Bonuses for bailed out companies Options

[Billy]

You don't know the details, or at least you've failed to post any thus far. "everybody got a bonus" is not details. And until you have them your senseless bitching about the goings on of a company you know jack shit about makes you the good little sheep Obama wants you to be. baaaaaa!

This is what I know, Impala: Bonuses were paid out at AIG and in the sum of $165 million. That amount was divied up amongst its employees depending on their contracts. That's all the details anybody needs.

So I ask again, should AIG have paid out bonuses? Do you think that is irresponsible? Should AIG consider our tax dollars as cash in their pocket or should they have treated it as a loan?

The american people have cause to be outraged. And not just at AIG.

[dauss]

This is what I know, Impala: Bonuses were paid out at AIG and in the sum of $165 million. That amount was divied up amongst its employees depending on their contracts. That's all the details anybody needs.

So I ask again, should AIG have paid out bonuses? Do you think that is irresponsible? Should AIG consider our tax dollars as cash in their pocket or should they have treated it as a loan?

The american people have cause to be outraged. And not just at AIG.

Uhm.....Actually the $165 million was paid to the top executives. There is at least another $900 million that has been paid to the lower level employees. I do think that people have cause to be outraged, but the scale of this is like giving a family $10 and criticizing how they spent $0.01 of it.

[Billy]

Well, I guess I shouldn't be opposed to people abusing welfare either, since that's such a small tax payer expense relative to other government spending.

And honestly, I feel a better analogy is giving a homeless guy $10000 to get off his feet and off the street and the first thing he does with it is spend $10 on booze. Hey, he might use the other $9990 to clean up and fix his problems, but so far it isn't looking good.

[dauss]

And honestly, I feel a better analogy is giving a homeless guy $10000 to get off his feet and off the street and the first thing he does with it is spend $10 on booze. Hey, he might use the other $9990 to clean up and fix his problems, but so far it isn't looking good.

Except that it has been 6 months since they were given the money and a significant chunk has been used to cover derivative insurance losses. Remember last month when AIG announced they lost over $60 billion? So, that is a horrible analogy because the first they did wasn't paying executive bonuses.

[impala454]

Uhm.....Actually the $165 million was paid to the top executives. There is at least another $900 million that has been paid to the lower level employees. I do think that people have cause to be outraged, but the scale of this is like giving a family $10 and criticizing how they spent $0.01 of it.

Yeah I barked up that tree earlier in the thread and it didn't sit well apparently... good thinking though.

And very interesting find on that resignation letter.

[Hartmann]

Here's the resignation letter from one of the VP of AIG Jake DeSantis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/...antis.html?_r=2

I posted this earlier in the thread thinking it would clear up the argument...

The letter gives a great "from the mind of a worker" perspective.

[chook]

The problem is that noone is going to say we were responsible for it. I say let it all die. I remember 10 years ago when enron failed and everyone was talking about ethics for a few months.

That guy should state which division was responsible, instead of saying it wasn't him.