O ATAQUE À CRISE E VOLTOU A SER MUITO CRÍTICO EM RELAÇÃO AO ESCÂNDALO AIG

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2. O PRESIDENTE MANTÉM «TOTAL CONFIANÇA» EM TIM GEITHNER E REAGIU AOS ATAQUES DE DICK CHENEY, QUE DISSERA QUE OBAMA TINHA POSTO A AMÉRICA MAIS VULNERÁVEL


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O cerco aperta-se, mas Christina Romer defende política económica de Obama

A chefe de conselheiros económicos da Administração Obama, especialista na Grande Depressão dos anos 30, reforça as escolhas económicas de Obama e Geithner, apesar da multiplicação de vozes, do lado republicano, que, nos últimos dias, exigem a demissão do secretário do Tesouro

'Obama Has Done Incredibly Well in First 50 Days'

Um artigo de Donna Brazile, superdelegada do Partido Democrático e directora da campanha presidencial de Al Gore em 2000, publicado no Washington Times:

«President Barack Obama is now halfway through the first 100 days of his presidency, and what a brief but interesting honeymoon it has been.

One of the most impressive things about Mr. Obama's first 50 days is how hard he is working. And the most glaring contrast between him and former President George W. Bush is how well Mr. Obama communicates what, why and how he is trying to accomplish the Herculean tasks before him.

The chattering classes, meanwhile, spend most of their waking hours looking for fights between the president and the Democratic-controlled Congress or the Republican opposition. They have even tried to revive Sen. John McCain's campaign role as Mr. Obama's lead critic. And when they tire of picking old fights, there are always the Democrats, who can be their own best enemy. Blue dogs versus the House leadership! Or all of the above versus the president! Whee!

There's no question the president will have to spar with members of his own party from time to time. Democrats are not monolithic. And those inside-the-Beltway Republicans? They deserve Oscars at next year's Academy Awards ceremony for a new category invented just for them: Worst Actors in a National Recession. Their whining, rantings and posturing have been pure theater. Too bad their script doesn't include fresh ideas and sound alternatives.

The Republicans' resistance to rolling up their own sleeves and working on important issues is disheartening. Even the loyal opposition has its own loyal opposition. Bill, a Republican friend of mine from Missouri, recently e-mailed me: "I'm embarrassed by the ongoing conservative rhetoric that is designed to divide, and by all those that continue to embrace it."

Mr. Obama has done incredibly well in his first 50 days in office. In addition to passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, known far and wide as the stimulus bill, the president has been working hard to help transform our economy and reverse some of the misguided policies and practices of the last eight years. His ability to multitask, thank heaven, is amazing.

"What might look like a distracted focus to some," wrote another friend, Connie, from Illinois, "looks like a multiphased strategic attack to me. Without it, where would we be right now?" She's right. Where would some states and localities be right now without the stimulus money to keep teachers at work, police on the beat, and funds flowing to millions of newly unemployed folks whose families have lost their health insurance and are in jeopardy of losing their homes?

The administration must ignore the near-universal Republican rejection of its policies and continue to think big and bold.

Now, I'm not drinking the entire jug of Democratic Kool-Aid. We all know Republicans alone did not get us into this mess of spending money we did not have and going to war in Iraq when we should have finished the job in Afghanistan. And, yes, providing generous tax cuts to those who did not need them when we knew the bill would come due didn't help. We all knew where that AIG, Citibank, Bank of America and other bailout money would be going from the start. There are people pocketing our hard-earned tax dollars, and we're paying to cover their losses just so they can start loaning us money again. But now it is our own money they'll be loaning us. It is incredibly absurd when you think about it.

If we are to come out of this recession with any hope for a standard of living akin to what we've enjoyed for the last 50 years, the president and Congress must work together to change the securities markets. They are in need of major reform, which, I suggest modestly, should begin with the fundamental lessons on how credit should be managed.

It isn't Mr. Obama we should fear. We should be afraid of those who wish he had done nothing and those who hope he fails. After all, we are in this together. No one is immune, including me.

Over the last two months, I have seen my hours cut back, a newspaper column canceled, clients unable to renew their contracts with my firm, and others needing to renegotiate my modest fees. Business is drying up, and despite all my frantic maneuvers to move my little retirement funds out of harm's way, my 401(k) is disappearing faster than the snow from the recent storm. I don't want to see this president fail, and I suggest that to do so is a partisan luxury none of us can afford.

Fifty days is not nearly long enough to allay the personal fears we have about our future. We are all fearful of what's in store for us. Still, I am enjoying this change in government. The bad news is certainly tempered by Mr. Obama's actions. And I'm proud of him so far.

It's time we all hope for the best as well as do our best to help those suffering. As my Republican friend from Missouri reminded, "We all just have to wait and see how it goes from here."»

O lado dos conservadores (VII). Bill Kristol critica mensagem ao Irão

O colunista conservador considerou que o registo feito por Obama, na mensagem ao Irão, foi «um embaraço» para a América. Afinal, nem todos gostam de uma América mais tolerante e disposta ao diálogo...

Judd Gregg, que recusou o cargo de secretário do Comércio, arrasa o Orçamento de Obama

«Com este Orçamento, o país caminha para a bancarrota», disse o senador republicano do New Hampshire, o mesmo que chegou a ser apresentado como secretário do Comércio, ao lado de Obama, e dias depois recuou. Percebe-se agora porquê

'America Back in a Leadership Role'

Um artigo de David Ignatius, no Washington Post:

«Let's take a break from gloom and doom, and consider some bits of good news about the global economy, as seen by Kevin Rudd, the prime minister of Australia. He's visiting Washington this week, and in a telephone interview from Canberra he offered a preview of what he will be telling President Barack Obama.

The first positive development Rudd sees is a change in global governance. The world's executive committee is shifting from the small, Euro-American-centered Group of Eight nations to the wider Group of 20, which will meet in London April 2 to discuss how to fix the economic mess. As Rudd notes, the G-20 is an inclusive group that numbers five participants from Europe, five from the Americas, five from Asia and five others (not least, Australia).

Rudd's second encouraging sign, linked to the first, is the growing role of China in maintaining global economic stability. Chinese leaders will attend the summit and presumably endorse its collective response to the crisis. Beijing also wants a larger role in a revitalized International Monetary Fund. The details are still being discussed, but China is expected to contribute more of the IMF's capital and to have a bigger say in the fund's management.

The third upbeat observation from Down Under is that the United States is back as a leader of the network of global institutions. Where George Bush was a reluctant participant in last October's G-20 meeting, the Obama administration has been an enthusiastic player -- supporting plans for new global financial regulation and backing a doubling of IMF resources to $500 billion.

"What's been a breath of fresh air has been the return of U.S. global leadership on the financial crisis," says Rudd. He notes that America's embrace of the G-20 "was noticed by people around the world."

I hope Rudd is right in the picture he draws of China, the United States and the rest working together to coordinate a global response to the crisis. An alternative to this collective action is a repetition of the protectionist policies that many nations adopted during the 1930s, when they tried to save themselves at the expense of their neighbors -- and made everyone worse off.

Rudd's views about China are worth examining in detail, because he is that rare politician who is actually an expert Sinologist. He speaks fluent Mandarin and served a tour in the Australian embassy in Beijing, and he's one of the smartest China-watchers I've met anywhere. His expertise is a resource Obama should tap this week in analyzing intentions.

The Chinese are on "the sharp end of the crisis," says Rudd, as declining exports lead to a sharp drop in growth and rising unemployment. Like most governments, the Chinese worry about the political and social effects of having so many people out of work. But Beijing has dealt with economic downturns before, and Rudd argues that, so far, "China's leadership has handled this crisis confidently."

Despite the opaqueness of Chinese economic statistics, Rudd believes that Beijing's announced economic stimulus program is for real, and that there's also a sizable undeclared effort, through easier lending to Chinese companies. Because of these recovery efforts, Rudd said, it's possible that China will emerge from the global slowdown earlier than other major economies.

Rudd said the recent comment by Premier Wen Jiabao that he was "definitely a little worried" about China's huge holdings of U.S. Treasury bills reflects a larger political discussion in Beijing. "In China, there has been a debate about the causes of the global financial crisis ... and where some of its national investments have gone wrong." Concern about U.S. mismanagement was pointedly expressed by Vice Premier Wang Qishan last December when he said: "The teachers have much explaining to do."

But Rudd argued that despite recent reversals, China still sees its future prosperity within the U.S.-led global capitalist system. "China is always engaged in a strategic plan rather than a tactical one, and China's strategy is to secure its interests by deepened global engagement," the Australian leader said. The crisis hasn't changed that strategy.

The London summit will test whether the global consensus Rudd describes is more than skin-deep. There's still a wide gap between American views (more stimulus!) and European (more regulation!), and many of China's policies remain a mystery. But as Rudd says, it's at least modestly reassuring that the G-20 will be the forum, China will be a player and America will be back in a leadership role.»

Frase mágica: «Follow the money»

Sarah Palin rejeitou ajuda do 'stimulus package' para o Alaska -- e está a ser criticada por isso

Os republicanos, pela voz de Haley Barbour, replicam a mensagem do Presidente

O governador do Mississipi reagiu à declaração semanal de Barack Obama, acusando-o de «gastar demais e taxar demais»

Próxima prioridade de Obama: aprovar o Orçamento

Michelle Obama vai plantar uma horta biológica na Casa Branca

Parece um assunto menor, mas não é, se atendermos às intenções (reais) de Obama em virar a página na relação da Casa Branca com as questões ambientais:

«Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets — the president does not like them — but arugula will make the cut.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

“My hope,” the first lady said in an interview in her East Wing office, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”

Twenty-three fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington will help her dig up the soil for the 1,100-square-foot plot, in a spot visible to passers-by on E Street. (It is just below the Obama girls’ swing set.)

Students from the school, which has had a garden since 2001, will also help plant, harvest and cook the vegetables, berries and herbs. Virtually the entire Obama family, including the president, will pull weeds, “whether they like it or not,” Mrs. Obama said with a laugh. “Now Grandma, my mom, I don’t know.” Her mother, she said, will probably sit back and say: “Isn’t that lovely. You missed a spot.”

Whether there would be a White House garden had become more than a matter of landscaping. The question had taken on political and environmental symbolism, with the Obamas lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally, and organically, can lead to more healthful eating and reduce reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer.

Then, too, promoting healthful eating has become an important part of Mrs. Obama’s own agenda.

The first lady, who said that she had never had a vegetable garden, recalled that the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters, Malia and Sasha, a good diet. Eating out three times a week, ordering a pizza, having a sandwich for dinner all took their toll in added weight on the girls, whose pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to be thinking about nutrition.

“He raised a flag for us,” she said, and within months the girls had lost weight.

Dan Barber, an owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, an organic restaurant in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., that grows many of its own ingredients, said: “The power of Michelle Obama and the garden can create a very powerful message about eating healthy and more delicious food. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it could translate into real change.”

While the Clintons grew some vegetables in pots on the White House roof, the Obamas’ garden will far transcend that, with 55 varieties of vegetables — from a wish list of the kitchen staff — grown from organic seedlings started at the Executive Mansion’s greenhouses.

The Obamas will feed their love of Mexican food with cilantro, tomatillos and hot peppers. Lettuces will include red romaine, green oak leaf, butterhead, red leaf and galactic. There will be spinach, chard, collards and black kale. For desserts, there will be a patch of berries. And herbs will include some more unusual varieties, like anise hyssop and Thai basil. A White House carpenter, Charlie Brandts, who is a beekeeper, will tend two hives for honey.

The total cost of seeds, mulch and so forth is $200, said Sam Kass, an assistant White House chef, who prepared healthful meals for the Obama family in Chicago and is an advocate of local food. Mr. Kass will oversee the garden.

The plots will be in raised beds fertilized with White House compost, crab meal from the Chesapeake Bay, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs.

Cristeta Comerford, the White House’s executive chef, said she was eager to plan menus around the garden, and Bill Yosses, the pastry chef, said he was looking forward to berry season.

The White House grounds crew and the kitchen staff will do most of the work, but other White House staff members have volunteered.

So have the fifth graders from Bancroft. “There’s nothing really cooler,” Mrs. Obama said, “than coming to the White House and harvesting some of the vegetables and being in the kitchen with Cris and Sam and Bill, and cutting and cooking and actually experiencing the joys of your work.”

For children, she said, food is all about taste, and fresh and local food tastes better.

“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.

“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”

For urban dwellers who have no backyards, the country’s one million community gardens can also play an important role, Mrs. Obama said.

But the first lady emphasized that she did not want people to feel guilty if they did not have the time for a garden: there are still many changes they can make.

“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.”»

in New York Times, edição em papel, 19 de Março, autora: Marian Burros

Popularidade de Obama resiste ao escândalo AIG

SONDAGEM CNN/Opinion Research Corporation:

-- Aprovação: 64 por cento
-- Reprovação: 34 por cento

(dados recolhidos entre 12 e 15 de Março de 2009)

'Barack Obama is a Terrible Bore'

Michael Wolff, colunista da Vanity Fair, assina um artigo Newser em que compara, de forma depreciativa, Barack Obama a Jimmy Carter:

«Sheesh, the guy is Jimmy Carter.

That homespun bowling crap on Jay Leno, followed by the turgid, teachy fiscal policy lecture, together with the hurt defensiveness (and bad script for it) that everybody in Washington "is Simon Cowell… Everybody's got an opinion," is pure I’m-in-over-my-head stuff. Even the idea of having to go on Jay Leno to rescue yourself from the AIG mess is lame. Be a man, man.

The guy just doesn’t know what to say. He can’t connect. Emotions are here, he’s over there. He can’t get the words to match the situation.

This began, I’d argue, from the first moment. He punted on the inaugural. Everybody ran around like crazy trying to praise it because if Barack Obama couldn’t give a speech then what?

But now, at week 11, we’re face-to-face with the reality, the man can’t talk worth a damn.

You can see the fundamental mistake he’s making. Having been so successfully elected, he’s acting like people actually want to hear what he thinks. He’s the great earnest bore at the dinner party. Instead of singing for his supper, he’s just talking—and going on at length. The real job of making people part of the story you’re telling, of having them hang on your every word, of getting the tone and detail right, the hard job of holding a conversation, he ain’t doing.

He’s cold; he’s prickly; he’s uncomfortable; he’s not funny; and he’s getting awfully tedious.

He thinks it’s all about him. That we want him for himself—that he doesn’t have to seduce, charm, surprise, show some skin.

So Jimmy.

It’s instructive and humorous to remember that Carter ran a brilliant campaign that succeeded largely because his voice was new. Simple, direct, basic, human. And then, of course, he turned into a sad-sack twit.

What happens when you move into the White House?

Well, shit, of course. The true secret of the power of language is in quickness. Barack Obama can’t keep up. He evidently needs too much preparation. And then there’s the organization. He’s undoubtedly got too many people debating what he should say. That’s the other secret of language: You’ve got to just go for it. Can’t think too much about it. It’s like hitting the ball. And then there’s knowing who you want to be—which is different than knowing who you are. You’re on the stage. You’re acting. You’ve got to make yourself believable, cleverly make yourself up as you go along.

This guy is leaden and this show is in trouble.»

O lado dos conservadores (VI): Mitt Romney acusa Obama de falta de experiência

Obama no «Tonight Show» -- toda a entrevista

Foi um momento histórico: foi a primeira vez que um Presidente em funções apareceu num «late night show» televisivo. Obama falou com Jay Leno e, durante 25 minutos, comentou o escândalo AIG, a situação do secretário Tim Geithner, mandou piadas sobre a super protecção de que beneficia dos Serviços Secretos. E, claro, teve pelo meio a gaffe que já correu mundo sobre os «Special Olympics», naquela que era suposto ser uma brincadeira sobre a sua falta de jeito para jogar bowling...

Obama lança a ponte para a reaproximação ao Irão

As memórias de Bill Clinton

«Quando Bob Rubin veio para a administração, era talvez o homem mais rico da nossa equipa. Depois de ele ter apoiado o plano económico de 1993, que incluía o aumento dos impostos para os americanos com rendimentos mais altos, eu costumava gracejar dizendo: 'Bob Rubin veio para Washington para me ajudar a salvar a classe média e, quando se for embora, fará parte dela.' Agora que Bob regressava à vida privada, eu já não tinha de me preocupar com este assunto. Nomeei vice-secretário de Bob, Larry Summers, para lhe suceder. Larry estivera no centro de todas as grandes questões económicas dos últimos seis anos, e estava disponível».

in A Minha Vida, Bill Clinton, Temas e Debates, 2004, página 878


Esta é uma de muitas histórias contadas por Bill Clinton num livro que já tem quase cinco anos, mas que só ontem acabei de ler na totalidade. É de leitura obrigatória para quem se interessa por política americana e faz um apanhado do que de mais relevante se passou na América e no Mundo nas últimas seis décadas -- o tempo de vida do ex-Presidente.

Aspecto muito, muito curioso: o nome de Barack Obama nunca foi mencionado. Nem uma vez. Não se pense que a explicação tem alguma coisa a ver com ressentimento por parte de Bill, em relação ao que se passou nas primárias de 2008. Nada disso. Como já referi, o livro foi terminado em 2004. A questão é que, em apenas cinco anos, a América foi capaz de produzir um Presidente que veio... do nada, do total desconhecimento do grande público.

Ao longo da leitura deste livro de quase mil páginas (que prolonguei por quase quatro anos, entrecortada por dezenas e dezenas de outros livros de leitura mais imediata), fui reparando nesse pormenor. Mas como, mesmo assim, achei a situação estranha, consultei, no final, o índice onomástico. E é mesmo verdade: Barack Obama nunca foi referido, sendo que o nome de John McCain, por exemplo, é referido mais de uma dezenas de vezes, bem como inúmeras outras figuras da política americana e internacional, de dimensão bem menor, se comparada com o Presidente dos EUA.

Moral da história: só mesmo nos Estados Unidos isto seria possível. A mobilidade da política americana é o garante da sua capacidade de regeneração. Não é tudo, como é óbvio. Há uma certa continuidade, que é mostrada no excerto que escolhi: Bob Rubin, que Clinton elogia, foi secretário do Tesouro no primeiro mandato e é a principal referência de quem, hoje, manda nas Finanças da Administração Obama: Tim Geithner, o actual secretário do Tesouro, Peter Orszag, o director do Orçamento, e Larry Summers, conselheiro económico nacional, são todos 'rubinomics', discípulos de Bob Rubin.

Mas quando olhamos para a realidade política europeia e comparamos com este exemplo, só podemos mesmo concluir que, com todos os defeitos inerentes, a mobilidade americana faz dos EUA, ainda, a terra de todas as oportunidades.

Tim Geithner admite culpas no escândalo AIG

O secretário do Tesouro, que alguns analistas já afirmam ter «os dias contados», apesar de Obama garantir que mantém «toda a confiança nele», admitiu que «devia ter sabido mais cedo os problemas» que os bónus aos funcionários e administradores da AIG poderia vir a causar:

«Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner confirmed Thursday that the department did talk to Sen. Chris Dodd about a clause he put forth in the stimulus legislation that would have strictly limited executive bonuses.

Timothy Geithner says the Treasury was worried about legal challenges to limiting contractual bonuses.

The Treasury Department was concerned that legislation that would restrict contractual bonuses would not hold up to legal challenges, Geithner said in an interview with CNN's Ali Velshi.

"We expressed concern about this specific version. We wanted to make sure it was strong enough to survive legal challenge," Geithner said.

Geithner's interview will air on CNN in full at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, also acknowledged Wednesday his role in controversy, after previously denying having anything to do with crafting language that permitted the bonuses. Watch Geithner describe when he knew about bonuses »

Geithner said he learned the full scale of the bonus problems on March 10.

"It's my responsibility; I was in a position where I didn't know about those sooner. I take full responsibility for that," he said. Watch Geithner talk about how criticism is part of the job »

Congress last month passed the $787 billion stimulus bill that President Obama signed into law.

The bill had included a measure from Dodd to limit executive bonuses. But slipped inside at the last minute was an exemption for bonuses agreed to "on or before February 11, 2009." That allowed AIG to go ahead with its controversial extra pay.

For days, no one would say who was responsible for the loophole that let that happen.

On Tuesday, Dodd denied that he had anything to do with adding the language.

"When I left the Senate, it was not in there. So when I wrote the language, there was no such language like that," he said then.

But, saying his previous comments had been misconstrued, Dodd said Wednesday that he added the exemption after getting pressure from the Treasury Department.

"I agreed reluctantly," Dodd said. "I was changing the amendment because others were insistent."

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told CNN's Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer that Obama officials pushed for the language to an amendment designed to limit bonuses and "golden parachutes" at those companies.

He said Wednesday that the "grandfather clause" language "seemed like innocent modifications" at the time. Watch Dodd's interview with CNN's Bash »

But that change ultimately allowed AIG to go ahead with doling out $165 million in bonuses. The federal government rescued the company from financial ruin with more than $170 billion in taxpayer assistance. Taxpayers now own nearly 80 percent of AIG.

Dodd said he did not speak to high-ranking administration officials, and the change came after his staff spoke with staffers from Treasury. iReport.com: Sound off on AIG

In a statement later Wednesday, Dodd said that his amendment allows the Treasury Department to review bonus contracts such as AIG's and seek ways to get the money back for taxpayers. Who's insured by AIG? »

Speaking about the ability to try to get back payments, Geithner said Thursday, "we're going to explore that, but in any case we're going to make sure that the American people are compensated for any payments we can recoup."

Propelled by the outrage across the country, the House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would apply a 90 percent tax to bonuses paid out of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was approved last year to stabilize the financial sector. See facts, attitudes and analysis on the recession »

Trying to quell the outrage and move the country forward, Obama said Wednesday to put the blame on him.

"Everybody's pointing fingers at each other and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, the Republicans' fault. Listen, I'll take responsibility. I'm the president," he said at a town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, California.

The president did not directly address the language change.

AIG's derivatives branch is in Dodd's home state. Many of the bonuses in question were awarded to executives at that branch. But in his statement, Dodd said he had no idea the legislation would affect the company.

"Let me be clear -- I was completely unaware of these AIG bonuses until I learned of them last week," he said.

Dodd also said in the statement that his comments on Tuesday and Wednesday to CNN did not conflict.

"I answered a question by CNN [Tuesday] night regarding whether or not [an exemption before] a specific date was aimed at protecting AIG," he said. "When I saw that my comments had been misconstrued, I felt it was important to set the record straight --that this had nothing to do with AIG."

He said that language was not in the version of the bill that left the Senate and that he was not one of the negotiators who hammered out a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the plan.

"I can't point a finger at someone who offered a change at all," he said.

Asked whether he later had been able to figure out who added the language, he said, "I really don't know."

In Wednesday's interview, Dodd never said his Tuesday comments had been misunderstood.

"Going back and looking, I apologize," he said when questioned about his words from the day before.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, AIG chief executive Edward Liddy called the roughly $165 million in bonuses "distasteful" but necessary because of legal obligations and competition.

"I've asked those who received retention payments in excess of 100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments. Some have already stepped forward and offered to give up 100 percent of their payments," said Liddy, who joined AIG after the bailout.»

in CNNpolitics.com