AIG CEO Edward Liddy told the House Financial Services subcommittee this afternoon that he has asked the members of the Financial Products division to voluntarily return half of their bonuses.
“It was distasteful to make these payments,” said Liddy. “This morning, I’ve asked the employees of AIG Financial Products to step up and do the right thing. Specifically, I’ve asked those who received retention payments in excess of $100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments.”
When asked by Chairman Barney Frank if he would agree to provide the names of the bonus recipients to the committee, Liddy agreed on the condition that they would remain confidential.
Frank refused to promise confidentiality and informed Liddy that he will subpoena the information if it is not provided. Liddy responded by reading from a recent death threat that suggested AIG employees and their families should be executed “with piano wire,” claiming that releasing the names would endanger the lives of AIG employees.
Chairman Frank explained that the Congress would follow the advice of law enforcement and security advisers once the names were turned over, but that he was not persuaded by the death threat argument.
[CSPAN]
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Another example of the government changing the rules, because they don’t like something that has happened.
It’s a slippery slope. Pray that they don’t come after your paycheck next.
@humphrmi: They have been for a century. No getting back up that slope
Mayhaps we could ask our elected representatives to also return half of their income, or half of their campaign funds? They’ve done an amazing, and continuing, job of bollixing up the economy, enough to make AIG’s incompetence look rather trivial by comparison. If we’re going to get into the business of demanding compensation from expensive, failed government-run enterprises, we should start with the government.
like a 165 million dollar earmark.
humphrmi:::: What?! Are you really comparing what someone gets paid for doing their job with bailout money (taxpayer bailout money) being handed over to people who obviously haven’t done theirs?
Let’s look at this in a different way. Let’s say you work for an exterminating company. You spray the houses with too many chemicals and kill the homeowners. Later, the exterminating company, because of you doing your job incorrectly and killing people, goes bankrupt. So the community takes up a collection to save the company, who immediately turns around and pays you your “contractually obligated” bonus, regardless of the fact that your incompetence killed people and led to the downfall of the company in the first place. Under those circumstances, do you REALLY deserve those bonuses? Anyone who answers “Yes” needs to visit a doctor.
Hey, consumerist, when are you going to fix the broken comments?
Tell me again why we can’t shoot these jackasses?
This “outrage” over these bonuses is stupid. AIG revealed plans to pay out these bonuses over a year ago. The members of Congress (who have no business whatsoever being angry over the actions of a private company) knew long before now that these bonuses were due to be paid out. This is nothing more than more class warfare meant to keep the people angry at wealthy people, and move Obama’s agenda forward. AIG got over $170 billion from the Treasury Dept. These bonuses account for only a tiny fraction of that money. AIG gave away BILLIONS to other banks. That’s what we should be mad at — NOT the bonuses.
If I had received well over a year’s pay for the average American as a bonus, would I pay it back? Heck no- I’d have that cash stashed in a safe-deposit box so fast your head would spin. They’re gonna lay those folks off anyway, so why should they pay back the money they’ll need to live on while they look for new work?
testing
Why do the AIG’s CEO/Executives get BONUS when the company is in financial trouble? Why the taxpayers has to responsible for it? I just don’t understand why our tax money would be used to reward the BAD performances by those greedy CEO!!!!!!!!!! Mr Obama, can you see our frustration while you are so busy appearing on the Jay Leno and David Letterman shows!