AIG: Can We Be "Frank"?
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by Ron Daly
AIG. Three little letters that are quickly becoming the symbol of everything wrong with the bailout process. Months after the first bailout check was handed to AIG by the Federal Reserve, the sour stories are still rolling in. Millions in bonuses for the executives who mismanaged the company, stockholder retreats that have made it impossible for everyone in finance to do anything productive/fun - there are, sadly, many more revelations.
And now the public ire over AIG is swelling. So much so that Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who we've mentioned often here on the Soapbox, went on the "Today" show this morning and expressed his discontent with the situation.
The video is embedded below on our website - linked here, for our email readers. I started my day off with a smile after listening to Rep. Frank express his views on the whole mess. He assesses the situation pretty plainly - if banks don't want the "strings" that come with stimulus money, they should give the money back. The best line from Frank, in regards to the government's 80% controlling stake: "We can't keep [AIG execs] from getting their bonuses, but we can keep some of them from continuing in their jobs".
To be fair, according to a different report from this morning, there are 20 AIG executives that have opted out of their 2009 salary after receiving their bonus compensation.
But what do you think? Leave a comment on our site OR send us an email and we'll post it for you.
VIDEO:
Frank, being frank.
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