Chris Dodd: 33% approval rating

April 8, 2009

Sen Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee was talking to Ed Schultz on MSNBC and they got around to the poll results.

Quinnipiac University Poll
March 26- 31
MOE +/- 2.9

Who do voters blame for AIG bonuses?
1-Bush
2-Dodd

Chris Dodd among CT voters:
Disapprove 58%
Approve 33%

Listen to how he asks the question. He goes out of his way not to use the word “lie”.

ED SCHULTZ: How much do you think that hurt you - reversal of your position, and also the way you changed, you know, your position on the bonuses as to who was responsible for how the bonuses were dished out?

DODD: It hurt terribly. I acknowledge that.

In February, I wrote up an 8 page amendment to deal with bonuses, golden parachutes and luxury items, and the like, to try and deal with these issues across the board - not one fact situations one after another.

And that was the right thing to do, and I still stand by it.

He should have stuck completely to it.

DODD: In February, if I had known then what I now know — no one brought up or had any idea that there were bonuses for AIG involved all of this - then we obviously would have taken a different position.

He’s chairman of the committee — who is he expecting to “bring things up”? And how is saying no one had any idea an excuse? Why didn’t “we” have an idea? That’s what created the problem. And how much doesn’t he still not know?

DODD: But, the administration came to me, along with some others, and said ‘Look this is going to create some real legal problems’. It made some sense, I thought, at the time. I now know that it was a mistake. I’d like to have that moment back.

Totally lame. Imagine what would have happened if they tried to sue - especially the 11 that weren’t even working for AIG when they got their “retention” bonuses.

ED: You were afraid of the legal aspect of all of this?

DODD: That’s what-those were the arguments raised to me. And as I said nobody brought up AIG at the time. And had they done so, and I had known we’d be confronting the problem here, I would have had a very different position.

Notice the two qualifiers…if somebody told him and if he had known he’d get caught - which goes along with word regret no I’m sorry.

DODD: I regret that deeply. It caused an awful lot of frustration and an awful lot of anger at me in my state. I understand it. I acknowledge it. And I’m gonna try to fix it.

There is no personal responsibility admitted to here and he came off like he always does - angry.

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AIG Timeline
Tim Geithner’s AIG Timeline
AIG $165M bonuses after $170B bailout
AIG bonus breakdown
barry on AIG (video)
AIG: Edward Liddy (video)
Tim Geithner on Charlie Rose (video)
Andrew Cuomo: $30M of AIG bonuses will be returned
Andrew Cuomo’s letter to AIG (10-28-08)
Chris Dodd: 33% approval rating