I am among those who are not happy about AIG executives getting a bonus. However I do see that this is a much bigger issues than the media is focusing on. Washington is up in arms about this issue, yet we are seeing that Washington let this pass earlier when they thought nobody would care. Fact is, we do care, but Wall Street and Washington don’t seem to really get why many of us care.
I don’t hate AIG employees for trying to make a buck, we all have bills. But, as someone who lives on Main street, I’m used to seeing a much smaller bonus and it is for work above and beyond, not just for showing up to work! The executives in question at AIG failed at their duties. Most of us on Main Street get a pink slip for that, not a million dollar bonus. So we who are now paying those bonuses, feel they have not earned it, because by common sense, they have not. It’s not that we hate AIG, we just don’t like paying a lot of money to someone who failed and caused us harm, that makes a lot of sense to me and whole lot of other people.
Now people on TV say we need to give them the bonuses “for the principles!” I’m a principles kind of guy, mean what you say, honor your word, show that what you say has real value, those are things I live by. However, I am also in the belief that, if you do harm to others, of which AIG did, you should do what you can to make things right. Taking bonuses for causing so much harm to so many people, is wrong. For the principle they should give it all back, that would be the right thing to do, the respectable thing to do. There are people who have lost their jobs because of this economic crisis, how dare AIG employees feel they have a right to a bonus for contributing to this mess. And I don’t just hold AIG at fault, Fannie, Freddie, Merill, etc… You made this mess, stand up and show us you are people of true character and do the right thing. If Wall Street does not, they are best to stay away from Main Street for their next job. Many people I know will not hire people from these companies after seeing the greed and self centeredness of their actions. After all, do you really want to work with someone who acted with such little regard for other yet took a million dollar bonus after failing so bad? No. And I certainly don’t want them in my finance department!
The second group who needs to do the right thing is Washington. The whole AIG bonus thing is a wet dream for politicians right now. They get to get all of us worked up about AIG executives. Well, those same politicians helped to create this mess. Chris Dodd had one of the highest AIG donation rates during the last election, so did Obama. Did they hand back the money their campaigns received? No. Did they admit to their role in all this? No. So Washington has a spine issue, or lack there of one. Nobody wants to have bs thrown in their face like Washington is dishing out.
Right now, there are teachers taking pay cuts, policemen taking pay cuts, all in an effort to help ensure people don’t get laid off in their departments, so everyone can put food on the table. Wall Street and Washington, how come these hard working people who make about $40k a year are able to do this and you can’t? These hard working people are the real America, it seems more and more Wall Street and Washington are not in touch with the rest of us. I wish they would take a hint from the teachers and policemen and take the same kind of cuts, show us they really do mean to make this better, not just their wallets.