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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > March > 17
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Local lawmakers less than happy about AIG bonuses
The furious press releases are flying, as members of the Ohio delegation make it known that they, like President Obama and pretty much everyone else in Congress, are less than thrilled with the $165 million in bonus payments to AIG executives coming out of the bailout money approved last year.
Here’s Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who attended a Senate Banking committee hearing on the AIG decision this morning: “AIG’s actions are a slap in the face to hardworking Ohio families. Bonuses at companies like AIG - companies relying on taxpayer funds to stay afloat - are an outrage. I hope AIG executives voluntarily return these bonuses. If they don’t, I will push to have them recouped through the U.S. tax code.”
And here’s House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester:
“Americans are rightly outraged by the use of their hard-earned tax dollars to fund the bonuses of AIG executives. For months, House Republicans have called for more protections to ensure that Congress and - more importantly- taxpayers knew exactly how bailout dollars were being used by financial institutions. Unfortunately, the Treasury Department has not responded with the urgency that taxpayers demand, which is why AIG was able to slip through the cracks.”
Boehner also applauded the efforts of a group of Republicans who introduced a bill aimed at increasing accountability in bailout funds and to recover AIG executive bonuses.
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Voters sour on Strickland’s handling of economy
Ohio voters don’t like how Gov. Ted Strickland is handling the economy - a first for the Democratic governor - but Strickland’s overall approval rating, while down, remains solid.
Those are key findings from a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday, March 17. For full results, click here.
The poll, taken as the national and state economies continue to flounder, found that voters disapprove of Strickland’s handling of the economy, 45-39 percent. In a poll released Feb. 5, voters approved of Strickland’s handling of the economy, 44-37 percent.
Also, the new poll found Strickland had a 56-30 percent job approval rating, down from a 63-25 percent approval rating in the Feb. 5 poll.
In another finding, voters narrowly disapproved - 46-43 percent- Strickland’s use of one-time money to balance his proposed state budget. Overall, however, they approved of how Strickland is handling the state budget, 44-36 percent.
Here’s your chance to get in on the debate about Strickland’s handling of the economy.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]“The movement is not large, but the fact that support for a number of his proposals and his handling of the economy is off that much and more is an indication that the public anxiety over the economy is taking its toll on his support,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said in a press release.
In other poll results, voters:
Supported by a 75-21 margin a proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot to give those who served in the armed forces during recent wars a bonus of up to $1,000.
Approved 64-29 percent Strickland’s plan to resume passenger train service between Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton.
*Favored Strickland over Republican John Kasich, 51-31 percent in a 2010 governor’s race matchup.
*Favored Strickland over Republican Mike DeWine, 50-34 percent in a 2010 governor’s race matchup.
*Had mixed views on whether Strickland’s plans will improve education in Ohio, with 31 percent saying “yes”, 29 percent “no” and 40 percent saying they didn’t know.
*Approved, 55-39 percent, Strickland’s proposal to increase the school year from 180 days to 200 days.
The poll was taken Tuesday, March 10, through Monday, March 15, with 1,299 Ohio voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
