I'm not outraged by the AIG bonuses. The bailout itself, yes, I'm a bit unhappy about. But with AIG remaining solvent thanks to you and me and future generations of taxpayers, I'm of the opinion that they should operate the way a business — not a government agency — should operate. Attracting and retaining talented individuals is part of the equation.
I saw some of the Congressional committee grilling of current AIG CEO Edward Liddy today, and it was clear to me that the only person in the room who knew the first thing about running a business was Liddy. Certainly none of the congressmen I saw had a clue how business works.
In fact, after seeing the verbal abuse he took today from Barney Frank & Co., if I were Liddy, I would tell Congress to get stuffed, and pay more bonuses to those AIG employees still on the payroll who are doing their jobs up to standard.
Outraged congresscritters' heads would likely proceed to do fair imitations of a MOAB.
The thought of which makes me smile.
Imperial Department of Hegemony By Force
Barney Frank is a thug and obviously loved his role as judge and berator. The kangaroo court he conducted with Liddy was chilling. We must stand up to this administration as a nation of united Americans, before all our liberties and rights guaranteed by the Constitution are abolished.
This isn't Cuba. It isn't Russia. But, dear God, it sure isn't looking much like America anymore, when this kind of rage-filled grilling is permitted by elected "servants of the people." And with the lying done by Sen. Dodd (who wrote that the provision to allow AIG to give out the bonuses) and Sec. of Treasury Tim Geithner (who confessed he lied and did indeed know about the bonuses), AIG should be issued a formal apology and these jokers run out of town on a rail.
Your comment, "...if I were Liddy, I would tell Congress to get stuffed, and pay more bonuses to those AIG employees still on the payroll who are doing their jobs up to standard" is brilliant! Thanks for the needed laugh!