Even After Bailout, AIG Fat Cats Made Sure to Live it Up

You'd think that after AIG was bailed out to the tune of $85 billion by the feds, executives would be morally chastened to watch their spending. But no: During today's testimony to the House Oversight Committee, the NY Times reports that a week after the bailout, "executives at its life insurance subsidiary, AIG General, held a weeklong retreat at the exclusive St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif. Expenses for the week, lawmakers were told, totaled $442,000, including $200,000 for hotel rooms, $150,000 for food and $23,000 in spa charges."

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Well there you go, the corruption continues.....

I could see the spa charges based on the food charges.

As part of the bailout, didn't we the taxpayers get an ownership stake in the company?

Well, as owner, I didn't approve this expense and I believe the executives should reimburse the company for it.

free money. they'll never change.

Is it too late to stop payment on that check? Once again we've been fucked by Wallstreet. I have begun to carry my camera with me when in the financial district trying to catch some good jumper shots. Hopefully those will begin someday soon. But at least I'm not bitter.

Keep Barney Frank in your prayers tonight.

rhonda718, you should read the new law. taxpayers have no stake whatsoever in the company.

Other quirks of this new law include:

- Permission for banks to keep $0 reserves

- Permission for IRS to conduct raids, stings, and under-cover ops

- Permission for bailout $$$ to go overseas. In fact, there is no language in the bill at all that says the properties with the problem mortgages even be located in the U.S.

- Ability for the Secretary of Treasury to change the rules at any time upon notifying Congress. There is no rule that these changes can be challenged.

etc. etc. etc.

OBAMA voted for this. So did McCain. Just how DOES a lame duck president get something like this passed?

Folks, please do not vote for anyone who supported this awful legislation.

Let's support

RON PAUL

or

RALPH NADER

instead!

As far as I'm concerned a crime has been committed, Government funds, or funds hidden from inspection were used to pay for this. If an example is made of these people, maybe the rest of them will tow the mark. Otherwise, we'll have more of the same. Once a firm accepts US largess, the old perks are supposed to go away and they have to work hard because of the bailout. If the partying continues, Federal receivers have to be appointed to run the company and the guilty have to be punished. We can't afford to play games here, the economy is in trouble because of the greedy scum that ran AIG. It was the one company that had to be saved and these greedy bastards were the cause.

I say, TREASON!
Treason, I Say!


Oh, a few more tidbits from the new law:

- FDIC insurance raised to $250,000 per bank account --- despite the fact that the FDIC DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDS TO DO THIS after being depleted with the other bank bailouts.

- All potential profits will go straight to government. No payouts for you and me.

Did these legislators even read it before they voted?

Bailouts since Bear Stearns have totaled just under $700 billion. Now add the congressional bailout (EESA), which some believe will total $820 billion.

How long do YOU think the money will last?


Also, regarding the permission for IRS to conduct raids, stings, and under-cover ops ---

Think: Your "new" tax guy says "I don't know if this is totally legal, but it could save you a lot of money this year. Wanna try it?"

anybody else down for a little class war?

This is also the kind of thing that might ignited the public (who I think is on the verge of "I've had it and I can't take it anymore!!") to fight back and have a REVOLUTION!

Yeah right....the sheeple will let their masters trample on them as long as they have their American Idol's and Cell phones.

Will the government demand they pay back the money now?

You wanna know why everything is fucked up? This is a good place to start. These are people who put their best interest/shallow need for luxury over the well being of their company and employees.

Everyone was crying out "approve the bailout!" because their 401ks were taking big hits. I'm hoping for sanctions and tough policies on this kind of spending for the banks that will be beneficiaries on it.

I am personally skeptic about this whole plan. Hope to be wrong.

A congressional committee recently scolded the chiefs of AIG and they just said they did nothing wrong. Pathetic.


Supernova --- WHO was crying out "approve the bailout"?

From what I've heard, the calls were OVERWHELMINGLY against the bailout to both the Senators and Reps.

Ever wonder why it had to pass so fast? The answer was delivered on the floor by Senator Sherman of California:

China put pressure on our gov. to pay back their banks for the "junk" they bought -- essentially, they asked for a recall of the faulty product we peddled --- or else NO MORE LOANS.

As you may know, China funds the Iraq war by loaning us the money. They are also the ones who gave us the loan for the rebate check among other things.

THAT is the "credit freeze" the govt. keeps talking about. Is YOUR credit frozen? Mine certainly isn't. The U.S.A.'s credit is frozen by China. They essentially "called in their loans".

Yes, that means we are bankrupt. Just like in monopoly.

No it is rippling across the globe. The amount of "debt" is currently LARGER THAN ALL THE MONEY THAT EXISTS IN THE UNIVERSE.

Think your bank account is safe? Ha. Unless you have cash in hand, consider your bank balance a debt that your bank owes YOU. The FDIC does not currently have enough funds on reserve to cover all our accounts. This was also warned about by many senators and reps against the bailout.

Put 2 and two together. Figure out where this is headed. In the meantime, look into recent national bankruptcies in Argentina, Turkey, Russia, etc. etc. etc.

DRILL!!! DRILL!!!! DRILL their asses in prison i say!!!

DRILL!!! DRILL!!!! DRILL!!!!

Everyone with a C - level titled should be fired and then arrested... everyone with a VP title should just be fired...


oh yah ps. CAN I GET A $100k personal bailout plan?!

While you are all outraged about this 'Last Chance Junket', A.I.G. has already tapped this bailout loan which was supposed to cover potential shortfalls for two years, to the tune of over $60 billion, out of the approved $85 billion. What the fuck is going on over there?

cap salaries on wall street at 600k. And fire these asses.

"Supernova --- WHO was crying out "approve the bailout"?

From what I've heard, the calls were OVERWHELMINGLY against the bailout to both the Senators and Reps."

Anecdote duel.. but I heard that after the big market drop, the calls changed tune to about 50/50.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/02/america/voters.php

Who are these thieves? Why are they granted anonymity? At the very least they certainly deserve public humiliation.

user-pic

Capitalism is the enemy.

To be a devil's advocate for a moment, it should be noted that AIG is an international corporation with offices in approx. 130 countries across the planet. Getting top executives together at a central location to conference on how they're going to dig themselves out of a gigantic mess doesn't sound that unreasonable to me. Flying them all in and out and putting them up in a hotel is going to cost some coin. I know that when Hank Greenberg ran the company, he was notoriously stingy with his employees' travel arrangements. Maybe things have loosened up a little, but a few hundred K for an international conference involving hundreds of people from around the world should probably not invoke this level of outrage.

I hope they all get cancer-tomorrow

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