WASHINGTON - How outraged can they be?

U.S. lawmakers are clearly outraged by the $165 million in bonuses being paid to executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group. For the last two days, they’ve been talking about it in press releases,  at news conference and in speeches on the floor of the Senate and House.

But no one says it more colorfully and more bluntly than Republican Senator Chuck Grassley — so far.

“From my standpoint, it’s irresponsible for corporations to give bonuses, at this time, when they are so sucking the tit of the taxpayer,” Grassley said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Grassley, an Iowa farmer, is most likely just channeling what many taxpayers are thinking.

The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve has put up to $180 billion at AIG’s disposal to keep them afloat and prevent the insurance giant from sinking the global financial system. The company said it had contract obligations to pay out some $165 million in retention bonuses to employees.

Grassley on Monday had some other colorful comments about AIG executives saying they should perhaps adopt what he called the Japanese approach to taking responsibility for their actions and “resign or go commit suicide.”

He pulled back from that “rhetoric” saying he obviously does not want people to kill themselves.

But Grassley says executives at AIG and other companies that ran to the government for money after “running their corporations into the ground” owe U.S. taxpayers an apology and ought to consider resigning.

Grassley’s Senate office phones have been ringing off the hook since the suicide remark with about half the callers saying his remarks were insensitive and half agreeing with him, an aide said.

Grassley also received numerous comments of praise on his Facebook page, including one who lauded that the senator “had the guts to stand up and say what the taxpayers are thinking.”

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Theiler (Senator Grassley speaks at Reuters regulation summit last year)

The second round of Barack Obama’s cabinet picks undergo their Capitol Hill hazing today. Who else screwed up on their taxes? Our elected representatives are sure to find out.

Confirmation hearings today: Tom Vilsack for Agriculture Secretary; Lisa Jackson for the Environmental Protection Agency; Peter Orszag at the Office of Management and Budget; and Erik Shinseki at Veterans Affairs.

Keep an eye on Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. He’s the one who revealed that Timothy Geithner, who as Treasury Secretary would oversee the IRS, made a hash of his tax returns. Will Grassley make the issue more than simply an embarrassment for the Obama administration’s top money man?

Things are looking better for Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State nominee. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry said on NBC’s “Today Show” that he expects his Foreign Relations Committee to approve her tomorrow.

They’re not twiddling their thumbs over in the House of Representatives. Expect votes on expanding children’s health insurance, which Bush has twice vetoed, and tougher oversight for the banking bailout program.

And finally, Human Rights Watch releases its annual report at 10 a.m. The nonprofit group has not had nice things to say about the Bush administration, but perhaps it will go easier on the United States now that Obama has vowed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Photo credit: REUTERS/John Gress (Geithner in Chicago, Nov. 24)

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