Boehner criticizes Bush on AIG bailout

House Minority Leader John Boehner joined a growing chorus of Republican leaders criticizing the Bush administration for failing to tell Congress about the bailout of American International Group. 

{mosads}“There has been a lack of communication,” Boehner told reporters on Thursday.

The Ohio lawmaker added that a meeting of the Republican Conference on the economy and the banking crisis was cancelled Thursday morning because the administration refused to send anyone.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) on Tuesday also expressed frustration with the lack of communication from the White House.

Blunt told reporters that Republicans were unclear what the “coherent strategy” was regarding which financial entities merited a bailout and which do not.House Conservatives sent a letter to the Federal Reserve and the Treasury on Wednesday asking them to stop the practice of saving private sector companies from financial ruin.

“We have little doubt that in many cases the motivation of regulators has been a fervent desire to preserve market stability and avoid tumultuous disruptions and systemic risk. To that end, such motives are commendable,” the letter said. “Yet the fact remains that these massive federal bailouts have exposed taxpayers to literally tens of billions of dollars of new risk, diluted the incentive for the private sector to make the difficult but necessary decisions to address its fiscal problems, and created a sizable moral hazard where companies are absolved, not punished, for excessive risk taking.”

The letter, signed by Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and several like-minded GOP lawmakers, said that the constant infusion of tax payer funds could end up hurting the economy critically in the long run.

Asked whether conservatives were concerned that the administration’s move tarnished the Republican brand, Hensarling said rather than play the “blame game,” Congress should assess what to do now that the bailout has occurred.