President Barack Obama is claiming that he was informed of controversial AIG bonuses only a month ago - but wasn’t the abuse of taxpayer-funded rescue dollars a well known issue during the campaign?

During the second Presidential debate in October, 2008, then candidate Obama had this to say about AIG using bailout funds for bonuses and lavish vacations (emphasis added):

Now, step one was a rescue package that was passed last week. We’ve got to make sure that works properly. And that means strong oversight, making sure that investors, taxpayers are getting their money back and treated as investors.

It means that we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that they’re not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package. And, in fact, we just found out that AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help went on a $400,000 junket.

And I’ll tell you what, the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired.

Even more incriminating is this warning of executive bonuses in Obama’s Economic Blueprint circa 2008 (emphasis added):

Obama and Biden will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.

When will we see this reform?

The President and the Treasury knew that bonuses were around the corner and they did nothing. Whether or not they had the legal ability to do so, they should have been puting pressure on AIG executives from the get-go.