GOP hopes bonuses are election issue

Republicans are hoping to make the American International Group bonuses a major issue in the special election between Republican James Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy in New York’s 20th District.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is arguing that support for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package is, in essence, a vote that allowed AIG to hand out its bonuses. The attack is meant to generate populist outrage against Murphy, who has a Wall Street background.

The NRCC points to a part of the bill meant to prevent companies that received bailout money from doling out any bonuses — which didn’t apply to contracts signed before Feb. 11.

“Did Scott Murphy ever actually read the bill, or did he knowingly support a bill that would hand out millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses to Wall Street executives?” the NRCC asks in a press release.

Tedisco, who declined to take a clear position on the stimulus until this week — when he said he opposed it — took up the AIG issue on the campaign trail Tuesday.

“Scott Murphy didn’t read the stimulus bill. … Nobody in Congress did,” he said. “Yet Scott Murphy supported the legislation, including provisions allowing AIG to hand out $165 million in bonuses to executives.”…

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