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Im speechless.

Anyone who reads this should be staring at the screen with their mouth agape.

I came across something about this a few weeks ago. some how that top of the heap guy in this company has worked it around to where the broker the American home owner gets the more money lands in his pockets. I had problems with my computer and had to restore my hard drive back to the factory settings and so haven't got that link anymore but I remember being really pissed off about the whole thing.









doesn't he have that backwards? isn't it more like he has become a 'welfare' recieptient at the expence of the American tax payer ??



“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, he wrote Mr. Geithner. The government owns nearly 80 percent of the company.



This statement here just curdles my stomach.

The bonus plan covers 400 employees, and the bonuses range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $6.5 million. About seven executives at the financial products unit were entitled to receive more than $3 million in bonuses.

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Nomad;1158044 wrote: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml



Contacting the Congress




thank you nomad. My collection is now complelet. I have sites for both my congressmen and my senetors but not my rep . now I do.

scholle-kid;1158052 wrote: thank you nomad. My collection is now complelet. I have sites for both my congressmen and my senetors but not my rep . now I do.


I wish everyone would flood them with mail.

Nomad;1158055 wrote: I wish everyone would flood them with mail.


If I don't vote and stay in contact and make sure they have my opinion .Then I can't bi**h when they don't do their job now can I ?? And b**ching is a favorite pass time of mine .:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

The new £10m bank fat cat: Man who helped HBOS to its knees will pull in a pension of £400,000 a year

You're not alone Scrat. Our bankers are as greedy as yours

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -year.html

Greed is indeed an obstacle to our economic recovery plan.

Should our President address this publicly? I say he should.

Scrat;1158114 wrote: Did they have the best and brightest before this? I have my reasons to doubt that.



I'm angry about this.


Right ! That part made me laugh out loud.

Well ok then.





WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama said Monday he will attempt to block bonuses to executives at ailing insurance giant AIG, payments he described as an "outrage."

President Obama says AIG "finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed."

"This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama told politicians and reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were unveiling a package to aid the nation's small businesses.

The president expressed dismay and anger over the bonuses to executives at AIG, which has received $173 billion in U.S. government bailouts over the past six months.

"Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. I mean, how do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Watch why Americans have a right to be angry »

Obama was referring to the bonuses paid to traders in AIG's financial products division, the tiny group of people who crafted complicated deals that wound up shaking the world's economic foundations. See a snapshot of facts, attitudes and analysis on the recession »

The president said he has asked Geithner to "pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole."

Obama spared AIG's new CEO, Edward Liddy, from criticism, saying he got the job "after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year."

• Treasury pressure leads to AIG scaling back bonuses iReport.com: Field trip to AIG HQ: They just don't get it In Depth: Road to Rescue
  
  The New York attorney general's letter to AIG (PDF)
  
  
  But he said the impropriety of the bonuses goes beyond economics. "It's about our fundamental values," he said. Watch Obama say he's outraged by bonuses »
  
  "All across the country, there are people who are working hard and meeting their responsibilities every single day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses. You've got a bunch of small-business people here who are struggling just to keep their credit line open," Obama said.
  
  "And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules. That is an ethic that we have to demand."
  
  Obama said he would work with Congress to change the laws so that such a situation cannot happen again.
  
  Then, coughing, he added in jest, "I'm choked up with anger here."
  
  Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa didn't appear to be joking, however, when he spoke with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, radio station WMT.
  
  "I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little better toward them [AIG executives] is if they follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, 'I am sorry,' and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide," he said.
  
  "And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide."
  
  Under pressure from the Treasury, AIG scaled back the bonus plans and pledged to reduce 2009 bonuses -- or "retention payments" -- by at least 30 percent. That has did little to temper outrage over the initial plan, however.
  
  Reality Check: Housing
  
  
  
  1 in 5
  
  Number of mortgage holders who owe more on their homes than they're worth
  
  59 percent
  
  Percentage of Americans who blame the economic crisis on "bad loans by banks"
  
  8 percent or more
  
  Percentage of mortgage payments that analysts say will be late in 2009
  
  see more » Sources: First American CoreLogic, Pew Research Center, Association of Credit and Collection Professionals
  
  Obama received support from fellow Democrats, including Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. "This is another outrageous example of executives -- including those whose decisions were responsible for the problems that caused AIG's collapse -- enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers," the Democrat from Connecticut said.
  
  He noted in a written statement that executives at other companies that received bailout funds have volunteered to forgo bonuses. "There's no reason why those at AIG shouldn't do the same," he said.
  
  Later, Dodd told CNN he is considering an unusual approach to get the bonus money back.
  
  "One idea we're kind of thinking about is a tax provision," the Connecticut Democrat said. "We have a right to tax. You could write a tax provision that's narrowly crafted only to the people receiving bonuses. That's a way maybe to deal with it."
  
  Dodd said the notion is in the "earliest of thinking" and has not been settled on as a way to resolve the issue that has set off outrage in Washington and across the country.
  
  In the House, Democrats are trying to shame AIG executives into forgoing the bonuses. They're also investigating possible legal avenues Congress can take to force the company to return money used for bonuses, a House Democratic leadership aide and a House Financial Services Committee aide said Monday.
  
  The committee is trying to determine whether Congress can force AIG to renegotiate the bonuses, which the company says it is legally required to give employees under contracts negotiated before the company received its first infusion of bailout dollars in September, according to the committee aide.
  
  Both aides said it is unclear what authority Congress might have to force AIG to take back the bonuses.
  
  Complicating the issue, said the committee aide, is that the first infusion of cash to AIG was authorized by the Federal Reserve before Congress passed the $700 billion bailout bill, also known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which included some restrictions on executive pay.
  
  Liddy will face intense questioning about the bonuses when he testifies Wednesday before the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets.
  
  
  
  
  
  On the floor of the Senate on Monday, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, issued a stinging rebuke of AIG, calling executive bonuses "beyond outrageous."
  
  "Our financial sector will never heal unless the financial companies who helped create this economic crisis begin to regain the public trust. The actions of AIG do just the opposite, and every American is justified in their outrage at this breach of public trust," he said. Who's insured by AIG? »
  
  New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a letter to Liddy that was distributed to the news media that he was "disturbed to learn" of the bonus plan. And he threatened to issue subpoenas if the company failed to send him detailed information about who received bonuses and for how much. Read the letter to AIG (PDF)
  
  "Previously, AIG had agreed at our request to make no payments out of its $600 million Financial Products deferred compensation pool," he said.
  
  He said he had already asked for the names and titles of the people who are to receive the payments, "and it is surprising that you have yet to provide this information."
  
  "Covering up the details of these payments breeds further cynicism and distrust in our already shaken financial system."
  
  He added that he also is seeking "whatever contracts you now claim obligate you to make these payments" and the names of whoever negotiated them.
  
  "Finally, we demand an immediate status report as to whether the payments under the retention plan have been made," he said.
  
  The information was needed, he said, to determine whether bonus recipients "were involved in the conduct that led to AIG's demise and subsequent bailout"; whether the company is "truly required" to pay them; whether the contracts "may be unenforceable" because of fraud or other reasons; and whether "any of the retention payments may be considered fraudulent conveyances under New York law."

And another option is...



GOP Senator: AIG Execs Should Follow Japanese Model -- Suicide or Apology

March 16, 2009 7:55 PM

In an interview with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, radio station WMT-AM today, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said executives of AIG should consider following what he described of the Japanese model of shamed corporate executives: apology or suicide.

"I don't know whether the ($165 million in bonuses) is an issue as much as just the chutzpah of the people running AIG," Grassley said. "That they could thumb their nose at the taxpayers, it's more that.

"The attitude of these corporate executives and bank executives, and most of them are in New York, that somehow they're not responsible for their company going into the tank," he said.

"I suggest, you know, obviously maybe they ought to be removed, but I would suggest that the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them [is] if they would follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I'm sorry and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

Grassley added, "In the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology."

Last October, Grassley invoked the Japanese model a little less harshly.

"I’ve suggested it wouldn’t be a bad thing that the leadership of these institutions would take a Japanese-style approach to corporate governance," he said then. "And I’m not talking about going out and committing suicide as some Japanese do in these circumstances, but I am talking about scenes I’ve seen on television where in belly-up corporations the CEOs go before the board of directors, before the public, before the stockholders and bow deeply and apologize for their mismanagement. Something like that happening among Wall Street executives would go a long way toward satisfying my constituents and many Americans that help might be needed and would more gracefully be given by the taxpayers of this county."

Was listening to the radio this morning and they are calling AIG - PIG. Piggy jerks!

Reply from my Congressman. Im so inspired I have to lay down and take a nap.



Dear Mr. ******:



Thank you for contacting me to share your opposition to large compensation packages for financial executives of the American Investment Group (AIG). I appreciate learning of your views.



AIG, the largest insurer in the United States, has lost billions of dollars over the past year by insuring against bond defaults. The troubled financial conglomerate, which has received more than $180 billion in federal funds, recorded a loss of $62 billion in just the past quarter. The large influx of taxpayer money has resulted in the government owning 80 percent of the company.



Since the start of government efforts to stabilize our financial industry last fall, I have been greatly concerned about the abuse of taxpayer money. As you likely are aware, media reports recently revealed that AIG has paid $165 million in bonuses to its executives. This is unacceptable, and the public outrage concerning this issue is justified. In order to learn more about this wrongdoing, I have cosponsored H.Res. 251, which directs the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to transmit to the House of Representatives all information in his possession relating to specific communications with AIG. The bill would force Secretary Geithner to provide all documents, records and communications regarding AIG's use of federal bailout money to Congress, including payment of millions in bonuses within 14 days of the bill's adoption. Passage of H.Res. 251 will enable Congress to gain a full understanding of AIG's abuse of taxpayer money so that we may work toward the appropriate legislative response to AIG's actions.



Throughout our efforts to address current economic challenges I have been a strong advocate of correcting any wrongs that have been committed and ensuring appropriate oversight of any expenditure of tax dollars. Last fall, upon learning of AIG's wasteful and inappropriate use of public funds, I demanded then-Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke require the company to repay any taxpayer funds that were misused - including $440,000 spent on a luxury retreat for executives just days after receiving an $85 billion federal loan.



I will continue to urge the Administration to strictly monitor the expenditure of federal funds and call for greater direction and oversight of any policies involving use of taxpayer money. We cannot afford to fail in our mission of restoring solvency to our economy.



Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to do so again regarding any issue of importance to you.





Sincerely,

JOHN KLINE

Member of Congress

Scrat;1162384 wrote: Good work Nomad. I popped one off to mine. I wasn't nice about it, I really don't care to be. I expect better from my "leaders" than I have recieved to date and have very little respect for the individuals. Needless to say I did not get an answer. Not that I could care less.


I followed up with a reply asking for acknowledgement from Congress that had they done their job in the first place we wouldnt be having this conversation nor wasting more tax dollars trying to retrieve the bonuses.

I told Congressman Kline that in order to earn the publics trust we needed honor and truth and thats how he gets re-elected.

Feigning outrage by looking for scapegoats is cowardly and transparent.

I was less than kind but civil.

Snowfire;1158116 wrote: The new £10m bank fat cat: Man who helped HBOS to its knees will pull in a pension of £400,000 a year

You're not alone Scrat. Our bankers are as greedy as yours

The new £10m bank fat cat: Man who helped HBOS to its knees will pull in a pension of £400,000 a year | Mail Online


That just makes me sick