Good morning, all.

Although I have been preaching cooler heads (and taking a lot of deep breaths) in recent weeks, I’m starting to understand how these people feel. And it looks like I’m not alone.

In the New York Times yesterday, Adam Nagourney penned an interesting reminder of the populist anger brewing against the financial industry. It’s a sentiment, he reminds us, surely to stain the Obama Administration if it continues along its current path. An interesting chunk from the article:

… a shifting political mood challenges Mr. Obama’s political skills, as he seeks to acknowledge the anger without becoming a target of it. A central question for Mr. Obama is whether his cool style — “in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger,” he said in his address to Congress last month — will prove effective when the country may be feeling more emotional.

O. understands a little revenge would go a long way. Even so, I believe the thinking public would exercise patience for prosecution in the face of progress. Too bad that does not appear to be happening. In fact, as we watch our personal standings slide deeper and deeper in the financial abyss, bailed-out firms continue to live a life of excess without penalty.

On the same day Nagourney penned his piece, crooked insurance giant AIG continued to thumb its nose at the American public. Over the weekend, we discovered a handful of AIG employees, including those who helped sink the company, will receive nearly $450 million in bonuses. As AIG took $170 billion in taxpayer money, that means we’re picking up the tab.

And it’s not AIG’s first time of abuse. Remember the post-bailout spa tab they ran up last year.

This is so outrageous, even sports journalists need to take a break from March Madness and comment. Take Mike Lupica in the New York Daily News this morning. A chunk:

… Some of the bonuses are going to people in the same unit of AIG that did everything but throw money out of windows. These were the scammers who signed off on trillions of dollars worth of those brilliant credit default swaps we've been reading about for months, pushing worthless paper like others push drugs. And now they expect to be rewarded.

Just what "best and brightest talent" at AIG is Liddy referring to, exactly? And where was it when we needed it? Here's what Geithner should tell them all: "You didn't get your bonus money? Then quit. Go see if your sparkling résumé gets you a job anyplace else where money changes hands."

So, at least we can lock some of these AIG folks away. Right? Not so fast.

During an otherwise outstanding interview with Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke on “60 Minutes” last night, you’ll see (or read) Bernanke join the Obama Administration in its Outrage Offensive. A chunk:

"Let me just first say that of all the events and all of the things we've done in the last 18 months, the single one that makes me the angriest, that gives me the most angst, is the intervention with AIG. Here was a company that made all kinds of unconscionable bets. Then, when those bets went wrong, we had a situation where the failure of that company would have brought down the financial system," Bernanke said.

"It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG. I understand why the American people are angry. It's absolutely unfair that taxpayer dollars are going to prop up a company that made these terrible bets, that was operating out of the sight of regulators, but which we have no choice but the stabilize, or else risk enormous impact, not just in the financial system, but on the whole U.S. economy," Bernanke explained.

Great. You’re angry. So what are we going to do about it? Subpoenas. Indictments. Maybe guillotines.

How about nothing?

Folks, the O. Administration has been less than active in its response to these major abuses. AIG isn’t the only violator, but it can make a strong case for topping the list. Oh sure, O. and Co. have said all the right things, but have done nothing to reign in the abuse.

Seriously, how neutered is this administration? Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth, but zero action.

Flash back to Nagourney’s article where he warns against this very thing. A chunk:

… Even as (Larry Summers, White House's National Economic Council) was denouncing A.I.G. for the bonuses, he suggested that there was little if anything the government could do to stop them, seconding the conclusion of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. But even if their reasoning was legally sound, they also risked having the administration look ineffectual in the face of what Mr. Summers said was the worst financial abuse of the last 18 months, since the economy began turning down in earnest.

“Never underestimate the capacity of angry populism in times of economic stress,” said Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and labor secretary under President Bill Clinton. “A big challenge for President Obama will be to maintain a rational and tactical public discussion in the midst of this severe downturn. The desire for culprits at times like this is strong.” …

And that’s the point here. O. preaches a long-range view: Fix the problem. Then affix blame. That’s sound. But so long as the same people who created the problem are allowed to keep causing trouble, how are we ever going to get any traction? That’s the question on so many minds. Mine included.

Outrage without action is nothing but theater. And the Obama Administration has put on a heck of a show.

Maybe it’s time to strike a balance between cooler heads and iron fists. Seriously, if we cannot hold the robber barons of AIG accountable, then I don’t hold out much hope.

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