Was the AIG Bonus Scandal A ‘Work’?

This question has crossed my mind quite a few times over the last few days as the story about the AIG bonus payments started gaining traction. As it became clear that Obama and his Non-taxpaying Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner not only were aware of the Dodd rework that removed the provision that would have prevented the payments, but advised Dodd to do so, something smelt fishy.

Oh yea, for those that don’t know what a ‘work’ means, it’s a pro-wrestling term used to describe fake, phony and staged. And that certainly pertains to the situation as the news of this breaks, thanks to the bonuses that the Administration they themselves ALLOWED in the first place:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said.

Increasing oversight of executive pay has been under consideration for some time, but the decision was made in recent days as public fury over bonuses has spilled into the regulatory effort.

The officials said that the administration was still debating the details of its plan, including how broadly it should be applied and how far it could range beyond simple reporting requirements. Depending on the outcome of the discussions, the administration could seek to put the changes into effect through regulations rather than through legislation.

Makes perfect sense when you think about it. Scapegoat the AIG executives as the latest in Corporate greed at taxpayer expense no less and ram your agenda through to regulate and restrict capitalism and the free market.

Nevermind that the Administration itself pulled the strings in allowing AIG to dish out these bonuses in the first place. Now, cry foul and regulate regulate regulate.

And let me add that I don’t blame those who received the bonuses not one bit. They have a contract that called for these bonuses. It doesn’t say where the money comes from, or who paid the money.

Why didn’t the new $1 a year CEO renegotiate or defer these payments? If someone handed me a bonus check that was due me, I’m not giving it back, sorry.

Of course, focusing and talking about the $160 million dollars in bonus money and corporate greed as the reason the economy is so bad, shields the real culprits in all of this and takes the focus off of the real money in the overall bailout bills and allows the Administration to implement anti-business legislation that will only prolong our problems with the economy, not solve them, because the Government knows best.

It’s looking more and more like Socialism around here.

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