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The weekend news that the troubled insurance giant AIG is paying $165 million in executive bonuses despite having received federal bailout money sparked a bipartisan “tweetstorm” by outraged members of Congress today.

Lawmakers from both parties ranted in 140 characters or less, linked to longer rants that wouldn’t fit within Twitter’s textual constraints, and floated legislative trial balloons designed to punish AIG or any other company receiving federal bailout funds that might want to pay bonuses in the future. “Introduced a bill that imposes a 100% tax on any executive bonus over $100,000 that was paid by a company receiving federal bailout funds,” @RepSteveIsrael wrote.

Here is a recap of other AIG-inspired tweets from lawmakers using the mini-blog service:

• Like @RepSteveIsrael, @repblumenauer said he is working on a bill to place a tax surcharge on executive bonuses to recoup tax dollars from firms like AIG.
• On MSNBC’s “Hardball,” @DarrellIssa blasted “AIG/Bush/Obama boneheads who dropped $170 billion with no strings attached.”
• @SenChrisDodd: “A car mechanic or teacher in Connecticut shouldn’t have to subsidize the bad decisions of AIG’s executives.”
• @russfeingold wrote a letter of complaint to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
• @gopconference called for an “exit strategy” on government bailouts after news of the AIG bonuses.
• And @SenatorMenendez posted to YouTube the clip of his MSNBC appearance to decry AIG.

AIG wasn’t the only thing on lawmakers’ minds, though. Among other things, they tweeted about earmarks, the oversight of federal stimulus projects and government contracts, “card check” legislation to govern votes for labor unions, taxes on health benefits, and public lands.

They also chatted about the NCAA basketball tournament that starts this week. And they linked to articles about lawmakers who tweet. Apparently every journalist in America is writing one of those stories these days.

To get Capitol Hill’s inside scoop from Twitter, subscribe to “Hill Tweet News.” It’s the best and quickest way to learn who sniped at whom, and why; what lawmakers did and said in committee, on the floor, on the news shows and elsewhere; and what articles, shows, Internet videos and more grabbed their attention.

Categories: Producer's Picks, Health, Labor, Budget, Taxes, Economy, Government Waste, Banking, Government Reform, Financial Services, Natural Resources, Bailouts, Hill Tweet News

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Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., took to the airwaves on MSNBC’s “Hardball” today to debate the record of President Obama after his first 50 days in office.

“He’s doing exactly what he should do, what he said he was going to do,” Lee said. She noted that businesses and even people in Republican districts will benefit from Obama’s decisions.

But Pence called Obama “an admirable person” but said “the problem is his policies.” He said the answer to last year’s record spending for bailouts is “more of the same. … They spend too much, they tax too much, and they borrow too much.”

Categories: California, Indiana, White House, Budget, Banking, Monster Media Mash-Up, Barbara Lee, Mike Pence, Bailouts

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Harsh words from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., while debating a bill to cap executive compensation at banks that get money from taxpayers. “We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer. … These people are idiots. You can’t use taxpayer money to pay out $18 billion in bonuses.”

Categories: Missouri, Economy, Banking, Claire McCaskill

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As policymakers weigh what further steps, if any, to take to address the home mortgage crisis, the Ad Council is trying to educate consumers by running public-service advertisements about foreclosures. The ads encourage homeowners at risk of losing their homes to call 888-995-HOPE for quality counseling and financial advice.

A separate Ad Council campaign dubbed “Feed The Pig” aims to teach people ages 25 to 34 to save for every stage of life.

Here’s a look at the ads:

In the House yesterday, meanwhile, Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., decried the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on her district in Los Angeles, where a family loses a home to foreclosure every hour.

Categories: Economy, AdWatch, Banking, Culture, Housing

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Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is running for president, decried the increasing prevalence of “predatory” lending practices in the mortgage industry and said Congress should do something to keep more people from seeing their American dreams of home ownership turn into nightmares.

“There’s a distinction between a good, solid, sub-prime lender and a predatory lender, and we ought to put a stop to the latter without hurting the former,” Dodd said in a speech to the National Credit Union Association.

Categories: Connecticut, Sen. Christopher Dodd, Presidency 2008, Christopher Dodd, Banking

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