Bonus issue will end any recovery and may be the incident that will trigger the collapse of US financial system. AIG was propped up by feds to buy time to resolve the huge liabilities of the derivative market. A market that in 2005 Congressional hearing that Greenspan and SEC admit they do not understand. Experts estimate the liabilities to be 55 trillion minimum to 1.5 quadrillion. The only people who can navigate the US out of this financial time bomb is the experts in AIG. If Obama cannot stop the bonuses, the infuriated Congress will stop bailout of AIG thus leading to US collapse. On the otherhand if Congress punishes AIG thru taxes, the experts in AIG will walk, leaving the US with no experts to lead us out of the derivative mess thus triggering a financial crisis that can lead to a financial meltdown. No matter how we feel about the bonuses (majority anti, some pro) AIG/derivative mess is one of the most potent financial time bomb in the US economy and Congress inadvertently is playing with the fuse.
1.5 quadrillion dollar? that is 1,500 trillion dollars. That is all the total wealth in the US and the world.
You do realize how hilarious that is, don't you?
It’s not about the bonuses. That’s a diversionary tactic. We should never have bailout AIG (or anyone else) in the first place ... and they know it.
Everyone was on the take on this one.
“The only people who can navigate the US out of this financial time bomb is the experts in AIG.”
That’s absolutely horse manure. They are crooks. What makes you think their experts at anything. The money is long gone.
So your idea is to pay the bomb maker to defuse the bomb?
...That’s what I was a thinkin’, If you step in sh!t, you can wipe it off, but, the smell is always on you...