Makes Me Think of That Old Joke

The one about the defendant accused of killing his parents who begs the mercy of the court because he's an orphan. That's what I think of when I think of the officers of companies like AIG. Where after requesting bail out money from the American public, AIG continues to show the chutzpa of that orphaned defendant, squared. Currently it appears that AIG is planning on paying out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees. Why? Because they have to use that money to "keep valuable workers" from leaving. Would these be the same valuable workers who led AIG down the path to failure and public begging?

When reached for comment, the company stressed that the $503 million is not government funds. Ok, I feel much better. It's only money that could be used INSTEAD of begging for government money if it wasn't going to pay for those "valuable workers?" Senator Harry Reid, said that "the $500 million plan would benefit the very AIG executives who led the firm to the brink of collapse. To reward executives with exorbitant paydays after poor performance, and to do so even indirectly with taxpayer dollars, strikes most Americans as fundamentally unfair and a misuse of their money." This is a sentiment that I agree with, while at the same time find woefully understating Americans' feelings. Replace "fundamentally unfair" with "pissed off beyond all possible belief" and I think you'll be closer to what we're thinking.