Shame on you, AIG!

I don't have much to add on this topic that hasn't been said or written about already (namely, that this is really fucked up and totally wrong on so many levels); however, I am left wondering if auto workers with union contracts can be put out on the street and have their contracts voided, why can't the AIG contracts be voided as well? Legal agreements like these get voided ALL THE TIME when layoffs occur or when companies close their doors. What gets me is that the U.S. government owns 80% of AIG, and if not for the bailouts the company would not exist and these bonuses would not be paid out.

This is a big test for the Obama administration, I think, as well as our new Congress. They have to put their money where their mouth is on these bonuses and make something happen. Even I thought poor Geithner looked like a school boy next to Obama the other day, who sounded like he was saying that Geithner's homework was far from being done. But using "every single legal avenue" to stop these bonuses is not enough, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, there is no precedent for this situation, but I think Congress should order the contracts void and suspend payments of the bonuses. What is AIG going to do, take the U.S. government to court? And so what if they do? A.) they have no money for lawyers fees, B.) they are on the wrong end of the PR card here and C.) the bonuses will NOT get paid for months.

It simply goes without saying that giving bonuses to the people who brought down AIG is a perversion of justice. Officials at the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Dept. should have put terms into the original bailout agreement that prevented this. They didn't. It was a chaotic time, and legitimate worries about a global financial collapse obviously clouded thoughts about rules to prevent rapacious traders from holding the government hostage. If it's any consolation, the $165 million bonus pool is relatively small.

Still, it grates because this country has a serious problem with executive entitlement and I think it's outrageous. I think this country could stand a redistribution of wealth and not to Wall Street sharks or corporate execs.

Mark Bruno
AWOP Contributor
Author of Left Of Center Blog

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Peace Y'all