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AIG executives shouldn't kill themselves, but they should take more responsibility for their company's failures than they have to date, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) explained Tuesday.

Grassley explained his remarks Monday in which he suggested that AIG executives should either resign or commit suicide.

"Of course I don't want anybody to go commit suicide, but I do want some contrition -- I want showing of remorse," Grassley said Tuesday during an appearance on Bloomberg News. "I have not heard a single apology from a single Wall Street CEO...for how they've run their company or financial institution."

"And in the case of the Japanese, they do one of two things: they either go commit suicide or they take a deep bow and say apologies and then sometimes resign," Grassley added. "But they take full responsibility, and we're not hearing that. And obviously I don't want anyone to kill themselves, because I don't believe in that sort of thing. But you ought to say, 'I'm sorry.'"

Grassley's remarks were perhaps the most outrageous of those expressed by members of Congress and the Obama administration on Monday after all parties in Washington piled on AIG for handing out millions in bonuses to employees and executives while receiving some of the largest financial assistance from the federal government.

Watch a video of Grassley's explanation here.

This is undoubtedly going to make unions and the pro-EFCA crowd happy. Gallup released a poll this morning that found a majority of Americans approve of a new law making joining a union easier.

Fifty-three percent would support such a measure, while 39 percent would oppose it.



Perhaps predictably, there is a sharp partisan divide on the issue as seven in 10 Democrats support such a measure while six in 10 Republicans would oppose one. A majority of independents Read more...

President Obama announced he would nominate Pittsburgh Steelers owner Daniel Rooney as ambassador to Ireland this St. Patrick's Day, hours before meeting with Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

The White House announced Obama's intention to nominate Rooney -- a traditional Republican who vocally backed Obama during the presidential election -- in a statement on the same day in which millions of Irish-Americans are celebrating their heritage.

"I am honored and grateful that such a dedicated and accomplished individual has agreed to serve as the representative of the United States to the Irish people," Obama said in a statement. "Dan Rooney is an unwavering supporter of Irish peace, culture, and education, and I have every confidence that he and Secretary Clinton will ensure America

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) was not initially aware she would be speaking at the scheduled fundraising dinner for House and Senate Republicans, according to her spokesman.

"I communicated with the governor directly and she did not know anything about it," Palin spokesman Bill McAllister told the Anchorage Daily News.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and National Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) announced Monday.

"I pointed out the press release and she was like, 'no,'" McAllister explained. "She's been invited, but that's as far as it's gone from our end, is my understanding."

The NRSC explained that it went through Palin's PAC, SarahPAC, to arrange the appearance.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) wrote President Obama Tuesday, pushing back against the White House budget office's determination that Sanford could not use stimulus funds to pay down state debt.

Sanford offered several statuatory reasons for why his state can use the stimulus funds to reduce debt levels instead of spending it on jobs, while reiterating his call for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to take down its ads criticizing Sanford for his stance.

"I've made clear my opposition to using debt to solve a problem created in the first place by too much debt -- and I don't believe this to be an unreasonable position," wrote Sanford, a potential 2012 opponent for Obama. "What I find less reasonable is the way this DNC attack ad returns a nation indeed yearning for change back to the same old politics-as-usual."

The South Carolina Republican also said that federal law provides for his state's ability to use the funds as it currently desires, contrary to claims by Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag made yesterday.

"We trust these alternative proposals fit both the statutory requirements and spirit of the stimulus legislation," Sanford explained. "Thank you again for your response, and we would again appreciate your opinion as soon as possible given that we believe this course of action will do more to ensure South Carolina's long-term economic strength than would other contemplated uses of the funds."

Read the whole letter after the jump. Read more...

President Barack Obama continues to ride high job approval numbers even as the majority of the country believes the country is on the wrong track, according to a recent DailyKos/Research 2000 poll.

Meanwhile, Congress as well as Democratic and Republican congressional leaders saw their numbers take a slight dip from last week.

Obama, whose approval rating has been in the high 50s or low 60s in most polls, clocks in at 68 percent in the Kos poll, down a point from last week. Nine in 10 Democrats approve of his job performance as do nearly three quarters of independents. Less than one quarter of Republicans approved of Obama Read more...

This has got to be the best quote-then-walk-back in a while. From the Washington Post on the furor surrounding news that AIG is doling out $165 million in bonuses to executives:

The rhetoric grew so heated yesterday that Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested in a radio interview that AIG executives ought to "follow the Japanese model . . . resign, or go commit suicide." An aide later explained he does not actually want executives to kill themselves.

If only he had tweeted it.

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Democrat Scott Murphy said he supports some taxpayer funding of abortion for women on Medicaid or other national healthcare programs.

"Yes, I think that we do need to as part of the Medicaid system provide comprehensive health care to everyone in the community," Murphy said when asked by The Weekly Standard. "We need to provide them with reproductive health care as well."'

The comments come amid a day when the Democratic candidate for Congress had focused his campaign on supporting embryonic stem cell research -- drawing contrasts with Republican challenger James Tedisco, who opposes such research.

Murphy also told the Standard's John McCormack that he supports the Employee Free Choice Act and a surge of troops in Afghanistan, while indicating that he opposes an assault weapons ban.

Murphy's would-be predecessor, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), was known for her support for gunowners' rights while in the House, a stance which may leave her open to a primary challenger in 2010.

Vice President Joe Biden's mother is recovering Monday after hip surgery, according to the White House.

Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden was hospitalized on Sunday after falling in her Delaware home.

Biden's spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement that the 91 year-old underwent surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital Monday morning for a hip fracture.

"She is recovering well and is in stable condition," Alexander said. "Dr. Samir Mehta, the chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Trauma at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, performed the surgery, which involved applying a plate and screw device to Mrs. Biden

Republican candidate for Congress James Tedisco said Monday that he would have voted against the economic stimulus passed by Congress in February, leading Democrats to immediately pounce on the position.

Democrats had made an issue of Tedisco's coy responses about whether or not he would have supported the package, making it into a major issue in the March 31st special election.

"Whether it is over $300 billion of pork in the federal stimulus bill, a $700 billion slush fund for Wall Street executives, or a budget bill containing nearly 9,000 earmarks, working families are mad as hell and aren