Monday, March 16, 2009

AIG Bombshells: $1.2B in Bonuses, Over $100B Paid to Goldman, Other Banks

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/208786/AIG-Bombshells-1.2B-in-Bonuses-Over-100B-Paid-to-Goldman-Other-Banks?tickers=AIG,GS,C,BAC,DB,BCS,XLF

President Obama has instructed Tim Geithner to "pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses" planned for AIG executive. It's "hard to warrant any bonuses" at AIG and there is no way to "justify this outrage," the President said midday at the White House. After tripping over his words at one point, the President said, "I am choked up with anger," a familiar feeling in America today.

Earlier: Every time AIG is in the news, it's almost guaranteed to provoke a gag reaction from American taxpayers and policymakers. This weekend was no different as two stories of bailout abuse and outrageous behavior came to light:

First, AIG was lambasted as disclosures of its $1.2 billion bonus pool came to light. About $450 million of the bonuses were planned for employees of its financial services unit, the rogue hedge fund insider the insurer, which lost $40.5 billion later year. The Wall Street Journal reports at least seven individuals at that unit were due bonus payments of $3 million each.