A.I.G......Help me out.

[sweatboard]

 Good stuff friends!!!  Thank You.

I heard something the other night about how 15 of the top 20 AIG guys declined the bonus.  

What's strange is that the total on the amount of money saved by those 15 people declining the bonus was - 30 Million dollars.  So that's an average of 2 Mil per bonus.....Wow!!!

I got a hundred dollar check for being the full time staff of the year at the Boys & Girls Club in our East TN area which includes 14 different clubs and serves thousands of children and families.  I'm not bragging, complaining or being ungrateful (trust me I was really excited about the check and truly did not expect to get anything) the whole thing is just interesting to me.  

Anyway, I agree with something Tracy said a while back, let's just let all these corporations fail and go bankrupt.  I'm just not sure we are ready for that yet.  I do think we are getting closer and closer to a day when someone like Nader or Paul will really have a chance and I know I wouldn't feel like that right now if McCain had been elected.

Speaking of Nader having a chance, here is a good example of why Fox News really bewilders me.......  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo

[sweatboard]

Ralph Nader said, when talking about if we are going to have corporations be our government or the people.......  

The difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations pound on their door.  

[ycartrob]

I've often said that capitalism is what makes this nation great and capitalism will be why this nation eventually fails.

Fear usually wins over reason.

[el_chode]

I've often said that capitalism is what makes this nation great and capitalism will be why this nation eventually fails.

Fear usually wins over reason.

I've always said it's the bastardization of capitalism that will bring it all down. As in, the nature of capitalism is PROFIT and not COMPETITION. It's not deregulation, it's proper regulation. What is the value of capitalism when a market is dominated by a few companies who share even fewer umbrellas?

The move has been from intentional inefficiency to efficiency in the name of laziness. If the shortcut doesn't hurt, it's not really a shortcut.

[Penny Lane]

the more i read about AIG, the more baffled i get. the lack of internal controls .. they didn't even have a CFO for the last 6 months before the bailout. internal auditors did nothing and outside auditors questioned admin (i assume CEO, Gen Counsel, COO) and they knew nothing; this guy behind the whole CDO scheme is STILL employed there. he gets a million a month as a consultant!!! (this i got from that new rolling stone article)

[Penny Lane]

I've often said that capitalism is what makes this nation great and capitalism will be why this nation eventually fails.

Fear usually wins over reason.

i think that capitalism fails to take into account the bad side of human nature (greed, immorality) and socialism fails to take into account the good side of human nature (work ethic, determination, creativity, innovation) **i think i'll still take capitalism any day, though

[Angry Ewok]

From the New York Times,

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.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

You and I have never met or spoken to each other, so I'd like to tell you about myself. I was raised by schoolteachers working multiple jobs in a world of closing steel mills. My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute's generous financial aid enabled me to attend. I had fulfilled my American dream.

I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.'s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.'s effort to repay the American taxpayer.

The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.

I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country's call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn't defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.

My guess is that in October, when you learned of these retention contracts, you realized that the employees of the financial products unit needed some incentive to stay and that the contracts, being both ethical and useful, should be left to stand. That's probably why A.I.G. management assured us on three occasions during that month that the company would "live up to its commitment" to honor the contract guarantees.

That may be why you decided to accelerate by three months more than a quarter of the amounts due under the contracts. That action signified to us your support, and was hardly something that one would do if he truly found the contracts "distasteful."

That may also be why you authorized the balance of the payments on March 13.

At no time during the past six months that you have been leading A.I.G. did you ask us to revise, renegotiate or break these contracts — until several hours before your appearance last week before Congress.

I think your initial decision to honor the contracts was both ethical and financially astute, but it seems to have been politically unwise. It's now apparent that you either misunderstood the agreements that you had made — tacit or otherwise — with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, various members of Congress and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York, or were not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds.

You've now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust.

As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.

Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.'s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.'s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to "name and shame," and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.

So what am I to do? There's no easy answer. I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn't disagree.

That is why I have decided to donate 100 percent of the effective after-tax proceeds of my retention payment directly to organizations that are helping people who are suffering from the global downturn. This is not a tax-deduction gimmick; I simply believe that I at least deserve to dictate how my earnings are spent, and do not want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.'s or the federal government's budget. Our earnings have caused such a distraction for so many from the more pressing issues our country faces, and I would like to see my share of it benefit those truly in need.

On March 16 I received a payment from A.I.G. amounting to $742,006.40, after taxes. In light of the uncertainty over the ultimate taxation and legal status of this payment, the actual amount I donate may be less — in fact, it may end up being far less if the recent House bill raising the tax on the retention payments to 90 percent stands. Once all the money is donated, you will immediately receive a list of all recipients.

This choice is right for me. I wish others at A.I.G.-F.P. luck finding peace with their difficult decision, and only hope their judgment is not clouded by fear.

Mr. Liddy, I wish you success in your commitment to return the money extended by the American government, and luck with the continued unwinding of the company's diverse businesses — especially those remaining credit default swaps. I'll continue over the short term to help make sure no balls are dropped, but after what's happened this past week I can't remain much longer — there is too much bad blood. I'm not sure how you will greet my resignation, but at least Attorney General Blumenthal should be relieved that I'll leave under my own power and will not need to be "shoved out the door."

Sincerely,

Jake DeSantis

[Penny Lane]

wow


brad-can't find this, what's the link?

[Ruckus]

What pisses me off is that politicians voted for something they didn't even read. You want to talk about the dangers of greedy people running wild? These elected losers are a threat to national security.

Uhh, politicians never read the entire bill or even more than a few sentences.  1000 pages of legal jargon sucks to read, especially when you have hands to shake and dinners to attend.

[Ruckus]

Ralph Nader said, when talking about if we are going to have corporations be our government or the people.......  

The difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations pound on their door.  

And as obnoxious a demagogue as he may be, I voted for him last year and probably will again if he's still kicking.

[Ruckus]

US V Carlton

Now, I believe that the 90% tax should fail on a bill of attainder or ex post facto grounds. However, in this case decided in the Tax Court and ultimately SCOTUS, the basic idea is that the court would uphold such a retroactive tax if it was the intended ends of a misguided means on behalf of congress.

Bleh.

Yeah I just read the synopsis of the case.  Ehh, rational basis, good to go

(Edit) - Now that I ponder it some more, I'm hesitant to give the stamp of approval on this retroactive tax as nonviolative of substantive due process.  Both Carlton and its test predecessor Pension Benefit Guaranty take legitimate corrective measures that do not represent themselves as penalties.  

Alas, I am no longer sitting in fiery discussions of the classroom but I'd venture that this SCOTUS makeup may in fact not find this to be a "legitimate legislative purpose by rational means."

Ughhh, I'm rusty. ;D

[Penny Lane]

US V Carlton


Alas, I am no longer sitting in fiery discussions of the classroom but I'd venture that this SCOTUS makeup may in fact not find this to be a "legitimate legislative purpose by rational means."

Ughhh, I'm rusty. ;D

and souter, stevens and ginsberg leaving really wouldn't change the makeup of things

[el_chode]

US V Carlton


Alas, I am no longer sitting in fiery discussions of the classroom but I'd venture that this SCOTUS makeup may in fact not find this to be a "legitimate legislative purpose by rational means."

Ughhh, I'm rusty. ;D

and souter, stevens and ginsberg leaving really wouldn't change the makeup of things

One of the few reasons I'm glad Obama was elected was that I always prefer a balance than a rail-roading skewing of government branch. This goes for Congress as well. Friction, baby.

[el_chode]

Ralph Nader said, when talking about if we are going to have corporations be our government or the people.......  

The difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations pound on their door.  

And as obnoxious a demagogue as he may be, I voted for him last year and probably will again if he's still kicking.

Nader gives me mixed feelings. Sometimes he's too pro-union for me, but if you've ever seen the coverage/documentary on Poletown and his involvement, he really stood in all the right places and I gained a lot more respect for him.

Poletown, for those of oyu who aren't familiar, was the Kelo of the 80s, just at the state level, and could have been on of the biggest nails in Detroit's coffin.

[sweatboard]

I've often said that capitalism is what makes this nation great and capitalism will be why this nation eventually fails.

Fear usually wins over reason.

Fear usually wins over reason.

So true on so many levels, it makes me want to bite someone.

I've often said that capitalism is what makes this nation great and capitalism will be why this nation eventually fails.

I think what is happening now is that our country is going to have to set pride aside, on all sides.  Maybe come to realize that Socialism and Capitalism are not black and white but the tools for grey.