Shit Happens, Nothing Changes, Meme Rules
by Miki SaxonAre you as disgusted as I am? There is no shame and it’s unlikely to change.
If you can grab it do so and screw everyone else, they don’t matter. Only you matter.
AIG received 170 billion in taxpayer money and they plan to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday.
According to Edward M. Liddy, the government-appointed chairman, “We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses — which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.”
The bonuses go to the “leaders” in the financial products division which is the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.
AIG says that the bonuses are contractual.
In the brave new world of the Twenty-first Century ethics are defined by law and morality is old fashioned unless it’s about someone else.
As a wise man once said, “An ethical man knows he shouldn’t cheat on his wife. A moral man wouldn’t.”
If these executives are the “best and brightest” we’re in bigger trouble than I thought.
The contract doesn’t mean squat anyway since the recipients could turn the bonuses down just as a number of CEOs have recently.
Just think, if they did perhaps some of their colleagues wouldn’t be laid off.
And if you think this is an isolated incident of the “Thain mindset” take a look at the ad that Visa is running once again. I saw it once in Business Week last year and found it in terrible taste, but then it disappeared.
I thought the company had realized that their timing for a new status card was atrocious, but I guess I was wrong. This full-page ad appeared in the March 16, 2009 issue.
Perhaps the card is targeted at the recipients of that $165 million.
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Image credit: Visa
March 16th, 2009 at 7:42 am
You’re not alone Miki… These days it’s hard for me to watch any financial news without throwing up in my mouth. And Visa rushing on the scene to kick America while it’s down? Tact, gentlemen, is obviously not one of the things you’re being grossly overpaid for.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Hi Brock, ‘Gentlemen’ is not the word I’d choose, but I suppose we have to keep it somewhat polite.
Think there is any chance that even one of the recipients will honorable enough to refuse? Personally I doubt it, but it sure would be nice to be proven wrong.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Doubtful, though I’ve got my fingers crossed that the media puts the spotlight on these guys, so the ones who do cash in get publicly tarred and feathered. I’m just waiting for the Visa Brown card: the card for people who lost their jobs due to budget cuts: 10% interest on the card goes to the high-level executives who took your job.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Oops, I thought it was brown to represent the color of life after greed and stupidity took their jobs.
Hmm, can you think of any way to get even a partial list? We should be able to find at least the higher level recipients to publish on our blogs. I’m sure the info would go viral in a hurry.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Brown is actually the color of shit, which is coincidentally exactly what the executives getting these bonuses must think of the working Americans.
But you’re absolutely right, I’m going to do a little research and see what info I can find about these AIG executives (and others) and do a little “illuminating”. If you have any leads, let me know; It’d be nice to foster some accountability from the “best and brightest”.. Yeah right.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:33 am
AIG is public, so the execs should be listed in the annual report and previous quarterly filings. Those filings are at http://www.Edgar-Online.com/ (but I can’t seem to get in).
The NYT said “The bonus plan covers 400 employees, and the bonuses range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $6.5 million. Seven executives at the financial products unit were entitled to receive more than $3 million in bonuses.”
Somehow I don’t care as much about abut low five figure bonuses, but steam starts coming out of my ears when they hit the upper five and beyond.