ABC News is reporting that negotiators for the House, Senate and the White House stripped out a measure that could have restricted the AIG bonuses. Now that they are a source of public outrage, members of the both parties -- and the White House -- express outrage.

ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: During late-night, closed-door talks last month, negotiators for the House, Senate and White House stripped out a measure to the stimulus bill that could have restricted the AIG bonuses.

Here's the story:

Last month, the Senate unanimously approved an amendment to the stimulus bill aimed at restricting bonuses over $100,000 at any company receiving federal bailout funds. The measure, which was drafted by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applied these restrictions retroactively to bonuses received or promised in 2008 and onward.

But then...

The provision was stripped out during the closed-door conference negotiations involving House and Senate leaders and the White House. A measure by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., to limit executive compensation replaced it. But Dodd's measure explicitly exempted bonuses agreed to prior to the passage of the stimulus bill.