Hill Tweet News: The AIG ‘Tweetstorm’
March 16, 2009, 9:42pm
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.
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