$500 Million in AIG Bonuses? Who Cares.

[Truth2Tell]

Where is the populist outrage over http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aatlky_cH.tY">$2 Trillion in secret Fed loans?

:shrug:

Just sayin'

We've got bigger problems than AIG to worry about. But AIG execs will make nice lightning rods for awhile - while the real criminals make their escape.

[dkf]

1. No. What it tells you is that AIG will pay out on its contracts no matter what.

And they will force the taxpayer to dish out.

What's more, they don't take instructions from the U.S. Government.

Therefore when they get even more of those huge bills on their credit default swaps, they expect us to pony up no questions asked.

We need to put AIG out of its misery.

[Truth2Tell]

2. I'm fine with putting AIG out of its misery.

Long long overdue. But doesn't change my point that we are ignoring the forrest for this tree.

[dkf]

3. Estimates are it will take $200 billion to close out AIG Credit Default Swap contract.

This is all about the bigger problem you were talking about.

Its about how AIG is willing to stiff the American Taxpayer.

[Truth2Tell]

4. I just worry

that we will lop the head off of AIG and then announce problem solved - which of course it won't be.

[dkf]

7. That is the new head of AIG.

The old head was lopped off already.

[JCMach1]

6. That seems like a low-ball figure... the amount of outstanding

default swaps is huge... the trouble is no one is still sure how much AIG will have to shell out...

The trouble is if they go belly-up, they are going to take DOZENS of MAJOR banks (especially in Europe) with them. i.e. we would be in a Crash of '29 position then. :(

[dkf]

8. That is the estimate of how much it will cost to close today.

Of course if the economy gets worse, that number will grow.

[JCMach1]

12. Exactly... what a horrible mess :(

I have always said since the law treats corporations with personhood, so we need to have the DEATH PENALTY for corporations.

AIG should receive this! Break it up and tear it apart IMMEDIATELY...

[chimpymustgo]

19. Best post I've read all day.

[aquart]

5. Well, that's a nice smokescreen.

2 trillion is simply too big a concept. But bonuses to fat cats? That's a symbol for the whole bloody greed feed.

Trying to distract us from a useful rallying symbol to the "big picture" is, frankly, a form of sabotage.

[F.C.James]

9. Bonus or prison time ?

What these AIG "execs" need more than a bonus is some prison time. I bet if the FBI were to concentrate real hard, they could indict every damn one of them. Anybody who destroys a multi billion company has to have done something illegal.

As far as replacing these jewels, they need to hold a Dutch auction. One where the bids go down.

Start off at one million a year and see if they get any lower bids. "Do I hear $900,000 a year ?" "Now I'm bid $100,000". "How about $50,000 a year"? "This gentleman here with the bucket and broom offers to be an executive for $20,000 per anum with no bonus".

The lowest bidding junior exec in corporate America gets their jobs. They couldn't possibly do worse than these jokers did.

[sendero]

10. I hear this point a lot..

.. I don't understand what you don't get.

We can't do jack shit about the 2 trillion, or even about the fact that our govt has decided it HAS to bail out AIG, Citi, etc. etc. etc.

There is some level of fuzziness there - will the entire system unravel if we DON'T bail them out?

But there is no fuzziness about the bonuses. Giving EXTRA PAY to the greedy morons that brought down our economy? FUCK NO.

[Truth2Tell]

13. will the entire system unravel if we DON'T bail them out?

as long as they have you asking that question they have won the propaganda battle.

Are there really WMDs in Iraq? Why take the chance. Better to believe our leaders when they invoke THE FEAR.

[sendero]

21. Hey.....

... I'm for letting the bad banks DIE and backstopping the DEPOSITORS only.

But with folks like Geithner and Summers at the helm, it's not going to happen.

[Greyhound]

11. Don't you see? That's the beauty of the system.

We're distracted by the tiny outrage long enough that our retarded attention span will expire and the huge outrages will go unnoticed.

Why do you hate...

What was I talking about?

[kentuck]

14. I do think the "bonus" issue is a major diversion...

from the bigger picture. If they do something to stop the bonuses, then they hope people will not question the other $155 billion or more to AIG? That is the bigger question - not the bonuses.

[leftstreet]

15. It's no different than Reagan's 'welfare queens' bullshit

Everyone's falling for it, and politicians can really sink their teeth into it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html?hp

Word of the bonuses last week stirred such deep consternation inside the Obama administration that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told the firm they were unacceptable and demanded they be renegotiated, a senior administration official said. But the bonuses will go forward because lawyers said the firm was contractually obligated to pay them.

The payments to A.I.G.’s financial products unit are in addition to $121 million in previously scheduled bonuses for the company’s senior executives and 6,400 employees across the sprawling corporation. Mr. Geithner last week pressured A.I.G. to cut the $9.6 million going to the top 50 executives in half and tie the rest to performance.

Exactly how far would that bonus money go?

[ljm2002]

16. The reason this has sparked outrage...

...is it's something a regular person can get their head around.

You talk about $2 trillion in secret funds being doled out, and it's like, that sounds like high finance and secretive stuff that I don't have a prayer of understanding. But you talk about half a billion in bonuses going to the same people who caused this mess, now that's something I can understand.

I don't get all of the people saying we should ignore the bonuses. Sure, it's a tiny part of the overall picture. And yes, from a purely financial perspective, we need to look at the more massive amounts. I just don't see it as either/or; rather, I see it as both/and.

The bonus issue is a catalyst. It is the one thing that has focused everyone's attention, in a way that nothing else did. It's got the left and the right and everyone in between frothing at the mouth (myself included). I think that's a good thing. I don't want it to stop there, that's for sure. But I do want to see a populist movement that brings together labor and the right and the left and the greens and friggin' everyone except the top .1% who are running things right now -- I want to see *them* run out of their castles and the reins of power removed from their hands and I want them and their progeny put in the poorhouse.

Okay fine, it was just a rant. But you see what I'm saying. Populist outrage can be a powerful force for change and it's way past due.

[MadBadger]

17. I dont know about you, but I have a lot of outrage to go around.

[rucky]

18. Let's worry about all of our problems.

If this outrage helps shed light on the less-known abuses, then let's go with it!

[Truth2Tell]

20. Fair enough, but then lets make sure

it DOES help shed light on the bigger abuses rather than just diverting attention.