Bloodthirsty Liberal

The Obama Administration is backing up!

After spending the last few weeks rabble-rousing over compensation at companies that receive TARP funds, the Obama administration has quietly reversed course. Now that Barack Obama needs partners in the private sector to unload toxic assets, the White House has begun creating work-arounds for compensation caps passed by Congress in the heat of AIG retention bonus outrage:

The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials.

Administration officials have concluded that this approach is vital for persuading firms to participate in programs funded by the $700 billion financial rescue package.

The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly to financial companies, the sources said. Instead, the government has set up special entities that act as middlemen, channeling the bailout funds to the firms and, via this two-step process, stripping away the requirement that the restrictions be imposed, according to officials.

Oh, for pete’s sake. Do you want to demonize rich executives or don’t you? Why are AIG execs cowering under their beds, while Rick Wagoner lands softly on his $23 million golden parachute?

And execs in the future will actually be able to give Congress the finger?

Which I approve of—don’t get me wrong. But why the change of face heart?

The borderline illegal change of heart?

Legal experts said the Treasury’s plan to bypass the restrictions may be unlawful.

“They are basically trying to launder the money to avoid complying with the plain language of the law,” said David Zaring, a former Justice Department attorney who defended the government from lawsuits involving related legal issues. “They are trying to create a loophole to ignore Congress, and I think the courts will think that it’s ridiculous.”

It will be a toss-up to see which effort the court finds more ridiculous — the bill of attainder passed by Congress with Barack Obama’s explicit endorsement, or Barack Obama’s hypocritical efforts to undermine the law he demanded in the first place. It’s Keystone Kops at Treasury, Capitol Hill, and the West Wing.

Yeah, we’re getting that impression, too.

But wasn’t this guy supposed to be intelligent, articulate, and clean? One out of three ain’t too good.

The only other conclusion is that his bi-polar behavior is intentional. Whip up a populist frenzy, and then move on. Let ACORN and similar nuts carry on the battle, while the administration steals away unnoticed. It’s not like anyone’s going to call him on it.

I can’t figure him out.