Bush's Ex-Press Secretary, Dana Perino, Defends AIG Bonuses

Reports over the weekend that bailed-out insurance giant AIG will be paying $165 million in bonuses to executives “in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year” have sparked bipartisan outrage.

However, on C-Span’s Washington Journal on Sunday, Dana Perino, former President Bush’s press secretary, defended the multi-million dollar bonuses and claimed, without any proof, the executives receiving the bonuses were “middle class.”

PERINO: And the people who are working there that are middle-class people, are expecting to get this bonus. If they do not get it, maybe they won’t be motivated enough to try to help the company turn around and getting the company to turn around and be more profitable is important for all of us.