• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) join us in studio at 8:30am Pacific for another edition of “Fridays with Frangela!”
• President Obama appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, addressing issues about AIG and restating his support for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. In an off-hand comment, he also compared his bowling to The Special Olympics. The White House released a statement, saying Obama did not intend to offend.
• Denouncing a “squandering of the people’s money,” lawmakers voted decisively yesterday to impose a 90% tax on millions of dollars in employee bonuses paid by troubled insurance giant AIG and other bailed-out companies. The House vote was 328-93. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate and President Obama quickly signaled general support for the concept.
• President Obama told Iran’s people and leaders that the United States wants to engage their country and end decades of strained relationship, but not unless their officials stop making threats. Obama made these statements in a video message with Farsi subtitles.
• A spokesman for the IRS said yesterday that the agency “stands ready to take collective action if the need arises” to get back taxes from 13 still unnamed companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailout money.
