Closing Arguments: How to Punish AIG?

Fire them, and make them pay the US government those bonus amounts.

It’s the government’s fault for giving them the bailout to begin with. They need to give the monies back to the taxpayers.

The contract and bonuses should be voided immediately The people giving them out should be penalized by firing each one involved and jailed.

Stop bailing out people. Then this will not happen so easily. Economy is tanking anyway regardless of what Bernanke says.

If the American taxpayer bailed them out, the American taxpayer can boycott them. Hit’em where it hurts…do not buy AIG products. Get rid of the ones you have

Why did the government not ask or inquire AIG about bonuses BEFORE throwing them money?
This so called stimulus was just a way to throw good money after bad, reward bad behaviour and save the rich CEO’s.
Quick fixes never work… and by now you would think the government would realize this… but no, they just did a stupid knee jerk reaction and threw out money, hoping to fix things… all they did was put a band-aid on a severed leg.
No more bailouts…
You seriously would think that any CEO of a big company would have the sense to realize that their company was going south and re-organize to stop the bleeding… but they didn’t… they were greedy, went after all the money they could and just sat back and waited until the right moment for the government to once again bail them out with tax payer money…
It needs to stop… no company should receive that much money because they are just too big to fail…
Let em sink … maybe then some intelligent, non greedy businesses can rise to the top and be run by people with common sense,
Maybe the contract laws should be rewritten to say that if the company is in the red, there will be no bonuses at all… no ands, ifs or buts….
We need to stop the government and WAllstreet and CEO’s from ruining this country with disgusting greed…
We taxpayers are tired of bailing out the rich fatcats of this country who are really too stupid to even run an outhouse.
NO MORE BAILOUTS….
I will say it again Obams…… NO MORE BAILOUTS.

This country should be reimbursed for the money given to AIG. Our citizens have allowed the government to give in good faith, yet the company has once again wallowed in greed.

It is up to everyone of us not to do business with AIG or any of its subs.

AIG, shamelessly handed out bounces instead of helping others with the money. Its discussing, any other money they get should come with strings attached.

DEFAULT on the EXECs ‘contracts’ and let’em get in line & sue – nice to see their names in public & watch them cry over settling for pennies on the dollar

Everyone who work at AIG should be shot … just for being so unashamedly baldface about stealing OUR money!

Let’s punish the AIG executives in the same manner that we have punished those in congress (dodd & franks) who were responsible for pushing the failed mortgage policies that created the current economic collapse. Oops, bad example. Seem no punishment is required.

AIG should post a list of the people who received the bonuses. The division where they worked. Are they still working for AIG? The amount of the bonus and why it was paid? I would like to see the contract that could not be broken. I would like to know the details.

The simple solution to the AIG bonus recipients is a lifetime IRS audit.

This is an absurd debate. What are we talking about here? The U.S. government can do whatever it wants to do. Has anyone ever heard of emminent domain? What a joke. You can’t tell me they can’t go in and freeze those employees bank accounts and take back that bonus money. It was okay for Reagan to break the air traffic controllers union and contracts, but it’s not okay for Obama to declare AIG employment agreements null and void. Give me a break. This is BS!!! Stop the nonsense. So…we’re going to lose these “geniuses” that got us into this mess if we don’t pay them? So what. Let them walk. As a matter of fact, lets escort them into the nearest jail. You can’t tell me that there aren’t a few 100,000 other “geniuses” around that couldn’t step in and take there place. I can’t take this anymore. What is wrong with this mealy mouthed weaked kneed government? I’ll tell you what is wrong. Geithner and the rest of his cohorts are complicit. Get a spine Geithner and do your job!!

Fire them!! If they are making millions in bonuses they can retire by now!! Open up the jobs and hire some new people. Obviously it just isn’t working out over at AIG.

they do not deserve any more of our money….nothing…they need to right all of their wrongs and pay back what they already owe…not bonuses…and the IRS should tax the hell out of them!

Call the loan if the bonuses are not stopped or paid back. If the loan is not immediately repaid, file a demand which will force the company into bankruptcy. They are betting they are too big too fail and we the investors will not call the loan. Just do it. These people will have a lot more than bonuses to lose.

They wouldn’t have the money for their bonuses if we hadn’t given them the money to begin with. O’bama and his Congress keep saying that they “adopted” this problem and they are just trying to fix the problems. Irresponsible spending in the trillions of dollars and being naive enough to continue to give money to those who have broken our economy, in my mind is criminal.

What people are overlooking is the fact it was Obama that wanted this money given to AIG as a bailout and he has some responsiblity for his bad judgement with the taxpayers money.

If the AIG executives collecting these bonuses truly believe they deserve them, let’s have them publicly collect their checks !

I think that names and pictures of each person receiving these outrageous bonuses should be posted on the internet and published in the newspapers for everyone to see. Obviously they have no moral conscience. This is not a solution but it will give us some relief by throwing darts at them.
Foregoing, contracts should be written stipulating that there will be no bonuses for failure.

Give it a rest. We’re all angry and frustrated but the reality is…the money is gone, it’s over. Now is the time to focus on rebuilding not scapegoating an entire organization for the actions of a small group. If there were contracts between the individuals and the company then under our rule of law the should be honored. Yes, the bonuses are tens of millions but in the overall scheme it’s a drop in the bucket. We may feel better by screaming and beating our chests but that doesn’t fix anything. And the grandstanding by politicians is sickening. Like they had no idea…please. Trying to make themselves in to crusaders after the horse has left the barn, after thy profited from corporate associations… come on. Let’s be about the business of rebuilding.

these people clearly don’t care about the average american, fiscal responsibility, or anything other than their own bottom line. our last president was a big fan of issuing executive orders, maybe our current president should take advantage of that precedent to help the american public and disallow any bonuses for incompetent CEOs. i would recommend life in prison for those responsible for this crisis, not just at AIG, but at all companies. however it would cost the american taxpayer to much to put these people up in prison, there are other solutions. i do not support the death penalty so make ‘em live poor. sentence them to homelessness, joblessness, and don’t let them take advantage of soup kitchens and drop-in centers. such services are for those that deserve it, these fat cats clearly do not!

lmg | Mar 16, 2009 11:43:46 PM has it right.
The free market works unless the government (Bush plus Obama) meddle in it. There was no board seats or rules set when the govt decided to buy ‘preferred’ shares. None of these bailouts should have occurred. The vulture capitalists and the more stable outfits with cash would have bought up the failures. The deleveraging of the banks is going to take time and now longer because the govt just had to meddle without thinking.

I always thougt that a bonus was part of a contract only to give incentive to the one under contract to do a good job. A bonus is supposed to be paid out for exceptional work. There was no exceptional work at AIG, so why are bonuses being paid? Its my tax money and I want to know.

Reward Failure? Let them file for bankruptcy…No more bailouts!!!!
Our representatives are idiots as well.
They do not represent the taxpayer and do not deserve our vote.
Where is our representation? This is outrageous!

Treasury should get as much of the money back as possible and sue for the rest as a bad faith agreement. No more help or money to AIG. The government should replace all insurance policies with AIG affiliation.

AIG should be broken up, and soon!

The ignorance displayed by elected officials and the news media about economic and financial affairs is deep and distressing. 120,000 people are employed at AIG and only a few 450 are involved in financial products which wrote the insurance contracts guaranting the mortgages which were securitized. The inflamatory news coverage and irresponsible comments by elected government officials puts the lives and safety of 119,000 people at risk.
Why aren’t you attacking the foreign governments and banks who have received taxpayer funds during this crisis?
Isn’t the truth that the government’s failure to understand economic and financial matters has created this disaster. It isn’t the 120,000 people at AIG who are responsible.
Why aren’t you condemning the people who lied on mortgage applications about their ability to pay their mortgages. They are the people who have caused this mess. Why aren’t you condeming the elected officials who urged people to own homes and pressured banks to issue mortgages to *minority* buyers who did not have income sufficient to support a house? Why aren’t you attacking Alan Greenspan? Why aren’t you condeming the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their tens of millions in salary?
And finally, do any of the overpaid media personnel and their sensational and irresponsible *reporting* merit thier excessive pay?

publish the names and their bonuses if they do not agree to forego their bonus

If AIG had not received bailout money they would have gone bankrupt. The contracts for bonuses would not have been honored so why should they now. What kind of company gives bonuses that are not tied to how the company is performing anyway? Obviously, that is the problem!

It apears as though nothing will be done because they are saying that they have a contraqct, well how would they have honored the contract if the government did give them $175 billion dollars?
Would they still have honored the contracts?
When your company doesn’t make a profit, how the hell can they pay a bonus to their employees that ruined the company.
I must have missed the boat or something here.

detroit was told that it needed to renegotiate its’ union contracts before it would be able to get govt. money. aig execs are not union employees, but the basic idea should be the same. the people who accepted those “bonuses” should be ashamed of themselves. if they are unwilling to return the monies, they should be terminated.

The government should inform AIG that they want the whole $175 billion dollars back, but none of our elected officials have the balls to do that.
That is what the banks are doing every day to people who can’t pay their mortgage, so why should AIG be diffrent.
Let AIG fold there are other insurance companies who are capable and financally sound to take over their clients.

Our lame government leaders should have allowed these “bailout” companies to go into reorganization Bankruptcy which would have allowed for a review of all contracts. Reorganization Bankruptcy does not mean they are out of business but it does provide for protection of assets. Then the receiver could have had oversight of our money.
I voted for change but it appears it is just more of the same. Knee-jerk reactions, fear mongering and lame leadership. We are the laughing stock of the world.

I thought bonuses were for a job WELL done. The personnel at AIG did NOT. What
is AIG’s criteria in respect to this?
The prevailing argument for paying out
these bonuses is to keep the ‘best and
the brightest’. If those execs at AIG fall within that realm, we are in trouble. AIG received their last payout
because of it’s so-called intricate web
of investment policies worldwide. If AIG
was to collapse, all would be lost. I say…cut them off and let the chips fall were they may. How worse off could we get?

We can’t changte all of these greedy people overnight, but we can make it less desirable for them to get these big bonuses. Ask Congress to create new reporting catagories for W-2′s that are called “bonus”and “stock options taken,” the latter to include the total amount of money saved over the purchase of the stock on the open market. Tax these 2 boxes at a straight 95%, no exceptions or exemptions. The bobuses would be less desirable and the government would get a lot of money.

AIG should be required to give the money back to the treasury. The President said he would be watching how money was spent and that what AIG did will NOT happen again! He should be a man and demand the money back or every one who received the money is robbing the American people and the Government and should go the Prison for at least 10 years per million dollars received!!!

This is such an appalling situation. What a bunch of corporate thieves there are at AIG. I pray there is some way the Obama administration can stop the payment of these outrageous bonuses from a company that has received “bailout” money from the American taxpayers. It is unconscienceable.

Not another cent for AIG! There has to be a limit somewhere. It makes me sick to see these fatcats pocketing millions and billions while record numbers of Americans are being thrown out of their homes. Let them suffer the same fate as anyone else who commits flagrant offenses: flagrant punishment. I think they should be allowed to fail.

Does not the government own 80% of AIG? Take over the company, get rid of these creeps that ran it into the ground, find a way to get the bonuses back and stop this insanity.

All bailout funds irresponsibly given to crooked and greedy execs while those at the bottom who actually do the work get nothing. Let these businesses fail and let hard working competent people back into workforce. Far too many attorneys and congress as well are over compensated ego maniacs supposedly serving the public –doing no such thing. Self serving greeedy idiots all . Auto industry same thing. They destroyed the state of Mich. knowing full well excessive gas hogs and wealthy greedy status seeking individuals—ceo’s — causing these same problems as the afforementioned already noted. Drug companies right up there with these crooks as are hospital execs. Look at the atrocious behavior they allow and enable in the labs with primates which are abused for the sake of greed and called research for the betterment of our medicine? Get real!evil is what these actions exemplify – Satan is real. More importantly, God is watching and waiting….

Bring corporal punishment back. Spank these execs. Spank them with vigor.

Take back the bailout money from AIG. Demand to fire all of the executives demanding the bonuses, including Edward Liddy. With so many honest, and talented professionals out of work, I’m sure we can find new talents to fill their roles. Then demand the bonus money that may have already been paid out to be returned by these AIG executives, or have them face indictment and jail. We’ve become the biggest enabler for disgusting and sinful behavior and it needs to stop. If these people have not been paid, then fire them immediately and prohibit them from suing anyone to collect any money from anybody.

there must be a clause on this contract. If the company does not make enough money, then no one gets bonuses. And we know this company did not make any money. They collapsed. I think they are just ‘conviniently’ saying they can not get their hands ‘dirty’. If there is a will there is a way. They got bailed out, they need to show appreciation to the taxpayers. Show true workmanship.

Punish them for what? They did what was legally required of them in signing contracts. They would of been sued for twice as much if they did not honor the contracts.
This is what you all wanted with Obama and his bailouts anyway. Taking your money so someone else gets it to fu-k you.

The AIG bonuses are a dribble in a tidal wave of money that our politicians throw around like there is no end to it. If anyone was serious about being responsible for tax payer dollars a good look at how high ranking federal employeees retire on our dime often times investing little time to get the great benefits.
This moaning and groaning about AIG is populist mumbo jumbo.

So these people got away with a some our money. So What. If we are serious about reform, then we simply declare these contracts null and void, as the President has the authority to do, and ask for the money to be returned in a reasonable amount of time, say 48 hours. If the money is returned, as a reward the person gets the priviledge of continuing to have a job (albeit in a different department within AIG) in this economy. If no money, these people are declared federal felons (no contract and they have stolen federal money) and 2 things happen. First the persons identification and all relevant personal dat is forwarded to a new federal task forse designed as a federal collection agency. They in turn locate the person and proceed extract the desired amount of funding to be returned to the Government. Secondly, and if the person survives item one, the person is fired from his/her job at AIG. Easy response here since we actually put people to work in this troubled economy with the expansion of the new federal collection agency!! It is win/win situation for everyone!

Bonus is based on performance – AIG has
failed! So therefore, they should be fired.
That should break any contract. They have
broken the contract by rewarding bad
performance. What is so difficult about that?

AIG has a moral obligation to do the right thing. We all know that won’t happen. And many of their employees that received bonuses were under a contractual obligation.It dosen’t make it right, it makes it so.I for one don’t want to give our government that much power. We allow them to override any contract then it will be possible for them to have more control over the average person’s life.This is a complex situation with many reasons for the mess we’re in. And there’s no simple solution. What I find even more sickening are the politicians spouting their outrage, knowing full well they have no legal recourse.They were part of the problem.

People lying on their mortgages? Are you kidding? It’s not a resume. Loan officers and their backhanded policy ripped off the people with little understanding of what was going to happen to their interest rate. And the defaulted loans are just a part of the collapse. Not to mention the millions that have lost their jobs, sometimes husband and wife working for the same company. In the paper last week the county I live in has an 18.4% unemployment rate. Keep in mind those are just people that filed and can draw unemployment, putting the unemployment rate even lower. What do you think happens to your morgage, your health insurance, and your car when you lose your job? You lose them too…

I think congress should pass 105% tax on AIG bonuses paid to people since AIG started receiving government bailout money. Either they can do the honorable thing and refuse the bonus or they can pay 105% tax on it. either way the tax payers are treated fairly.

Why are politicians upset? They approved it, they gave the additional 30 billion a couple of weeks ago without restrictions. AIG earned it as AIG’s two largest political contributions were to our President and Chris Dodd. A couple hundred thousand into the right hands yielded big returns for AIG. Now the threat from the administration is they will not get another $30 billion unless they return the $165 million, what a deal, these AIG executives are brilliant.
Remember this is the administration and Congress of no more earmarks. Now there OK. So just call this an earmark and all will be OK.
This is change we can count on, these politicians can spend our earnings and those of Americans who have not been born better than anybody we have elected before.
Unfortunately, the only ones who have voiced concern about the politicians giving away our $ is the Chinese government. They see the change we can count on and as our banker they do not like it.

Let’s get real. The bonuses are less than 1/10th of 1% of the bailout. Just call them “earmarks” and Congress will have no problem with them.

Aig is basically an insurance company and it bought it’s own insurance when it donated to the political campaigns of all of the polititians. Now they are getting the proceeds of the investment they made in those contributions.

These 400 or so people that caused all of this had better relize what they are really doing. They are putting thousands of their fellow empoyees jobs at risk. I don’t believe I would take any amount of money if I knew I was going to be despised and hated by everyone. I say to them, you better think about it long and hard because that money isn’t going to make you happy if you cannot go anywhere wher you know you are despised and not welcome. If you accept the money I pity you!

The government now owns a bunch of stock in AIG, Citigroup and B of A. They have contol of these companies effectively- this is the kind of control that Microsoft fought so hard to get at Yahoo (and failed to). The government needs to use that clout and do what any successful corporate raider would do- fire most (if not all) of the directors of the company if need be, fire some executives, maybe even fire a few managers or employees if need be, and hire people who will go with the new program. The government needs to find leaders who will define that program, though. New laws need to be in place, for sure. The things that led to the fall of AIG- were they illegal? Risk-taking was encouraged, and short-term gains for a few were valued over long-term safety of shareholders and stakeholders (including employees). The government should use its new power to hire people with ethics (and those ethics should be defined). By the way, punishing the executives or managers is not the same as punishing the company. Replacing some people at AIG on the board of directors as well as in the executive ranks would definitely send a message to Wall Street, investors, workers, EVERYBODY!!!! Heck, the stock would go UP if they did that, and replaced them with the right people!

Profiteering during War is a capital offense……..start with Haliburton, KBR, Blackwater and work toward the bank and wall street CEO’s. The executions could be on pay-per-view, so parents could monitor their children’s viewing…….soda and popcorn would be optional, of course.

When you write the legislation that allows the $165 million BOBUSES to be paid how you talk about PUNISHING AIG?
If you had taken the time to read the legislation BEFORE you VOTED on it you could have corrected it before the VOTE was taken

Too big to fail…wonder how spin doctors it took to come up with that? Reorganize and sell off chunks till we have our money back ~ and for pete’s sake DON’T let them waste hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxpayer money on changing their name!
Wolf in sheep’s clothing!