Update 1 (different video) below:Ok, this is a tough one to explain, but here goes.
Brief Summary:
American International Group (AIG) is a big financial company that insures the investments of other financial institutions such as banks, mortgage companies and the like - it would have gone bankrupt a few months ago if the government had not loaned/given AIG billions of dollars in bailout money to stay in business. It was revealed over the weekend that some of that taxpayer money ($165 million) was given out in bonuses to executives working for AIG.
Why are people upset?
1) AIG is one of the companies responsible for encouraging (and insuring) the high-risk loans caused our economy to tank.
2) Once the government started giving bailout money to AIG, someone ought to have stopped them from paying large cash bonuses tothe executives.
Who is at fault? What can be done? Here are some articles as well as a short video of Obama speaking about the AIG bonuses from this week:
AIG’s Bonus Blow-Up: The Essential Q&A - http://www.propublica.org/article/aigs-bonus-blow-up-the-essential-qa-0317
Lawmakers target ‘outrageous’ AIG bonuses csmonitor.com
Update 1: Different video of the President commenting on AIG bonuses. Should be easier to view:
3 comments:
I wouldn't know who to blame for the allowance of the execs to get bonuses but who ever they were they need to be fired immediately. Why would the execs need to profit from the bail out when they are all ready well off to not be struggling through the recession that was caused by the help of AIG's rash decisions to loan out large amounts of tender irresponsibly.
The government needs to take all the bonus money back AND fine the heck out of AIG for trying to pull a fast one on hard working americans. Shall they suffer more because some big wig wants a larger yacht? I think not!
~Khalid A~
I think that AIG should be fined for using their bailout funds to give their top people bonuses. It just not right, they were given money to get bailed out and they misused it. If I was a top person at AIG, I would give them the money back and contact the gov't to tell them that had I had given them my bonus back. It's just not right what they did and they should get punished for using their bailout funds incorrectly.
~Alex Sh.~
The fact that all cooperate companies exsp. a Seattle based airplane manufacturer gives out extravagant bonuses disgusts me! the fact is that they are way too greedy my dad who is the head electrician at Boeing saved them over 19 million dollars a year! And all he got in return was his name in the paper and a plaque! So if they can just throw money away how about they give it to the hard working average Americans that make the company run!-Jake Goss
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