Day 56: Obama Takes Aim At AIG

By: Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics: White House

(CBS)

On the fifty-sixth day of his presidency, President Obama lashed out at bonuses recently paid to AIG executives, saying that he has directed his treasury secretary to "every single legal avenue" to block the payouts.

"It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," Mr. Obama said. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"

Mr. Obama made those remarks at a White House event for small business leaders and community lenders in order to tout his plans to help those small businesses get credit.

"Our recovery in the present and our prosperity in the future depend upon the success of America's small businesses and entrepreneurs. And that's why my administration has already taken aggressive action on their behalf," Mr. Obama said.

Later in the day, the president visited the Department of Veterans Affairs to mark its 20th anniversary as a Cabinet-level agency and to talk about his plans to increase funding for health care and other services to veterans.

Below, check out Chip Reid's CBS Evening News report on the president and the outrage over AIG.

Kevin Hechtkopf
Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
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by verycold March 16, 2009 10:34 PM EDT: Bush, Obama and congress rushed foolishly into saving AIG at any cost. They never took the time necessary to read any outstanding contracts, nor understand where that bail out money would go, or how it would be spent. We have elected very stupid, gullible people to represent us. They refuse to read bills that they sign and later are horrified that the "bad"guys that created this mess are still looting the till.; Reply to this comment