Chairman of embattled AIG says company made financial mistakes,

[acmavm]

calls bonuses distasteful

<snip>


03-18-2009 10:29 AM
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- The chief of failed insurance conglomerate AIG acknowledged Wednesday to skeptical congressional interrogators that the company's multibillion bonuses to employees were "distasteful" to many Americans including himself and that "I share that anger." Lawmakers from both parties expressed fury over the company's behavior.

<snip>
But, he told a House Financial Services subcommittee, the $165 million in bonuses paid out over the weekend should be honored as a legal commitment of the United States government, which now owns 80 percent of the battered insurer.

"When you owe someone money, you pay that money back," he said. "We at AIG want to believe that we are all in this together," said Liddy, who was named six months ago to take over the company as part of the government rescue. Some $170 billion in tax money has now been pledged to AIG.

http://omaha.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D970H6PG0&_action=validatearticle
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WTF????? So, he's gonna go this route, is he?

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Yes, that money is so dirty & smelly! Put it away in a bank for me

so I don't have to be near it!

[acmavm]

2. Yep! (Excepts from Cuomo's letter to Barney Franks):

<snip>AIG also claims that retention of individuals at Financial Products was vital to unwinding the subsidiary's business. However, to date, AIG has been unwilling to disclose the names of those who received these retention payments making it impossible to test their claim. Moreover, as detailed below, numerous individuals who received large "retention" bonuses are no longer at the firm. Until we obtain the names of these individuals, it is impossible to determine when and why they left the firm and how it is that they received these payments.

If AIG were confident in its claim that those who received these large
bonuses were so vital to the orderly unwinding of the unit, one would
expect them to freely provide the names and positions of those who got
these bonuses. My Office will continue to seek an explanation for why each one of these individuals was so crucial to keep aboard that they were paid handsomely despite the unit's disastrous performance.

<snip>
The top recipient received more than $6.4 million;
•
The top seven bonus recipients received more than $4 million each;
•
The top ten bonus recipients received a combined $42 million;
•
22 individuals received bonuses of $2 million or more, and combined they
received more than $72 million;
•
73 individuals received bonuses of $1 million or more; and
•

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x434149

[atreides1]

3. "legal commitment of the United States government,"

Now how many treaties did the US Government sign with the Native American Tribes of this country? How many of them did the US Government abrogate?

The US Government has a long history of going back on its word, just recently the Bush administration violated the Geneva Conventions.

"We at AIG want to believe that we are all in this together," said Liddy,"

If we were all in this together I'd be getting a bonus too, along with everyone else!