TIMESONLINE: He's in the midst of the worst economic crisis in 80 years, his Treasury Secretary is facing calls to resign and questions are being asked of his Administration, yet President Obama today prepares to fight back by treading a path usually reserved for Hollywood actors.
In an unprecedented step for a sitting president, Mr Obama will appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, on which he will attempt to explain to an increasingly angry public how $165million in bonuses were paid to employees of the failed insurance company AIG after it was bailed out with public money.
National anger over the case stems from the fact that the bonuses, awarded to 418 employees and including $1 million each to 73 people, were paid after the company had to be rescued by $170 billion of state cash. The bailout represented the biggest injection of public money into a single company since the financial crisis began last year, and another $30bn will be paid soon.
The controversy has already taken its toll on Timothy Geithner, Mr Obama's new Treasury Secretary, whose position has become increasingly fragile. He has faced repeated Republican criticism - and at least one call to resign - for not stopping the bonus payments, along with questions over when he became aware of them. President Obama Uses Jay Leno Show to Wriggle Out of Economic Crisis >>> David Byers and Tim Reid in Washington | Thursday, March 19, 2009
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