Every new day brings another story of the astounding greed that has brought down the economy of the world. The latest is the blatant theft of bailout money by AIG (American International Group) After receiving money (more that $170 Billion) from the US government to 'stay afloat', they announced that there would be $165 million paid to employees in 'bonuses'. It is good to see President Obama outraged and he is not the only one demanding accountability. AIG's defence was so out of touch with reality that one has to laugh through their tears. They "have contracts to keep. We cannot break our contracts." Excuse me, but contracts are broken everyday when there are severe extenuating circumstances and this applies, for sure, in this case. But the icing on the cake was when they said that in order to keep their top leadership, they had to pay them well and pay them bonuses. Excuse me, but these are the leaders that got them in trouble in the first place! Bonuses are paid for a job well done. They failed miserably at their jobs and should be fired without any pay or severance, let alone bonuses. Maybe what AIG needs now is some underpaid poor leadership because heaven knows, they couldn't do a worse job.Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A Culture of Greed
Every new day brings another story of the astounding greed that has brought down the economy of the world. The latest is the blatant theft of bailout money by AIG (American International Group) After receiving money (more that $170 Billion) from the US government to 'stay afloat', they announced that there would be $165 million paid to employees in 'bonuses'. It is good to see President Obama outraged and he is not the only one demanding accountability. AIG's defence was so out of touch with reality that one has to laugh through their tears. They "have contracts to keep. We cannot break our contracts." Excuse me, but contracts are broken everyday when there are severe extenuating circumstances and this applies, for sure, in this case. But the icing on the cake was when they said that in order to keep their top leadership, they had to pay them well and pay them bonuses. Excuse me, but these are the leaders that got them in trouble in the first place! Bonuses are paid for a job well done. They failed miserably at their jobs and should be fired without any pay or severance, let alone bonuses. Maybe what AIG needs now is some underpaid poor leadership because heaven knows, they couldn't do a worse job.
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3 comments:
BRAVO!!! Well said Terry. This is totally outrageous! AIG plans to forge ahead with paying some of these ridiculous amounts, knowing what public opinion is and the circumstances of the economy. It is GREED in full form!
Thank you for the birthday wishes, Terry. I appreciate it!
The media is now reporting that the 'bonuses' are probably closer to $1 Billion. I just Googled "AIG Outrage" and got 1,370,000 hits! Looking back into history, it seems that this was often the type of thing that precipitated revolutions. (Total outrage at the rich by the ordinary citizens)
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