Obama Accepts Blame for AIG Bonus Mess

Barack Obama took responsibility for the AIG bonus fiasco in true Harry Truman style, the buck stops here; until he said he wasn't responsible.

His vow that he'll take responsibility is empty. He doesn't mean that.

From the Wall Street Journal:

President Barack Obama said he will take the blame for bonuses being paid at American International Group Inc. if it will settle an intense finger pointing under way over how such payments were possible at a company that has received tremendous taxpayer aid.

"Washington is all in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, the Republicans' fault," he said at a town hall meeting Wednesday. "Listen, I'll take responsibility. I'm the President."

He also make clear that it isn't really his fault. "We didn't grant these contracts," he said.

But he added: "So for everybody in Washington who's busy scrambling, trying to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it's my job to make sure that we fix these messes, even if I don't make them."

That's right. It's Obama's job to fix the mess.

He's wrong, however, about not being responsible for making the mess.

Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. He most definitely made it.

I hope Obama has learned a lesson: When you don't read the bill, messes happen.

Here's an interesting comment that Obama made at the town hall meeting:

"I would rather be a good president taking on the tough issues for four years than a mediocre president for eight years," he said.

Time will tell if Obama gets his wish.

So far, in his first 8 weeks, Obama hasn't managed to rise to the level of a mediocre president.

I'm sure the stimulus bill holds more surprises, more disasters like Chris Dodd's amendment. The reality of the nightmare that Obama signed into law is just beginning to unfold.

If Obama can be mediocre for four years, we'll be lucky.