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AIG bonuses, Part II
When we first heard that an idea floating around Congress was to tax these arrogant incompetents, some of whom don't even work at AIG any more, 100% of their bonuses, it seemed like the perfect way to rattle their sense of entitlement.
If the government's going to take it all away anyway, why not get ahead of the parade and look like a patriot by offering to give it up for your country? You can walk away thinking you're a hero instead of the bottom-feeder you are.
The problem is, they still can't quite bring themselves to pry their fingers completely off the loot. AIG CEO Edward Liddy said in Congressional testimony that he has asked the bigger bonus recipients to give back at least half.
To me, this is even more insulting than standing their ground. It's like they're throwing scraps to a dog. Don't they realize that what they're keeping, in some cases as much as $3 million, would put a large family that had lost its income out of its misery forever, and then some?
Are we supposed to be grateful for this show of generosity? I'm beginning to agree with Sen. Grassley that a public apology followed by a hara-kiri performance may be the only way these guys will ever learn their lesson.
Even then, they'd probably have their fingers crossed behind their backs.
CHAN LOWE
Comments
AIG certainly has plenty to account for, but even more interesting is the way laws apparently get written all by themselves. Every single member of the House/Senate conference committee has vehemently denied adding the amendment which explicitly allowed the bonuses to be paid. I think we are far more in need of an investigation of how laws write themselves than an investigation of AIG.
Posted by: Tom | March 18, 2009 7:21 PM
Fannie / Freddie just paid their people $650,000 in retention bonuses. How is this different?
I believe that FASB 157 has caused most of AIG's and the banks' problems. Not the "ignorant, incompetent AIG employees".
That punchline is as meaningless as "greedy bankers".
Posted by: Harry | March 19, 2009 12:13 AM
Breaking News: Dodd Says loophole that protects AIG Bonuses added per request of the Obama administration. The video is about a fifth of the way down.
http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/
Obama should take full and direct responsibility for this mess.
Posted by: jax | March 19, 2009 12:53 AM
And now it comes out that a lot of the companies taking these bail outs haven't paid taxes, some back as far as 2004 (you remember when times were still good). So it seems to me that they have been living on government bail outs for a while.
Posted by: Teri M | March 19, 2009 1:25 PM
We show our outrage at AIG but the actions of our own government make what this organization has done seem like a schoolyard prank. Way too many government officials accepted way too much money from this company in the form of campaign contributions. If you dig down to the root of this issue you will undoubtedly find that the politicians yelling the loudest against AIG are the folks who caused the problem in the first place. Some of these clowns should take their own advice and "quit or commit suicide."
Posted by: Kevin | March 19, 2009 1:51 PM
So here's another little tidbit I wonder about: The AIG financial group that caused this mess and triggered the outrage over the bonuses is based in London. I'm having a hard time understanding how a United States tax code change is going to get back ill gotten bonuses from folks living, working, and paying taxes in Briton :-).
Posted by: Tom | March 20, 2009 8:57 AM