Who Cares About AIG Bonuses?

The Obama Administration certainly doesn't - even though it pretends to. Why should they? Sure, it it absurd to pay million dollar "retention" bonuses to people you don't retain. It seems obscene to pay bonuses at all to people who ruined the company financially, and with it - the entire global economy. The populist anger (protesters outside their offices) and the impotent "rage" of the Obama administration seems to make sense. There is something that just doesn't sit well with these bonuses.

But who cares? AIG has gotten $170 billion dollars from the government. So these bonuses make up less than a tenth of a percent of federal assistance. That is a pittance. All of the peoples' and media attention is on the wrong thing. The real question is: what happened to the other $169 billion dollars and why is the company still struggling? Why is AIG shipping that money off to foreign banks? Why did Geitner give AIG another $30 billion two weeks ago without a requirement that bonuses be cut? Since the government owns 80% of AIG and Democrats were screaming for more oversight, what is the Federal Government doing to fix the problem? The answer to all these questions and more on tonight's episode of Soap.

In truth, Obama is piling on about the bonuses because it allows him to look like he is on the side of the people. It distracts everyone from the real questions. As mentioned in a previous post, Obama is still in campaign mode (for the 2010 midterms and his own re-election) because that is all he knows how to do. Remember during the campaign when people criticized him for his lack of executive experience and he said he had plenty because he had experience leading his campaign? Apparently all you get when you elect such a person is a campaigning President - more concerned with his own flagging poll numbers than finding a solution to the economic mess.