Cuomo Wants AIG Bonus Names, Obama Wants Bonuses Rescinded

Photograph of the AIG building by Mark Lennihan/AP

AIG's insistence that it must pay out over $165 million in bonuses to, as the NY Times put it, "executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year," has now drawn the ire of President Barack Obama and NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

AIG had cited legal obligations (the employees' contracts) as why they were bound to pay the bonuses, but Obama said he asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to see if they could be rescinded—you know, given that the U.S. had given the insurer $170 billion in rescue money. The President said, "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed. Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" He also added, "All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multi-million dollar bonuses. And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules."

Since AIG is headquartered in NY, Cuomo wants the names and other details of the AIG employees who received bonuses. Cuomo sent a letter to AIG CEO Edward Liddy; you can read it here (PDF) but one part explains that the employee information is needed "in order to investigate and determine: (1) whether any of the individuals receiving such payments were involved in the conduct that led to AIG's demise and subsequent bailout." And to reporters, Cuomo pointed out, "If the taxpayer didn’t bail out AIG, those [employee] contracts wouldn’t be worth the paper they’re printed on."

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By Jen Chung in News on March 16, 2009 6:45 PM

Comments [rss]

madessa

No bonuses should be given. This is taxpayers money these idiots are using for the purpose of continuing to live their lavish life styles. AIG has some nerve. How can they even justify giving themselves bonuses with the state of their business and the state of the economy. It's selfish and greedy. Can we close them down? I say let them fold. The government should take back the bailout money given to them by Bush let AIG go under. That will be at least one less bad pill that the taxpayer will have to swallow.

ides_of_march

And I want Franklin Raines to give back the huge bonuses at taxpayer expense he grifted at the helm of Fannie Mae. Oh wait, he's a democrat with close ties to Obama.

Very selective outrage here and meant to deflect attention from the bigger thievery going on.

blablanyc

Obama, Geithner, and Cuomo need to shut their fucking commie traps. This bonus money should go to the recipients so that it can go into the economy. What's going to happen? AIG goes out of business and the money never goes into the economy?

Felix Hoenikker

No, they should shut their commie wallets and let AIG go down the tubes in the first place. I don't need nor want the feds or AIG as middlemen to get my tax money back into the economy.

The suits at AIG are likely to sit on their cash anyway, and not sink it into the economy.

BKBoy

Tell me, why aren't we trying to put these people who allowed this in prison? If other executives see their peers thrown in jail, I don't think they'd think twice about finally saying NO to this outrageous behavior..

tingo

They're right in the center of our economic collapse. No, they didn't cause it. But they played a very large part in just letting it happen.

bagelman

why doesn't the angry mob pay the AIG headquarters a visit?

Pizza_Time

Because this country is full of spineless pu$$ies who rather sit in front of their TV and watch American Idol.

abcohen

I think AIG needs to fire its employees and let the IRS and FBI come in a hire all new employees (and or screen the newly fired employees - and put a PS out there... if they received a bonus they should be able to claim unemployment!)

NannyState

Maybe the only way to do it under Connecticut law is to pay them and then claw it back. And the only reason why this might be a better option is the fact that in the process of clawing it all back, you can take them to court and rake them mercilously over the hot coals.

Mr Mel

Spitzer would have had a field day with these guys.

EastRiver

Right. Spitzer would blow a lot of hot air, issue a stack of subpoenas, and then cut a settlement for pennies on the dollar and let them walk away. But it got him elected governor and that's what matters.

Toby von Meistersinger

This is just part of Cuomo's campaign for governor.

Snoopy

"If the taxpayer didn’t bail out AIG, those [employee] contracts wouldn’t be worth the paper they’re printed on."

Precisely.

What does Spiritof76 think about this? He knows everything about everything.

Spirit of 76

Unlike you, who knows nothing about anything.

Ace

The audacity and outright greed of AIG makes me grind my teeth.

These bailout bonus babies drove the company to its present state of failure. They should be charged with a felony and not rewarded with a bonus. This could be a RICO of gargantuan proportions.