farce: 4 a : a ridiculous or empty show b: mockery
AIG received has received more than $170 billion of our money we pay out of our paychecks to the government.
AIG is paying out $165 million in bonuses to the same people who put the company in a position to need bailout money.
“We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses — which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury,” Liddy (government-appointed chair of AIG) said in a letter to Geithner (Treasury Secretary).
Bonuses will be paid to 400 employees, ranging from $1,000 to $6.5 million according to the NY Times. They say 7 people might get over $3 million in bonus money.
I don't like the idea of a bonus for poor performance regardless of the amount (maybe it was put in place by the same people who got trophies as kids just for playing) but I'm less bothered by those getting less than $10,000. I'm guessing those are the people who just did what they were told to do by the big dogs getting the big bonuses (of course, now it looks like maybe they shouldn't have).
If you're one of those big dogs, I wonder how you go to a dinner party and comfortably face your friends.
As far as I’m concerned, they’re nothing but a bunch of criminals. What incredibly psychotic “business sense” to reward people for failing — starting with the bailout, and continuing with the bonuses. It would make far more sense to reward those who are doing well, thus bolstering good economic and business practices, growing those businesses that are doing well and providing more jobs thereby.
The problem is, they can be hardly criminalized – because I guess they made everything completely legal. Share owners don’t have fast and ready-to-use tools to get rid bad management during crisis time and the executives know, their golden years in AIG are finished, so trying to get as much loot as possible…
Take care
Lorne