Because Waxman was yelling about it in the hearing and everybody picked up the story ran with it without bothering to do any research. Once the media writes a moral narrative it's very hard to unwrite it.
i guess this could be considered the trickle down effect, and they're boosting the california economy?
This might be the first time in my long and dubious bbs 'career' that I've ever seen a thread in which I agree with EVERY SINGLE WORD SamFisher says. Especially the post right above mine.
Not me....at some point...these things should be cut / scaled back even if they were intended for employees not directly related to the downfall. Lots of tax money paid in by people -- who also had nothing to do with the AIG losses -- are going in to prop up this company. The fault may be with AIGFP -- but the whole company should be cutting out the perks. Sucks for the insurance salespeople -- but it's a consequence of their association with those sketchy AIGFP and exec types.
The problem with that, like it or not, is that if these incentives aren't honored, the agents will simply switch to another carrier who will honor them. Essentially, these "perks" are part of the agent's salary package. Taking them away would be taking away part of their salary, and you simply cannot do that to the independent agents who bring in a good chunk of your revenue, and can take away on a whim.
Be careful what you wish for because cutting expenses at the subs may not help the government or you or me. AmGen is one of the more profitable AIG subs that is going to be put up for sale. If it loses its top sales people (and if they cut out the retreat which is already paid for way in advance) and signals to them it's time to look for greener pastures with AFLAC or a competitor - that's a multibilion dollar asset that is worth a whole lot less.
I know Fatty. But I think though...at they should at least delay it. Or offer something else long term. Company's in trouble anyway -- or about to be sold -- so these agents will be looking about at other companies anyways. Sucks for them -- but they won't be the first to lose their 'bonus' for something that wasn't their fault. It would hardly be taking it away on a whim. There have been some significant events in the news lately! The parent company just went cap in had to the gov...for $85B! At best this is very bad timing.
Generally, I agree. What subsidiary or division it may be doesn't matter to me. What I do think matters is that these are salesmen. If I understand properly, the trip is their reward for busting their asses for the last year or so making money for the company (much more, I'm sure than this trip was worth). It is essentially a part of their compensation, promised to them a year ago. If the whole company has to cut out perks, should AIG stop matching 401(k) contributions or cut out paid vacation time? They can cut out bonuses, do the Christmas party at the office, etc, but probably shouldn't mess with people's compensation if they want to have them stick around to operate the company.
Most of these people were independent life insurance agents and not even AIG employees. Less than 10 of the attendees were employees of one of AIG's insurance subsidiaries. No "corporate executives" from AIG were even there. This whole thing reminds me of the stories about Enron employees who were "frozen out" of their 401K's as the company stock price went down the tubes. The media never mentions the fact that the employees were warned MONTHS before about the blackout period. If I'm not mistaken, the blackout period was less than a week long and the stock price barely moved during that time. The media never lets facts get in the way of a good emotional story....
these guys should be thrown in prison today. and so should the congressmen who voted this bill to pass.
Way to be informed about the issues OddsOn. 1. see the other thread 2. The AIG bailout predated the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by about 2 weeks give or take a few days. Other than that great post.
More bad news......again its AIG....don't think anyone in here's gonna be surprised.... http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/08/news/companies/aig/index.htm?cnn=yes AIG hits up Fed for more money Three weeks after an $85 billion bailout, AIG is turning to the New York Fed for additional funding. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The New York Federal Reserve is lending up to $37.8 billion to American International Group to give the troubled insurer access to much-needed cash. In exchange, AIG is giving the New York Fed investment-grade, fixed-income securities that it had previously lent out to other institutions for a fee. Those institutions are now returning these securities and want their money back. The new program, announced Wednesday, is on top of the $85 billion the federal government agreed to lend to AIG last month to prevent the global company from collapsing. AIG said last Friday it had drawn down $61 billion. The lending program is a way for AIG to get funding for its businesses, said a New York Fed spokesman. The system is similar to lending facilities the Fed provides to banks, which can also exchange collateral for cash. The latest announcement does not jeopardize the government's ability to recoup its loan to AIG, experts said. "AIG will repay the loan," said Stewart Johnson, portfolio manager at Philo Smith, an investment bank specializing in insurance. "It's just a matter of how much of themselves they will have to sell." Paying back a big debt On Sept. 16, the Federal Reserve Board agreed to lend AIG $85 billion, using the company's assets as collateral. The loan is expected to be repaid from the proceeds of the asset sales. Interest on the line of credit is steep, and the government took a 79.9% stake in the company. Last week, AIG said it planned to hold onto its property-and-casualty insurance businesses, while selling off the rest of the company to pay the massive debt. Those other business lines include its aircraft leasing unit; asset-management division; retirement services; and U.S. life insurance operations. AIG chief executive Edward Liddy, who was installed by the Federal Reserve last month after the bailout, on a conference call last Friday was optimistic about the potential for the asset sales. "We fully expect to emerge from this with a capital structure that's fit to fight," he said. "Our insurance businesses...are strong and well-capitalized." But some analysts are more skeptical. "The current disruption in the credit markets could make it difficult to sell businesses at attractive valuations," ratings agency Standard and Poor's said. CreditSights valued the units AIG planned to sell at $32.9 billion and the divisions it will keep at $86 billion. These figures do not include the sale of a minority stake in its foreign life insurance operations, valued at $133.1 billion. First to hit the market will likely be units tied to airline leasing and consumer lending, both of which require funding from the debt markets, which is hard to come by these days. International Lease Finance Corp. could command more than $7 billion and American General Finance Corp. will likely bring in about $2 billion, according to CreditSights. Once AIG sells its assets, it faces many hurdles in stabilizing its property and casualty insurance divisions, experts said.
AIG: Priceless Luxury Suite Rooms: $139,375.30 Banquets: $147,301.71 In Room Dining & Spa: $26,444.71 Golf: $6,939.09 Your hard-earned tax dollars at work......Priceless... There are somethings money can't buy.....like a soul or conscience AIG executives retreat soon after AIG got bailed out by the government. http://www.minyanville.com/articles/Bernanke-Paulson-jpm-aig-taxes-bailout/index/a/19407
Except that there wasn't a single AIG executive there. I can't believe the media is still running with this "story".
It's sells...that's the bottom line. This seems to highlight a diff between a business being privately owned and being gov't owned. As a private biz, this flies because you have to take care of the people that bring in the bling. As a "gov't owned" biz, you still need to take care of those people, but joe taxpayer is crapping bricks because he's seeing his tax dollars being spent on fat bennies and he didn't even get to take his kids to stumpworld this summer.
