AIG bailout

AIG the large insurance company that had to be bailed out by the taxpayers is running ads on TV toting the fact that they paid back the bailout money. These are people who purchased high risk mortgage backed bonds and lost the bet. The bonds turned out to be junk and this company filled with investment experts lost their shirts. The government stepped in and purchased 95% of the company and allowed them time to restructure their company and then over time they bought back their stock from the government. Today they are bragging about their come back. Was anyone punished for this risking behavior? Quite to the contrary they were rewarded. American International Group is set to pay $450 million of bonuses to employees of the unit that was largely responsible for the New York insurer's near collapse last fall. Here is how our watch dogs in the congress responded. Rep. Elijah Cummings plans to send a letter Monday to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner expressing his "outrage" that insurance giant AIG, the recipient of more than $170 billion in government aid, will dole out $165 million in corporate payments this week as part of its $1 billion retention program to keep senior executives at the company. They sent a nasty letter and that was the end of it. Congressional oversight committee members did not see the threat coming and when it was exposed they sent a letter and that was it. No one at AIG was ever punished. This is what many citizens see as corruption and this is what most upsets people but they re-elect these people year after year.