Some perspective - AIG Financial Products Employee's Public Resignation Letter

This guy had a retention contract. It's not really a bonus. It's not supposed to be dependent upon the success of the company because the company was already in the hole when he took his position.

These were guarantees written into a contract and were confirmed to these employees three times by management. These guys could have jumped ship and gone elsewhere. Instead they chose to stay at a company vilified by the public, working 10-14 hour days to try to fix the problems created by someone else. Now, after they've spent a while trying to fix the problems, we come out and demand that they not get those payments that were promised to them not as bonuses but as payment for staying.

I know a lot of people here think that just because someone makes a lot of money they shouldn't ever complain about anything. That's not the case here. Anyone on here posting what financial trouble they are currently in are missing the point. It's not about complaining that you're not well off financially it's that you've taken one of the least desired jobs in America and now you're not getting your proper compensation.

 

And he got paid that retention contract.

 

I understand. What I'm mainly saying, and probably stated incorrectly in my previous post, is the furor over "bonuses" has been directed at these people to the point that it's become untenable for them to keep their contracts.

If the CEO had backed these people and explained it, we wouldn't have people trying to find out where these people live.

 

Certainly true - I think all the garbage about people trying to find them and all that is absurd. But I think this guy is way over-reacting in the heat of the moment. At the end of the day:

1. He's going to get his bonus
2. He's not going to get taxed at 90% on it
3. In a few weeks, the public will move onto something else and this will be forgotten

I think this guy is smart enough to know all that. He just wanted to make a political statement with his open letter.

 

Gee, it's not like you could change a few words and have this letter be written by any one of hundreds of thousands of people who are now out of work through no fault of their own. Most of those people didn't make stupid decisions that valued short-term huge profit over long-term stability like the people in charge did.

This letter reeks of assumed privilege and the guy is shocked that he's no longer considered a Master of the Universe. Well, as John Stewart says... Eff You. Retire. Live off your ill-gotten gains. Just go away and let us start anew.

 

Of course you are ASSUMING because he is rich and worked at AIG, all his gains must have been ill-gotten.

 

Edit. Accidential repost due to thumderstorm.

 

maybe he assumes he wouldn't have gotten anything had the government not bailed out his employer

 

Since he is not keeping his retention bonus, all of his gains would have been pre-bailout.

 

Let's just outlaw employment contracts, bonuses, tax shelters and charitable contributions altogether and just have hourly wages from bottom to top with wages based on the year before and the top hourly wage no more than 250 times the lowest hourly wage. Professionals like lawyers, actors, athletes, doctors, CPAs, writers, and other self-employed persons would be taxed 100% on income over $5 million with a graduated flat tax up to that point. Problem solved.

 

I don't think there's any need to feel sorry for the guy. He's done quite well for himself and can endure a little misfortune. And, that's not what he's complaining about either. He's complaining that his CEO just bent over and let everyone villify a group of people that didn't do anything wrong. I'm sure it'd be appreciated if people stopped calling him one of those guys who bankrupted the country. He didn't.

 

I can agree with that, the CEO could have tried to explain the situation to the public, and Geithner could have explained it to Congress


edit: but americans are still mostly not going to reconcile the fact that bonuses went to a company saved by a bailout, problem division or not.

 

I'm still waiting for all of the folks in Congress (both parties) who received campaign contributions from companies that were bailed out to return them.

 

before or after bailout

 

Either, although I suspect there wasn't much, if any, post bailout. It would help remove any semblance of impropriety with any of the decisions made as to who gets bailed out and how much they get.

 

Backward from now through the start of time. Bobrek is right. Also make that from now until all bailout money, interest and political contributions are paid back.

 

It doesn't help that the media is either unable or unwilling to disclose this small little detail. Or that the general public won't dig deeper into the story to figure it out on their own. These executives are NOT the guys who sold the CDS's. But I guess you sell more papers and get more viewers if you frame it as if they were.

But yes, Liddy could have done a much better job last Wednesday making this more clear. IIRC, he only mentioned it once during the entire testimony and it was pretty much just an afterthought. You would think that would be the most important part of this whole story.

 

From a Congressional / Administration standpoint, this was never about the bonuses. That story was and is being used to distract the populace from the real story -- where's the accounting for how and where the billions were spent. The C / A really would sweat if the media ever forced them to answer that.

 

these companies don't donate nearly as much as people think


its the individuals who work for them

 

Then Obama, McCain, Dodd, et al won't mind giving back the contributions to AIG.