AIG Bonuses | 03/17/2009 8:55 am
Sen. Grassley: AIG Execs Should 'Resign or Go Commit Suicide'
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Everybody’s pretty peeved over those $165 million in bonuses AIG just distributed. But one Senate Republican actually suggested those responsible commit suicide.
Prominent Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley told WMT radio in Iowa (via Politico):
The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them if they’d follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things — resign, or go commit suicide.
And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.
A Grassley spokeswoman told Politico the Senator was speaking rhetorically, adding: "He meant there’s no culture of shame and acceptance of responsibility for driving a company into the dirt in this country. If you asked him whether he really wants AIG executives to commit suicide, he’d say of course not."
While that may seem a little harsh to some, others have different of ideas how to handle the bonuses. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CT, suggests taxing 98 percent of the taxable proceeds — just enough to not violate terms of the contract that AIG says prevents it from taking the money back from the employees. Rep. Carolyn Maloney D-NY wants a 100 percent tax on bonuses not related to commissions. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, is conducting his own
investigation; he subpoenaed the insurance giant seeking more
information. AIG told him the bonuses have already been delivered.
Although President Obama has directed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to explore "every possible legal avenue" to block the bonuses, ABC News says if AIG doesn’t deliver on the retention packages, employees could sue the firm for at least $330 million. That means an even higher bill for taxpayers. Instead, the White House wants to make sure taxpayers recoup the cost of the bonuses. Another fear is that if the Obama administration is too tough
on financial firms, it could discourage top money men from helping the
government fix the broken system.
The bonus debacle is hurting Obama’s political power right now, reports The Washington Post. Almost 80 House Democrats wrote Obama, saying he needs to deal with it with a strong hand — or else. "For the sake of the President’s ability to continue to take the steps that may be necessary to rebuild our economy, there must be a stronger response than simply decrying this development," they wrote.
It will be interesting to see how the administration deals with this, given that emotions are running high on both sides.
Read more about: AIG, Andrew Cuomo, Bail Out, Bonuses, Economy, Executive Compensation, News, Obama Administration, President Obama, Recession, Tim Geithner, U.S., Wall Street
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25 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
I didnt take his comment that he actually wants them to commit suicide, but in the culture in which he was referring to, most do kill themselves before saying they are sorry…
I think its pretty sad they can take these bonus’s or whatever you want to call them without thinking its wrong. On the ABC news last night they interviewed an AIG employee and he said that 450 men/women are sitting in that dept who all got these bonus’ and they did wrong and then all of a sudden it cut from him…I wish they would have showed more of what he said. Obviously he wasnt one who got a bonus.
I also agree that Obama needs to have a heavier hand in dealing with this…I mean the white house spokesman was asked "is the white house pretty sure they know where the money was spent or where its going to be spent" and she said "yes"…boy that was wrong. They didnt even know until they read it in the news. I mean they already got funds without any backlash from Bush and now Obama turned around and did the same thing, could they really be trusted, hell no.
So pathetic and to think they would actually sue if we take our money back…who are they to sue us for money we gave them and all we want is the money back b/c they dont deserve it. Where are the protests outside of AIG? Everyone can protest a war but can’t protest our money being thrown away like this?
Liddy recently wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying the bonuses must be paid to the AIG executives because, otherwise, their morale might suffer.
What did they do to even deserve these bonuses? If they were doing so well to deserve bonuses then they wouldn’t have needed the bailout money in the first place…right?
Awwww, I feel so bad….NOT! They might suffer if they don’t get a million or two dollar bonus? My moral is suffering Who’s isn’t? Where is my bonus? Is he serious?
The wonderful Chris Dodd…..AIG was the largest contributor to Dodd’s campaign….imagine that….and now:
Amid AIG Furor, Dodd Tries to Undo Bonus Protections He Put In
3-17-09 | Rich Edson
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:25:23 AM
While the Senate constructed the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd unexpectedly added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009,” which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are seeking to tax. The amendment is in the final version and is law.
Forbes alert—-73 tope employees got $1 million each in bonuses!
Ladies, we Americans are being blackmailed by AIG., with their threats…I say, let’s call them on it! At the least, they will have opportunity to quit their jobs due to that ‘lack of rentention’ incentive….then maybe some honest people will step into those jobs….And hey! IF they decide to mess around with the accounts in attempts to ‘destroy’ —we can just throw them in jail for a myriad of criminal counts!