:-)

Burn these people at the stake

A night in Riker's and these clowns will talk.

Andrew Cuomo is superman in my book.

Why is no one from Congress doing anything about this?

Surely, us lowly taxpayers and the Attorney General of one state can't be the only ones who are pissed off about these bonuses.

The government demanding a company to turn over who they plan to give bonuses too. Wow, this is very scary.

The fact AIG took tax payer funds is irrelevant in my opinion. It shouldn't have been offered.

Another power grab by the government.

In addition, we also now request a description of each individual's job description and performance at AIG Financial Products. Please also provide whatever contracts you now claim obligate you to make these payments. Moreover, you should immediately provide us with a list of who negotiated these contracts and who developed this retention plan so we can begin to investigate the circumstances surrounding these questionable bonus arrangements. Finally, we demand an immediate status report as to whether the payments under the retention plan have been made.

I wish they would've put Cuomo in for Clinton's seat instead of Gillibrand. Either way, he's still kicking ass where he is, so good on him!

Bout time we have a politician down in the muck trying to clean up the place. Sure, there are probably many others working the issue as well, whether in their favor or the public's, but this guy has some grit in him. It's almost surprising to discover his kind survives: those with spines.

Err wouldn't they have to provide this information to the IRS anyhow within a year or so?

These are people that have undermined the security and welfare of all of America and the entire world due to their greed. So no, I don't think it is "scary" that the government is stepping in.

You know what would be scary? If taxpayers that lost 50-60% of their retirement funds and/or jobs stormed these buildings and dragged these people out by their hair and had an "inquisition" of their own.

What authority or reasoning does the state of New York have to be going after AIG? I agree that AIG should be investigated but it seems that it should be the federal government doing this.

Hurrah for attempted accountability! If AIG turns over this information it still does not stop them from paying out the bonuses. Sure we can seek compensation after the fact, but like any respectable ponzi scheme, the money is already gone.

go bladefist!
2 unconstitutional acts dont make a right

@Airjoe: I actually like that he is AG better - he can use the power of his office more substantially and stay out of bi-partisan issues this way.

Then the federal government can come down and tell the NY DA who does have the authority then get those people to do it.

This is a little heavy handed. Are they going to bust down doors and demand people return bonuses? AIG should have declined to pay retention bonuses however. If this resulted in "non-retention" I'm sure there are a pile of out-of-work Merrill and LB people who would be happy to replace them bonus or no bonus.

If it turns out the government isn't able to get AIG to rescind the bonuses, then they should just drop the matter.

But the next time they come asking - and considering even with the bailout funds, they still posted a loss, I'm betting there will be a next time - I honestly hope the government laughs at them.

@Bladefist - It's taxpayer money - public funds. So the government has every right to ask AIG how and where they spent it. So the fact they received the bailout money is not irrelevant.

@ncpeters: AIG is headquartered in the State of New York and is, therefore, subject to NY laws and must respond to the request from Mr. Cuomo.

@Yankees368: @Yankees368: @Bladefist: Agreed. This is scary. If this list goes public there will be a lot of names of people who have low leveled jobs that got bonuses. Are we going to kill the administrative assistants?

@Bladefist:

When the government becomes a major stakeholder (and in my opinion, should be a majority stakeholder), they have the right to investigate how the company is run. I'd say the same thing if someone owned 40% of Apple stock and Apple told the owner to blow it out their ass when they asked about Jobs' health.

I am just glad that someone is following up and looking into this...

I love how he signs it off, "Very truly yours." It's over-polite tone makes the evil grin behind it so much more evil.

@Bladefist: The fact that AIG took (I would've used the word required) taxpayer funds to continue operating is very much relevant.

It's a little scary, but at the same time people on welfare shouldn't be going out buying new Mercedes Benzes without someone somewhere going "hang on a minute..."

Very cool...
BUT what rights does the state have in this, with this being a FEDERAL issue.
New York has alot to lose if they try to go through with this (attorney fees).

Don't take it the wrong way. I want them to be held accountable. But the government responsible (federal) has to do the asking, not the state.

If I take a loan out at my bank, me and my bank are responsible for that transaction. Not me and some other bank.

@Sheila Cook: cuomo = hero.

@Bladefist: I believe it is (finally) one of our elected representatives standing up for us. Why weren't any strings attached to this money when it was offered? Where is the accountability?

That AIG took tax payer money is very relevant. Tax paying citizens are now part owner in this company, and we should be exercising some say in where it goes.

In my mind, bonus money would be paid based on job performance. Let's face it, the performance at AIG was dismal at best, so these bonuses shouldn't be paid at all, with tax payer money or otherwise.

when did they get this letter?

because that is a helluva lot of info to acquire within a half hour.

oh well, 4 minutes to go, PITTER-PATTER!!!

@bladefist:

I agree the money shouldn't have been offered first; but they did not have to take it either. They chose to, now they should answer to all of us. No one forced them to take the money, it just comes with strings attached.

It's not the gov asking AIG what they do with people's money: it's me, it's most people, it's all of us.
If AIG is going to cost me money, I want to know where it goes; if it's totally private and has nothing to do with me, I'm fine with them keeping their business private.

@ncpeters: They do business in the state of New York, so it gives them very real authority.

@wardawg: Respectable ponzi scheme? wut?

Ding-dong AIG...Gentlemen, start your lawsuits!

So I guess Cuomo's gonna be running for higher office soon, yes?

@Sheila Cook: Cuomo is an idiot blowhard. I'm against bailing out AIG, but being this invasive is an over the top. Its great PR for his re-election campaign and luckily all New Yorkers are paying for this circus act.

Cuomo has a terrible history of not knowing his boundaries and going over the top, lets not forget him forcing ISPs to ban all Usenet access over 88 offending groups out of 100,000 - [yro.slashdot.org]

@Swifty: While it isn't irrelevant that AIG took the money, the money was given to them with very few strings attached. There was no thought given to any system of accountability as to what these funds were going to be used for.

We handed them huge amounts of cash, and didn't ask what they were going to do with it. It was our lawmakers in Washington who fell down on this one.

Congress made a big stink about giving the bailouts to begin with, but once the decision was made, nobody stopped long enough to setup a system to make sure it got used for things other than bonus payouts, covering debts to foreign investors, and "business trips" for the execs.

Woops!

Maybe I'm just experiencing some midwest awe of the fabulour New Yawkers (I say with love & respect), but I really like Cuomo! Stick it to 'em!

Actually to all those stating that if you own 40% of a stock you should have control over the company...that's actually not true, unless the 40% is the largest share held by any of the stock holders. IE if someone had the other 60% then they have the controlling interest in the company, and you and your 40% do not have a controlling interest, which means you do not have as many votes as the 60% guy. Obviously I'm not saying the Govt does or doesn't have a controlling interest at this point in AIG. I just think that its important to understand the difference between a controlling interest of a company and just being a share holder.

On another note, whats with the reply button?

for all of you cheering on our incredibly bold government - why wasn't there some accountability built into the TARP money BEFORE it was handed out and check out the following from opensecret.org:

Before the Fall, AIG Payouts Went to Washington
Published by Massie Ritsch on March 16, 2009 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As long as everyone's talking today about AIG's payouts to its executives and foreign banks, let's remember the payouts AIG has made over the years to politicians. In the last 20 years American International Group (AIG) has contributed more than $9 million to federal candidates and parties through PAC and individual contributions. That's enough to rank AIG on OpenSecrets.org's Heavy Hitters list, which profiles the top 100 contributors of all time.

Over time, AIG hasn't shown an especially partisan streak, splitting evenly the $9.3 million it has contributed since 1989. In the last election cycle, though, 68 percent of contributions associated with the company went to Democrats. Two senators who chair committees charged with overseeing AIG and the insurance industry, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), are among the top recipients of AIG contributions. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee and has collected more money from AIG in his congressional career than from any other company--$91,000. And with more than $280,000, AIG has been the fourth largest contributor to Dodd, who chairs the Senate's banking committee. President Obama and his rival in last year's election, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), are also high on the list of top recipients.

AIG has been a personal investment for lawmakers, too. Twenty-eight current members of Congress reported owning stock in AIG last year, worth between $2.5 million and $3.3 million. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), one of the richest members of Congress, was by far the biggest investor in AIG, with stock valued around $2 million.

Last year AIG and its subsidiaries spent about $9.7 million on federal lobbying, or about $53,000 for every day Congress was in session in 2008. The company's spending on advocacy last year was down from an all-time high of $11.4 million spent on lobbying in 2007.

Names? How about giving them 24 hours to pay back every single penny that was given to them. If they fail to do so, every single AIG employee, from the CEO all the way down to the janitor gets tossed into a Supermax prison for 10 years.

@sven.kirk: States have every right to police the business that is conducted within it's borders.

You (and businesses) are responsible for following all laws, local, state, AND federal.

Anyone who has paid taxes has a dog in this fight.

@Bladefist: The government *owns* AIG. We own it, you and me. We paid for it, you see. I personally would like to seen them burn in the closest approximation of hell we could come up with, but that's not the case now.

But now that we have essentially nationalized the company, there's nothing at all wrong with needing to have a say in how it's run.

@sprocket79: It is my experience that the more polite and nice sounding legal writing gets, the heavier someone is about to be stomped.

Look for key phrases such as "with all due respect" (trans: makes the whatever sign), "the learned gentleman" (trans: did you get your degree online?).

@T Axel Jones: I guess this is one way to jump start a political campaign.

I believe in Harvey Dent... err, Andrew Cuomo.

@sven.kirk: Didn't the treasury of New York also extend a loan to AIG?

I think that means that New York has the right to investigate, they are directly involved with AIG.

Let's punish AIG by never giving them another bail-out again.

Finally perhaps someone will put a halt to these ass clowns.

I hope he does run for office. He does his job.

Kudos to Cuomo, I wish the State of Georgia's Attorney General had the same balls as Cuomo....

@Bladefist: It's scary any times the terms of a loan are changed after the fact. The outrage needs to be directed towards our incompetent legislators who lent money without stipulations on how it can be used. Releasing the recipients' names does nothing but fuel uneducated bloodlust.

@Saboth: Not the contracts and detailed description. . .

@NICU: Re-election? I'm pretty sure he has higher offices on his mind. Kind of like his predecessor (hopefully a little less scandal though).