AIG Continues Quest to be the Greediest and Shadiest of them all

According to msnbc.com, Obama, along with the Federal Reserve, knew about AIG's plans to distribute bonuses to "top" employees in one of its troubled offices. Apparently, AIG executives informed politicians in Washington approximately three months ago on its plans to give 165 million dollars in bonuses. Now, because of the state of the economy, praised employees are facing pressure from the public and Obama's administration to return the bonus money.

Many Washington politicians are stunned and upset that Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, somehow did not know about this bonus business. He is claiming this whole mess to be a "miscommunication." A lot of pressure is being placed on Geithner because of his focal role in bailing out AIG this past fall. Many are suspicious of him and his ties with AIG because of him somehow missing the memo that bailout money was being turned into bonuses.

According to the site, "Democrats and Republicans in Congress are increasingly questioning how Geithner could not have known about the bonuses, given his past role in AIG's bailout, which has totaled more than $170 billion. 'I'm sick and tired of hearing the administration and the Secretary of the Treasury say, 'I just found out about it,' 'Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D-Pa.) said yesterday."

However, Geithner claims that he was focused on saving the American economy, and is not responsible to check every move made by AIG or any other corporation who received bailout money. Himself and other high-up officials are also shocked in how the bonuses have been perceived by the media and the general public, and did not expect the "political firestorm" that eventually developed.


Shady. Shady. Shady.

It seems as if every week, another story pops up on MSNBC about corporate companies giving out bonuses with bailout money. These financial bigwigs have no respect, and have clearly lost their perception of ethics as their bank accounts became stuffed with more cash. They should be happy they didn't fully destroy their company, like their colleagues at what used to be Bear Stearns. Hopefully the money given in bonuses will return to the proper hands and go where it was intended to: to rebuild AIG.