AIG had no problem breaking another legal contract...see my post on the subject...why is one legal contract more important than another? These bozo’s could care a less about the law...there credit default swap/insurance fraud shows this clearly.
A quick comment: If there were laws broken then there need to be indictments and trials... If AIG violated terms of contracts as it seems you are suggesting then suits should be filed. Please also keep in mind that suits in relation to contracts are not ALWAYS filed as a result of a perceived BREACH - sometimes people will file suit in order to establish a mediation to END a contract in which neither side has breached it - yet - but where one side KNOWS they will not be able to comply with the terms of the contract and wish to head off problems before they happen.
There is NO EXCUSE, NONE, no matter WHAT laws have been broken for our LEGISLATIVE branch to legislate what should be a JUDICIAL MATTER as far as a punitive strike (which the 90% tax law IS - a Bill of Attainder).
Honestly, I would very much caution against taking the word of any elected official in Congress on this matter. If one looks at the big picture it seems as if this was all planned from the beginning as a way for the Executive Branch (and the Legislative Branch) to seize power over not only our economic industry, but the Judicial branch as well... AIG executives are hardly the only ones that should be under investigation right now...
Again, I fully agree that whatever criminals may be working for AIG should NOT be let off easily. However, using someone else’s disregard for the law as an excuse to throw it out completely isn’t a good thing either. That, IMHO, is what Obama and his comrades are counting on — making you SO ANGRY that you are WILLING to break the law, and give up YOUR RIGHTS to “get back at these people”.