Bonus Outrage Hides the Bigger Story
Here’s another example of why we still need trained journalists: the LA Times broke the AIG bonus story that sent Washington into a tailspin and President O on Timothy Geithner damage control. Treasury Sec’y Geithner first said the $163 million in bonuses handed out to the crooks in the AIG derivatives division had to be paid because it was contractually obligated. Yet the blue-collar autoworkers had to renegotiate their contracts so Detroit’s chieftans could get a few federal bucks to keep the assembly lines rolling.
Meanwhile, no one was minding the store on the huge financial industry bailout that started last fall, and a lot of that AIG taxpayer rescue money went to pay off Goldman Sachs’ insurance claims for losses on their AIG-created credit default swaps at full price, along with other banks– a much bigger story than the bonuses. Everyone on Wall Street negotiatied a great deal for themselves, while the rest of us knuckleheads pay our taxes and watch our 401ks dwindle to nearly nothing. Matresses are looking pretty good these days…since buy and hold amounted to freak out and scrimp.
