It is obvious that we are the victims of political posturing and the failure of media to show the full picture of what has happened. Certain congressmen in 1994 and 1996 almost force-fed mortgage lenders to make loans to people who were unable to pay the installments. The same congressmen were responsible for blocking efforts of the administration to regulate the primary secondary markets, i.e. Fany May and Freddy Mac. Then a few investment bankers got the idea that they could develop a lot of trades in packaging securities that were “mortgage backed”. Then along comes Hank Greenberg as architect of an “unconventional” risk assumption model that was “underwritten” by a couple hundred people in a London office. According to this publication, the London office was closed and the staff fired a number of months ago. So, Greenberg was fired by the AIG board, and the “underwriters” were fired – so now we have serious need to keep on the payroll those people who can sort through this pile of spaghetti – thus, employment contracts drawn up over a year ago before it hit the fan are the subject of the publicity. Politicians who are culpable need to find a scapegoat – which is now the very group needed to unscramble the mess. This is textbook politics and too many of us are falling for it.
Let’s tap some phones. Then send the bonus checks with the IRS audit notices.
Should be some interesting converstaions with lawyers, accountants, and bankers.
What a joke. Princess Pelosi demands access to an Airforce G5 24/7/365. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd get sweethart deals from the industry they regulate. Maxine Walters, Al Sharpton, Charley Rangle, et al, find race a motivating factor on a daily basis, and find a way to squeeze $$ out if it. Henry Waxman has suddenly slowed down the endless trials and hearings now that it’s his party exposed with all the graft and corruption.
The FBI should investigate EVERY single Senator, then Congressman, then White House Appointee. Oh, and eventually take a look at BHO’s actual birth certificate. That will show up mysteriously on a whitehouse conference room table, like the RoseLaw firm records. Only this time, it will be on the last day of his 2nd term. God Forbid that happens.
I LOVE this idea! Send FBI and IRS agents to deliver the “bonus” checks…and start asking questions. Might I suggest they also confiscate passports as these checks are handed out.
I still like the idea of the Class Action Suit against AIG.
Bad news people ANY bonus paid to ANY employee in the U.S. MUST be posted with a social security number. Therefore they are all taxable.
Believe it or not the govenment was notified on FRIDAY of all the bonuses and whom they were being paid.The top official notified was the secretery of the Treasurer and he apporved them. He then reports to the President. Opps.
Holy smoke Bullwinkle. Sorry but all the huff and puf of our illustrious president is all a stage show for us poor tax paying people. He knew last week of all of the bonuses.
Hard to believe or just a good lesson in politics. If you see something that most of the people are upset about, take thier side an it will keep your popularity up.
If you need any lessons in the fine art of polcitics and public persception just talk to Pres. Obama. He knows it all.
Just call me one who is involved in independent auditing and has seen certain documents. Sorry but this is all true.
I totally agree that this is ridiculous. What company gives out bonuses for letting their company get in this kind of mess? Without our tax dollars they would be in bankrupcy court where they belong. Goes the way that some politicians think, let’s reward failure. Unfortunately more and more of the decisions coming from the administration and congress are on the premise of rewarding those who fail.Yes AIG is to blame, but so is the administration and every congress person who voted for the fiasco of these bonuses.I know they probalbly will tell us they didn’t have time to read it. If they did read it and allowed this to happen, then that really shows their incompetence. Please remember this episode at the ballot box.
And if there was NO AIG – wouldn’t that mean the company was BANKRUPT and would have no MONEY to pay the executives (who were the Azhoes responsible for this mess in the first place) not to mention that none of them would have a JOB – Contract or no Contract – you can’t get blood from a stone
If any other person on this earth put in a performance like they did and managed to drag this institution into the ground they would have been FIRED – and unless I’m an idiot – FIRED means no BONUS!
This is all capitol hills fault for not addressing this in the first place – OOoooo Lets all rush around and try to stick our finger in the dike after it’s already leaking and legislate ourselves out of our own oversight and stupidity
This is only a glimpse of what we have to expect out of this administration – I hate to see what’s next…
If they’re trying to “honor” payouts to keep management isn’t that like throwing gasoline into a fire to put it out?
Who in their right mind would want to keep any of these people on the payroll??
I say fire them all for doing such a crappy job and the contract goes out the window – They all should be in jail with Madoff
Here’s one for you. AIG reported to the NY Attorney General the names of 73 people in NY who will receive bonuses of $1,000,000 or more. In one case, a $4,000,000 bonus went to someone who had left the company. AIG needs to be investigated by the FBI to find out who’s who in this rats nest.
well, first of all the money we sent them to bail them out was for capital money to keep the afloat to operate, not give away. operational money…..
if they were short capital for paying out bonuses, then our money is not be used for that. now, here’s the fun part: if they have enough capital to pay for the bonuses, what happened to the rest of the money? where did our tax paying dollars go? it better had not be for the bonuses, because, bonuses are based on performance and when AIG falls, how is that incentive to be profitable?
wait, congress failed us, look at our debt, i should not being paying their salary!!! and that is my tax dollar hard @ work. afterall, did they not try to find a reason for steroid use in baseball, which is not a national security issue but a baseball issue. now, look they are trying to stave off failure/bankruptcy only to see more money going into a failed company. oops! FAILED!!! let it sink and let those folks fail to get a bonus check.
Maybe instead of having the FBI hand out the bonus checks we could have some Americans that have lost their jobs, houses, and self respect ring their door bells and hand them their “well deserved” checks for $1,000,000…….
I understand the frustration everyone is feeling about these AIG bonuses. However, I can’t help but believe this frustration is at least in part misdirected. Assuming the employee contracts are legal, were executed prior to the financial trouble at AIG, and are being paid in accordance with their terms, etc., etc., is it right and proper to now deny these employees of their contractually-agreed compensation? I don’t think so, at least not in this country. And for the politicians who swore an oath to protect the constitution of the United States, it would be hypocritical, immoral, and I believe illegal for them to use the institutions of our government to deprive them of their bonuses, regardless of how popular it might be, or how good it might feel.
That being said, shouldn’t our frustration be directed at the politicians who after already failing to regulate and provide oversight to critically important industries, now can’t seem to understand that before you take ownership in a company and/or obligate the taxpayers of the United States to billions of dollars of liabilities, you have a fully developed plan that includes legal mechanisms for addressing a wide variety of issues such as these bonuses? At minimum, I would think that any bailout, for any industry, would have the same kind of controls and look-back tools that any bankruptcy court would. After all, but for the bailout, AIG would be bankrupt.
Finally, given the majority of congressman and senators are trained attorneys, what the hell were they thinking? If the AIG bailout to-date is their earnest best effort at protecting our collective interests, we should all be very afraid.
1. When did they enter into the contract?
2. Is it a legally binding contract?
3. Why did they enter into these contracts, could it be to keep good employees when the ship was on fire.
We own the company now,(taxpayers) do we really want our 170 billion investment to go down the drain. Stop acting like employees and start acting like the employer. Dont look to politians who never have run a business, or for that matter anything (Obama,Frank & Dodd)to know how to run an insurance conglomerate.
I don’t care when the contracts were signed – I want to know how you get a bonus AFTER you have left the employment of the company?!? I’ve never had a prior employer give me a bonus after I left. That’s one of the parts that is so infuriating about this. Along with the mindset that guarantees this kind of money in the first place. It’s these kinds of salaries and bonuses that also helped many companies fail. Make these people live in the real world for once!
another thing most folks are forgeting is that some of these bonuses are given to retain these folks despite the bad performance. this is what make folks mad! we have to keep them and yet pay them for poor performance. now, the question is: is the money the taxpayers giving being used to pay bonuses, because if so, then we need to rethink why we gave them money! if they lost money because of their bad performance, then that company should have the money set aside for these bonuses.
Calm down everyone. None of us have any idea under what circumstances these AIG execs were contractually promised bonuses. Bonuses aren’t necessarily tied to profitability. Besides, Tim Geitner our tax dodging Secretary of the Treasury orchestrated the AIG bailout and knew about the bonus provisions. So did Chris Dodd. I do agree that these execs show extremely bad taste in taking the bonuses.
I have not forgotten that the Bush administration supported the bailout-BAD IDEA.
I think it wise to remember that the people who made the mess are gone, as well as other support people who wanted to flee AIG. But the people unscrambling the mess were the oned retained, not the underwriters who made the obligations.
It is obvious that we are the victims of political posturing and the failure of media to show the full picture of what has happened. Certain congressmen in 1994 and 1996 almost force-fed mortgage lenders to make loans to people who were unable to pay the installments. The same congressmen were responsible for blocking efforts of the administration to regulate the primary secondary markets, i.e. Fany May and Freddy Mac. Then a few investment bankers got the idea that they could develop a lot of trades in packaging securities that were “mortgage backed”. Then along comes Hank Greenberg as architect of an “unconventional” risk assumption model that was “underwritten” by a couple hundred people in a London office. According to this publication, the London office was closed and the staff fired a number of months ago. So, Greenberg was fired by the AIG board, and the “underwriters” were fired – so now we have serious need to keep on the payroll those people who can sort through this pile of spaghetti – thus, employment contracts drawn up over a year ago before it hit the fan are the subject of the publicity. Politicians who are culpable need to find a scapegoat – which is now the very group needed to unscramble the mess. This is textbook politics and too many of us are falling for it.
Let’s tap some phones. Then send the bonus checks with the IRS audit notices.
Should be some interesting converstaions with lawyers, accountants, and bankers.
Yo, Al. I kinda like da way you tink.
Me an Shorty was jus sayin we could fix dis whole mess for a little incentive of our own. Capiche?
What a joke. Princess Pelosi demands access to an Airforce G5 24/7/365. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd get sweethart deals from the industry they regulate. Maxine Walters, Al Sharpton, Charley Rangle, et al, find race a motivating factor on a daily basis, and find a way to squeeze $$ out if it. Henry Waxman has suddenly slowed down the endless trials and hearings now that it’s his party exposed with all the graft and corruption.
The FBI should investigate EVERY single Senator, then Congressman, then White House Appointee. Oh, and eventually take a look at BHO’s actual birth certificate. That will show up mysteriously on a whitehouse conference room table, like the RoseLaw firm records. Only this time, it will be on the last day of his 2nd term. God Forbid that happens.
I LOVE this idea! Send FBI and IRS agents to deliver the “bonus” checks…and start asking questions. Might I suggest they also confiscate passports as these checks are handed out.
I still like the idea of the Class Action Suit against AIG.
Bad news people ANY bonus paid to ANY employee in the U.S. MUST be posted with a social security number. Therefore they are all taxable.
Believe it or not the govenment was notified on FRIDAY of all the bonuses and whom they were being paid.The top official notified was the secretery of the Treasurer and he apporved them. He then reports to the President. Opps.
Holy smoke Bullwinkle. Sorry but all the huff and puf of our illustrious president is all a stage show for us poor tax paying people. He knew last week of all of the bonuses.
Hard to believe or just a good lesson in politics. If you see something that most of the people are upset about, take thier side an it will keep your popularity up.
If you need any lessons in the fine art of polcitics and public persception just talk to Pres. Obama. He knows it all.
Just call me one who is involved in independent auditing and has seen certain documents. Sorry but this is all true.
I totally agree that this is ridiculous. What company gives out bonuses for letting their company get in this kind of mess? Without our tax dollars they would be in bankrupcy court where they belong. Goes the way that some politicians think, let’s reward failure. Unfortunately more and more of the decisions coming from the administration and congress are on the premise of rewarding those who fail.Yes AIG is to blame, but so is the administration and every congress person who voted for the fiasco of these bonuses.I know they probalbly will tell us they didn’t have time to read it. If they did read it and allowed this to happen, then that really shows their incompetence. Please remember this episode at the ballot box.
And if there was NO AIG – wouldn’t that mean the company was BANKRUPT and would have no MONEY to pay the executives (who were the Azhoes responsible for this mess in the first place) not to mention that none of them would have a JOB – Contract or no Contract – you can’t get blood from a stone
If any other person on this earth put in a performance like they did and managed to drag this institution into the ground they would have been FIRED – and unless I’m an idiot – FIRED means no BONUS!
This is all capitol hills fault for not addressing this in the first place – OOoooo Lets all rush around and try to stick our finger in the dike after it’s already leaking and legislate ourselves out of our own oversight and stupidity
This is only a glimpse of what we have to expect out of this administration – I hate to see what’s next…
If they’re trying to “honor” payouts to keep management isn’t that like throwing gasoline into a fire to put it out?
Who in their right mind would want to keep any of these people on the payroll??
I say fire them all for doing such a crappy job and the contract goes out the window – They all should be in jail with Madoff
Here’s one for you. AIG reported to the NY Attorney General the names of 73 people in NY who will receive bonuses of $1,000,000 or more. In one case, a $4,000,000 bonus went to someone who had left the company. AIG needs to be investigated by the FBI to find out who’s who in this rats nest.
well, first of all the money we sent them to bail them out was for capital money to keep the afloat to operate, not give away. operational money…..
if they were short capital for paying out bonuses, then our money is not be used for that. now, here’s the fun part: if they have enough capital to pay for the bonuses, what happened to the rest of the money? where did our tax paying dollars go? it better had not be for the bonuses, because, bonuses are based on performance and when AIG falls, how is that incentive to be profitable?
wait, congress failed us, look at our debt, i should not being paying their salary!!! and that is my tax dollar hard @ work. afterall, did they not try to find a reason for steroid use in baseball, which is not a national security issue but a baseball issue. now, look they are trying to stave off failure/bankruptcy only to see more money going into a failed company. oops! FAILED!!! let it sink and let those folks fail to get a bonus check.
Maybe instead of having the FBI hand out the bonus checks we could have some Americans that have lost their jobs, houses, and self respect ring their door bells and hand them their “well deserved” checks for $1,000,000…….
I understand the frustration everyone is feeling about these AIG bonuses. However, I can’t help but believe this frustration is at least in part misdirected. Assuming the employee contracts are legal, were executed prior to the financial trouble at AIG, and are being paid in accordance with their terms, etc., etc., is it right and proper to now deny these employees of their contractually-agreed compensation? I don’t think so, at least not in this country. And for the politicians who swore an oath to protect the constitution of the United States, it would be hypocritical, immoral, and I believe illegal for them to use the institutions of our government to deprive them of their bonuses, regardless of how popular it might be, or how good it might feel.
That being said, shouldn’t our frustration be directed at the politicians who after already failing to regulate and provide oversight to critically important industries, now can’t seem to understand that before you take ownership in a company and/or obligate the taxpayers of the United States to billions of dollars of liabilities, you have a fully developed plan that includes legal mechanisms for addressing a wide variety of issues such as these bonuses? At minimum, I would think that any bailout, for any industry, would have the same kind of controls and look-back tools that any bankruptcy court would. After all, but for the bailout, AIG would be bankrupt.
Finally, given the majority of congressman and senators are trained attorneys, what the hell were they thinking? If the AIG bailout to-date is their earnest best effort at protecting our collective interests, we should all be very afraid.
1. When did they enter into the contract?
2. Is it a legally binding contract?
3. Why did they enter into these contracts, could it be to keep good employees when the ship was on fire.
We own the company now,(taxpayers) do we really want our 170 billion investment to go down the drain. Stop acting like employees and start acting like the employer. Dont look to politians who never have run a business, or for that matter anything (Obama,Frank & Dodd)to know how to run an insurance conglomerate.
You put a businessman and a politican in the room together, One Fat man and one rich man will leave the room. Guess which one is which.
I don’t care when the contracts were signed – I want to know how you get a bonus AFTER you have left the employment of the company?!? I’ve never had a prior employer give me a bonus after I left. That’s one of the parts that is so infuriating about this. Along with the mindset that guarantees this kind of money in the first place. It’s these kinds of salaries and bonuses that also helped many companies fail. Make these people live in the real world for once!
another thing most folks are forgeting is that some of these bonuses are given to retain these folks despite the bad performance. this is what make folks mad! we have to keep them and yet pay them for poor performance. now, the question is: is the money the taxpayers giving being used to pay bonuses, because if so, then we need to rethink why we gave them money! if they lost money because of their bad performance, then that company should have the money set aside for these bonuses.
Calm down everyone. None of us have any idea under what circumstances these AIG execs were contractually promised bonuses. Bonuses aren’t necessarily tied to profitability. Besides, Tim Geitner our tax dodging Secretary of the Treasury orchestrated the AIG bailout and knew about the bonus provisions. So did Chris Dodd. I do agree that these execs show extremely bad taste in taking the bonuses.
I have not forgotten that the Bush administration supported the bailout-BAD IDEA.
I think it wise to remember that the people who made the mess are gone, as well as other support people who wanted to flee AIG. But the people unscrambling the mess were the oned retained, not the underwriters who made the obligations.
The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy. I said this in 1811 and it is still true today.