Before we all get on a bandwagon and start criticizing these AIG executives for taking their bonuses on our dime, we need to evaluate the entire situation. It’s easy to lose perspective when we’re constantly listening to slant.
Let’s look at the facts:
-
The American people didn’t want this bailout in the first place. This was pushed through by the president and congress against the obvious will of the people.
-
The total bailout (and I use the word “bailout” lightly) package for AIG was supposed to be around $85 Billion. They actually received somewhere around $140 Billion from the Government. The bonuses paid out with that money totaled somewhere around $165 Million. So we’re talking less than 0.001% of the total payout went to bonuses.
-
Congress could have included a ‘no-bonuses’ clause in the bill when drafting it, but purposely chose not to.
-
Congress now owns an 85% market share of AIG stock.
-
Many if not all of these bonuses were given with the understanding the executives would only receive $1 salaries for 2009. Not really a bonus, is it? It’s more like a paycheck advance. And, by the way, congress knew about this arrangement before drafting the bill.
-
The threat was given by our legislators that if the bonus money wasn’t returned it would be taxed at 100%. (so congress can now tax people at will ? – interesting)
Here’s how it distills out. This is what I call a “template”. Congress right now is establishing a pattern by which it will conduct itself in the future. The model is being instituted and they are persuading public opinion (using CNN and other news media) to back them in these decisions. They are simply setting precedence and convincing the public it’s the ‘moral’ thing to do. After all (they say) “Why should these guys get that much money in a bonus?”. Jealousy is a powerful thing.
Honestly, do you think the congressmen and women really care if AIG employees get bonuses? No. The people in Washington make more than that while stirring their morning coffee with their pinky finger.
This is simply about government taking over privately owned business and then telling them how to spend their money. And I fear that this is just the beginning of this tactic.
In the future, when Washington does this again, they’ll put in the bill a restriction on how the business can spend its money from that point on. And they’ll tell the public “we have to do this… Remember what AIG tried to pull with their bonuses?”.
I encourage you, don’t give into the urge to hate these executives because the bonus they just received is more than you’ll make in the next 10 years. That’s a red herring. It’s a diversion – a smoke screen. That’s not the real issue. The hope for becoming a millionaire is what makes this country great. Don’t let jealousy cloud your thinking.
The real point is… why did congress give them the ‘bailout’ money in the first place? Is it really as they say, because AIG is “too big to fail”? No, I say… let it fail. The public would have never felt the impact. That’s what makes America great – success and failure. No, congress gave them the money because the federal government wants to OWN them. They didn’t “Bail them out”. They “Bought them out”. Now they’re trying to say “We (as in the American people) bought them out”. But really, are you ever going to see a dime of profit from this accusation? I don’t think so.
The federal government shouldn’t own businesses. Period. That’s socialism, and it will completely destroy our civilization. (More on that in another post). This AIG thing is simply a show, a play, put on for the American people to establish a governmental takeover pattern that can and will be used over and over in the future.
The tragedy isn’t that the execs took bonuses. Who cares about that? The tragedy is that the government feels free to steam-roll private businesses and employees at taxpayer expense.
Get ready, we’re about to see a whole lot more of this.
“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session.” Mark Twain
