Obama Accepted AIG Cash for Campaign

With all the outrage coming from the White House over bonuses paid to executives at the troubled AIG Insurance group, the White House might be a bit embarrassed to admit that as a Senator, President Obama took plenty of money from AIG in the form of campaign contributions. According to OpenSecrets.org, Senator Obama was the second largest recipient of campaign dollars from AIG at $101,332. Only Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Only Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), who, it turns out, is responsible for the loop hole that allowed the bonuses to be paid to AIG executives.

For politicians, campaign contributions act like "bonuses" for a job well done. Like individuals, companies and interest groups contribute to the political campaigns of politicians at all levels based on how likely a candidate is to be sympathetic to their issues and how much help an incumbent has been in office. There is nothing wrong with the practice, so long as there is no vote selling going on; and there is no proof that President Obama did anything illegal or unethical in respect to AIG's political contributions to his campaign fund. However, some critics will question how AIG received an additional $30 billion from the Treasury just two weeks ago with no apparent concerns about how the money would be spent. And they might wonder how a provision that specifically protects bonuses paid at companies receiving federal bailout funds made it into the economic stimulus bill that the president championed and Democrats in Congress pushed through. That provision will likely prevent the president from following through on his threat to recoup the bonuses.

Public anger at AIG is running high right now and it is only natural for politicians to try and capitalize on it. But the public is every bit as frustrated with the political leadership in Washington, which it views as just as responsible for the nation's economic woes as greedy corporate executives are. President Obama is leading the charge against the AIG bonuses and trying to benefit from the firestorm politically. In the interest of transparancy, he should at least acknowledge the large contributions he accepted from AIG, and answer questions about why AIG beleived he was worthy of their investment.

Hat tip: RedState