All across America and the world, on every news station, on every front page are three letters: AIG. The resonance of these three letters has been burned into my brain with a fervor that I can no longer ignore. We all remember the massive federal bailouts of banking institutions this past fall. Well one of the big banks that got a big piece of that pie was AIG (American International Group)—to the tune of about $170 BILLION. Come to find that executives at AIG received bonuses totaling $165 million, chump change to the size of the federal bailout taxpayers were so kind to deliver, but still nothing to toss to the wind. The taxpayers have gone mad, furious in what has become a media firestorm and public meltdown.
Yesterday, in a political ploy to satisfy and squelch the outcry, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would tax 90% of bonuses given to AIG executives, as well as any other companies that received more than $5 billion in federal bailout money. The US Senate is drafting legislation that would levy a proposed 35% excise (tax on the company) tax. Sounds good, right? There’s a bit more to the story and two sides to every argument, especially those that take place in the halls of our congress.
I think that everyone in Washington will agree that this situation is pathetic and dire at best, and that executives who are responsible for the failure of these giant entities, which has thrown our economy into a flaming pit of despair, should not be granted bonuses; however, it is just to note that we gave them these bonuses. CONGRESS passed the hasty legislation, with little to no regulation on how bailout dollars were to be spent, that granted AIG and similar companies these bonuses. Yes, Congress, (which is now calling for this potentially un-lawful and isolated taxation) under the influence Obama’s bosom buddy and pet, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, created a loop-hole in the bailout legislation that permitted the pay of executive bonuses.
While troves of people in the US are demanding the names of executives released and their first born, there lies blame in our government. Perhaps if congress had taken the time to pass thoughtful legislation the first time they would not be in their current position, going back to remedy their mistakes while passing the blame to AIG executives who are doing nothing but exercising the greed we are well aware they imbibe. While representatives and senators battle one another on the chamber floors, wasting time that could be spent on pressing issues such as the state of our battered economy, they are wrestling over how to recoup the petty bonuses of these executives.
Now, please understand that I am not advocating the pay of bonuses—these bonuses are exorbitant and should not be paid with tax payer dollars. I am saying that before we go attacking these people and threatening their lives we should consider the means by which their pay is delivered, and that is at the hands of our government—in the manipulation of Timothy Geithner, the votes of our elected officials.
It makes me wonder, if this info had not leaked through the media and created the massive public outcry we see today, would our leaders in congress even be berating these executives? Calling for their heads? Stating that they should “resign or commit suicide” as top ranking Senate Republic Charles Grassley said. I think not, and it gives me little faith to think that if the media had not offered this information to all of us, we may never know that our tax dollars were being used in such a way.
