Posted on 03/25/2009 11:12:59 AM PDT by OrangeDaisy
The following is a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.
DEAR Mr. Liddy,
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
According to the Deal Book blog (dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com), the contracts were written such that the AIG execs would’ve gotten their bonuses irregardless of performance.
So why even bother setting a $1 salary with a guaranteed million dollar bonus? Why not just give them a million dollar salary?
If government makes that a condition of accepting government money, then it would be an enforceable contract - with the penalty for not complying being the loss of the government money.
Please cite the legal reason to break these contracts. The AIG bailout was profferred without a codicil eliminating the ability to pay the contractual obligations. In fact, AIG’s bonuses would be explicitly allowed under the language of porkulous.
Yes, this individual hitched his wagon to a sinking ship (that mixed metaphor works surprisingly well). he did so for $1.00, with a promise that his staying in his role for 1 year would be rewarded by his retention bonus. he was reassured at least twice (I believe it was actually 3 times) that the bonuses were still operable, even after the government money came in. Now that the contract is fulfilled on his end, you appear to believe that AIG can unilaterally default on their end of the bargain simply because you and others are outraged - and on no legal basis whatsoever.
Using ACORN and its compatriot “community organizing” agencies to foment fear and terrorize these folks into giving up their legal rights, with tacit blessing from the federal government, is anarchy.
What conservative principle is promoted by this anarchist solution?
“If this guy didn’t work for AIG, the company would have lost even more money. As far as you know, he probably saved you $10 billion in additional bailout money.”
You are even more right that you know, this gentlemen and his associates who received these bonus’ reduced AIG’s liability by over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS...
Source; Liddy testimony to congress
These were not bonuses. These were contractual retention payments. This guy, and his group, apparently did a good job in mitigating a much larger loss down to a much smaller level. Contractually, they did the job they were to be paid for. Pay them.
“Anything related to AIG is “corporate welfare”....they took hundreds of billions of my tax dollars, and should be out of business.
This conservative will call out all socialists. Do not tell me to shut up. You do not get to choose your socialism”
More ignorance from someone duped by the leftists...AIG borrowed from the government about $80 Billion dollars...that is it...that is all they owe. The government purchased assets for about another 90 Billion dollars at a rate of about 55 cents on the dollar. 98% of those assets are performing so it is actually a very very good positive return on investment for the taxpayer. I don’t think any rational, knowledgeable person can call that welfare per se.
And, that is really a seperate issue from vilifying innocent people without cause (referring to the people at AIG who received the bonus’)
“And yet if the government forced GM to abrogate their Union contracts then most of the people on this board would cheer. “
Not if they abrogated last years contract and demanded the wages returned...get your analogy right.
Sorry! I did a title search on Dear A.I.G. and got no hits.
Sometimes existing threads don’t come up in the search. It happens, no software is perfect.
WOW! I wonder if we can get this person to run for President?
Tired of the socialist whining from people who believe that our tax dollars should go to execs of failed companies.
Even more tired of the socialists who try to liberalize/rationalize why tax dollars are funding bonuses for failed execs
I am tired of sheeple who sucker for Alinsky radicalism.Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."What do you think the harassing of those executives is, if not the actualization of that rule?The administration put language in the "must pass yesterday" bill explicitly stipulating that those bonuses would be paid - and you actually think that was an accident?
It is a setup. And you have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
Don't get me wrong, I'm never likely to get that kind of a payday in my lifetime - but in the scope of the bailout it is chump change - and looking at that detail is taking your eye off the ball. The "ball" starts with a dollar sign dollar sign, and ends with a number bigger than my wildest dreams of greed by a thousandfold.
The AIG execs have an entitlement mentality on steroids.
So they get to screw the taxpayers in turn?
If some nut case does anything to any of these guys or their families, those little political parasites Cuomo and Blumenthal should be brought up on criminal charges. Throw in Barney Frank too so they have have a friend in the slammer.
No, GM should still be forced to honor the contracts they signed, and to pay the people who work for them. Now, if the government decided that at the end of the current union contract that unions were nothing more than extortion rackets, were largely to blame for companies going bankrupt, and then made unions illegal, THEN I would cheer.
You are comparing apples to oranges. One is a contract with a group that the company is forced to sign or their business gets shut down, the other is a contract with an individual employee that the company agrees to sign to compensate the employee.
Again, as I understand it, these payments are not bonuses, rather they are retroactive compensation for the past twelve months. You work twelve months, you get paid at the end of it. You nor I know the intricacies of this company and who or what made it fail, but as I said to another poster, if you had an agreement to work for twelve months and then get paid at the end of it and you fulfilled your end of the deal, I'm sure you would feel that you deserved your money.
And if he wants to walk away, teriffic. I've no doubt that he's in better financial shape to do so than most of the people under him who have been or will be laid off.
And there it is. Screw this guy, he's got money.
Good Lord. Why are people pissed at these men and NOT the government for throwing the money around willy nilly? Why can't everyone see that these guys are being used as scapegoats to distract people from the real problem, WHICH IS THE GOVERNMENT???????
Semantics aside, these were indeed bonuses. Whether contracually required or not doesn't really make any difference although it does provide another point of argument for defending them.
AIG had the legal ability to pay these bonuses one way or the other. This was even written into the "stimulus" package. They also, based on my understanding, had the legal REQUIRMENT to pay them. Changing the rules ex post facto is illegal and wrong. The current outrage is really just class envy that is intentionally being whipped up by our elected representatives. The ignorant sheeple are just lapping it up.
Yes. Thankfully, some of those I work with understand what is going on. Unfortunately, most of them don’t.
AS ping
Atlas shrugged ping!
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