The outcry about the AIG bonuses was a sham. Now that Congress and Obama have vented their “outrage” to the world, the people that actually had a shot at turning this company around, and were NOT responsible for the current mess, but were actually hired to fix it, are telling everyone to “take this job and shove it!” Since Congress AND the President are absolutely clueless when it comes to business, how to run one, or how not to, AIG will now suffer even more. So will we the tax payer.
$165 million is nothing compared to the price we’re paying to and for this congress. Your outrage is directed at the wrong people.
Going Galt at AIG
Now that Congress, Barack Obama, and the media feel thoroughly satisfied in their two-week screechfest over AIG’s retention bonuses, the bill may come due for American taxpayers who invested in the company’s bailout to the tune of over 1,000 times the amount of the bonuses. The New York Times reprints a resignation letter from one of the targets of Official Ire over the bonuses, a man who worked for the huge salary of $1 apart from the bonus he was promised for helping rescue the company from bankruptcy. He blames Edward Liddy for not defending his employees, and refuses to work any longer for no compensation:
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in – or responsible for – the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company – during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 – we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
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