As many people probably know with the current economy in shambles, many may wonder how some companies are even surviving. So when AIG announced its $165 million dollars in executive bonuses, you can only imagine the shock that swept the nation. For those that don't know what AIG is, AIG sells insurance on people's lives, homes and mortgages. AIG also made a lot of money on complex deals between financial institutions.
The real underlying issue with AIG started late last year when Washington intervened, taking control of the company and injecting $170 billion into the company in order to meet its obligations. Although there are people that are getting laid off left and right from hundred of companies, AIG is somehow able to just hand out these millions of dollars as bonuses. What happened to needing help? To make matters worse, Obama acted as if he was totally shocked when AIG made this announcement, yet there was no reason for anyone in Washington to be surprised: AIG has been under government control for months and it announced the bonus payouts well in advance.
I think that in order to continue with his bailout plans, Obama needs to make sure that he has the confidence of the citizens. If he is already starting to play with the minds of Americans, they may not be as apt to follow future plans. I feel that Obama definitely has some great ideas to help move the country out of the deficit that we are currently facing, however he definitely has a long way to go, and AIG appears to be one of his speed bumps in the way.
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