AIG to pay $165 million in bonuses this year

[Sheogorath]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/bu...5AIG.html?_r=1

u gib moni plz?

Seriously, anybody else want to join me in storming AIG headquarters and demanding a 'not murdering everybody' bonus? I feel that's a much nicer bonus than the 'screwing everybody' bonus?

[Fragony]

Tars and feathers. Ain't their money. Paint their buts red and throw them in the monkey-cage.

[rasoforos]

Oh well...

...on the other hand...


...they secured a huge bailout...


...so they are worth a bonus

[KukriKhan]

Q: Which insurance/assurance company backs the (very generous) Congressional Retirement Plan?

[Proletariat]

The demonization of all things banking related is probably one of the most massive movements of ignorant mob mentality seen recently and distances us from recovering from this mess by leaps and bounds.

But it's fun and we all get to enjoy some disingenuous outrage by focusing solely on the banks alone and letting all the other contributing factors in this mind bogglingly complex recession go ignored.

[LittleGrizzly]

Without such bonuses how would these companies mantain such excellent performance ?

[Proletariat]

Good point. Let's kill every banker and solve this problem for good.

[Lemur]

The demonization of all things banking related [...]

AIG is an insurer. If you're going to heap abuse on the angry villagers, at least get the monster right.

[Gregoshi]

AIG is an insurer. If you're going to heap abuse on the angry villagers, at least get the monster right.

AIG is a witch!

[Fisherking]

I have a plan! Lets just put a varmint bounty on them! $50 for an investment banker $100 for a lawyer, who knows…that way you can do like Shakespeare said…and start over.

[LittleGrizzly]

The thing is its hard to criticise the bonuses without looking at the people the money is going to and thier performance...

For all we know there's some super guy working there that single handedly stopped them being in a far far worse position and is deserving of every single penny he gets and maybe more...

Thats a slight exageration obviously but even in a failing company there may be individuals who performed well despite the conditions and made/saved the company a lot of money...

Just out of fear as coming across as some capitalist loving conservative... Down with the insurers/bankers and moneymen! Take thier ill deserved bonuses for destorying the world and put them towards helping the people who lost thier homes and possessions for thier greed!

[KukriKhan]

The thing is its hard to criticise the bonuses without looking at the people the money is going to and thier performance...


Just out of fear as coming across as some capitalist loving conservative... Down with the insurers/bankers and moneymen! Take thier ill deserved bonuses for destorying the world and put them towards helping the people who lost thier homes and possessions for thier greed!

Whew! Ya had me scared there for a moment LittleGrizzly.

[Askthepizzaguy]

There is the problem that some people in these companies with corrupt leadership did hard work all year and, if anyone is going to turn those companies around, they need to be rewarded for their hard work.

The blame goes to the top. Fire the CEO's, fire anyone responsible. But don't punish the worker.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I was just going to comment that $165M seems pretty restrained. What was it previously?

Anyway, +1 Prole

[Hosakawa Tito]

Pay them their bonus in AIG stock...

[Askthepizzaguy]

Whoever turns AIG around does deserve huge amounts of stock in that company, in fact, the present leadership needs to have their stock stripped from them, and given to all the workers, and then it needs to be under new management.

[LittleGrizzly]

in fact, the present leadership needs to have their stock stripped from them, and given to all the workers

ATPG you commie you!

Hosa wins best post of the thread!

[Askthepizzaguy]

Heh, I might be a commie, but until you start really rewarding the workers with some kind of capitalist incentive, and punish bad management, your capitalist system will continue to hit new lows.

It takes a little bit of the left wing to keep the right wing functional.

[Xiahou]

The demonization of all things banking related is probably one of the most massive movements of ignorant mob mentality seen recently and distances us from recovering from this mess by leaps and bounds.

But it's fun and we all get to enjoy some disingenuous outrage by focusing solely on the banks alone and letting all the other contributing factors in this mind bogglingly complex recession go ignored.

Well said.
For a company the size of AIG, that much money is a drop in the bucket and when it's spread over all their divisions and what's probably thousands of executives. I was sympathetic to some of the more outrageous stories early on, but it's really getting out of hand now. If you want someone to get mad at, start with your elected representatives who forked over hundreds of billions of dollars of your money to this companies with no restrictions whatsoever.

It takes a little bit of the left wing to keep the right wing functional.

Outright property seizure for the purposes of redistribution is more than a little left wing....

[Askthepizzaguy]

Who's property has been seized?

Sorry, I am not really paying attention, I'm juggling a bunch of mafia games at the moment.

[Xiahou]

Who's property has been seized?

Sorry, I am not really paying attention, I'm juggling a bunch of mafia games at the moment.

You advocated stripping the stocks from the executives that own them and distributing them among the workers.

Whoever turns AIG around does deserve huge amounts of stock in that company, in fact, the present leadership needs to have their stock stripped from them, and given to all the workers, and then it needs to be under new management.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Sorry, I meant to say those who had committed crimes, falsified documents and reports, interfered with investigations, perpetrated fraud, and so on and so forth. Surely we can get some people indicted. I do not advocate stripping property from the law-abiding, nor even do I support an income tax. I'd prefer a sales and property tax bump, and the elimination of most of the functions of the IRS, but that's a different topic.

[Husar]

If you want someone to get mad at, start with your elected representatives who forked over hundreds of billions of dollars of your money to this companies with no restrictions whatsoever.

WHAT? That would be government intervention! Are you a commie?!

[Banquo's Ghost]

WHAT? That would be government intervention! Are you a commie?!

The above would benefit from a smiley so that readers knew you were joking.

Having said that, I'm not quite sure how Xiahou's comment could be interpreted that way, even in friendly jest.

[Hosakawa Tito]

For a company the size of AIG, that much money is a drop in the bucket and when it's spread over all their divisions and what's probably thousands of executives. I was sympathetic to some of the more outrageous stories early on, but it's really getting out of hand now. If you want someone to get mad at, start with your elected representatives who forked over hundreds of billions of dollars of your money to this companies with no restrictions whatsoever.

From what I have read, the bonuses are a contractual obligation from before the actual financial meltdown, Spring of 2008. So refusing to pay = lawsuit. Xiahou is correct. The Bush & Obama Administrations, and Congress, have dropped the ball on this by not tying bailout money to amendments to these obligations. AIG is an insurance company that was run like a hedge fund. Combined with the elimination of the Uptick Rule, this has left them and other financial institutions open to bear raiders.

[KukriKhan]

... this has left them and other financial institutions open to bear raiders.

Yeah. Nobody wants even semi-bare raider(ettes) running the show:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

insert: gratutitous photo of an Oakland Raiderette cheerleader

I'll be gettin' me coat.

-----------------

Let's not forget that the very first bailout bill failed to pass because of public outcry. The second version passed when we (citizens) didn't re-apply the same pressure. Sadly, now they (congress critters) are encouraged and re-energized by our apparent apathy.

[Husar]

The above would benefit from a smiley so that readers knew you were joking.

That may be right, I probably thought it was obvious.

Having said that, I'm not quite sure how Xiahou's comment could be interpreted that way, even in friendly jest.

Well, the government restricts the actions of the comany and intervenes with company policy, as the article says, this could have direct impact on the company which would lose it's very best workers due to the government forbidding the company to pay them huge bonuses. Without it's best workers the company could not compete anymore and would go bankrupt and all the taxpayer bailout money would be lost.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Yeah. Nobody wants even semi-bare raider(ettes) running the show:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'll be gettin' me coat.

-----------------

Let's not forget that the very first bailout bill failed to pass because of public outcry. The second version passed when we (citizens) didn't re-apply the same pressure. Sadly, now they (congress critters) are encouraged and re-energized by our apparent apathy.

Nice point. Twain had it right in describing our legislative institution, no?

Oh, btw, I'm not sure that your post will pass Pappy's "No Babes in the Backroom" dictum, though I did, personally, appreciate her double Laffer Curves.

[KukriKhan]

Nice point. Twain had it right in describing our legislative institution, no?

Oh, btw, I'm not sure that your post will pass Pappy's "No Babes in the Backroom" dictum, though I did, personally, appreciate her double Laffer Curves.

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

Of course, I cheerfully comply with any and all backroom protocols. HosakawaTito's "bear raiders" remark (well-said, I must say) tempted me a little too much (at least I didn't post a bare Oakland Raider player).

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

And now the President is getting in on the mob fury.

Before I talk about the new steps we’re taking to get credit flowing to small businesses across our country, I want to comment on the news about executive bonuses at AIG.

This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed.

Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?

In the last six months, AIG has received substantial sums from the US Treasury. I’ve asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.

I know he’s working to resolve this matter with the new CEO, Edward Liddy, who came on board after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year.

This isn’t just a matter of dollars and cents. It’s about our fundamental values.

All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multi-million dollar bonuses. And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules.

That is an ethic we must demand.

What this situation also underscores is the need for overall financial regulatory reform, so we don’t find ourselves in this position again, and for some form of resolution mechanism in dealing with troubled financial institutions, so we have greater authority to protect the American taxpayer and our financial system in cases such as this. We will work with Congress to that end.

I imagine attempts to block the bonuses would be ex post facto if terms weren't set at the beginning, no?