AIG Is the Whipping Boy

I was waiting for the wife to come out of the store so I fired up the cell phone and it's rudimentary browser and checked the news.  The top story that I saw was that 19 states have joined forces and they are all now going to investigate AIG for their bonuses.

We already know that the bonuses were contractual and legally executed.  We all know that contracts are supposed to be sacrosanct.  It one of the foundations of our country's legal system.  Contractual obligations are so important that they are specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

Article one, section 10 says:  No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

The ironic part of this clause is that during the Articles of Confederation days before the Constitution, it was common for state legislatures to pass laws canceling the debts of influential people.  To prevent this practice, the above language was inserted to prohibit the rich from getting a fee pass.  The only way a contract can be broken is through bankruptcy and in case you didn't know, there are no state bankruptcy courts.  Bankruptcy courts are Federal courts. 

The Democrats inserted language into the bailout bill specifically allowing these bonuses to happen and Obama signed it.  Whether we like it or not, bonuses are a common way for companies to reward or retain people.  The military often doles out re-enlistment bonuses to people in critical skills jobs.  It's a fairly common practice and everybody does it.  It's not illegal or even immoral.

Why this warrants 20 State attorneys general to investigate this is beyond me.  Somebody ought to investigate these AGs for fishing without a license!  It's a fishing expedition and I would guess the states are thinking they might play a little lawsuit roulette and hope they get some kind of pay out.  There's lots of bailout money that could possibly go their way and they are apparently willing to sue AIG to get it.

Keep your eye on the AIG Bonuses folks, not on the rape of our country by Obama and the Democrats.  The Democrats are expanding government at a rate never before seen and it will probably mean the end to this country as we know it and the beginning of the short slide into anarchy.  If things don't come to a screeching halt soon, we will probably be Zimbabwe or Somalia on a grand scale.

VW

Comments

[puppy_love]

I don't have much of a strong opinion on that hot mess. Really, it's small potatoes relative to our other problems (printing up a trillion dollars to pay off our debts, perhaps?). I'm sure that the government is trying to at least make it look like they're going to give these evil executives hell to appease the angry American people. But as far as tearing up contracts, I could be wrong, but didn't the car companies receiving bailout money have to tear up employee contracts? And the argument that these employees didn't fulfill their part of the contract to warrant getting a bonus, that could be fair. The only reason this company didn't go bankrupt is because tax payer dollars stepped in. I mean, they COULD just do nothing, as suggested, and release the names of the people who accepted the bonuses to the public. We own 80% of the company, we should have the right to know the talent we're paying to retain...? :)

[BobF]

The American People really don't own 80% of the company. That's just some BS congress is passing off on us to make us think we do. The American People didn't want the bailout but Congress did. What purpose does it serve to release the names of those who got the bonuses and how much did they get?

AIG didn't pay the bonuses, Congress did. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank had the bailout bill written so the executives would get the bonuses. I believe they did this as an insurance policy. The insurance policy was that if things went sour, they could point to the bonuses and divert the public's attention towards these "evil" executives. And, you know what? It's working very well. The government is throwing trillions of dollars at problems and people got their panties in a wad over a few million. Don't forget that Dodd and Frank are the root cause for what's behind the financial meltdown.