Is AIG more powerful than Obama?

Updated

It is often said the the President of the United States is the de facto leader of the world. If that's true, then world leadership has its limits. I am not going to list all the limits of the U.S. President's power here -- just President Barack Obama's inability to halt the use of taxpayer money to pay $200 million more in bonuses to American International Group (AIG). So far, taxpayers have invested $182.5 billion for a 77.9 percent stake in the company. Though it is clearly winning this face-off, AIG may be fronting for the even more powerful Goldman Sachs Group (GS). Will Obama draw a line in the sand or let AIG defeat him?

Advertisement