March 15, 2009
As long as you live in my castle, you’ll live by my rules!

Posted at 9:56 am, in: AIG, Bailout, Uncategorized

The Washington Post reported that American International Group (AIG), the “Bailout King,” is still spending hundreds of millions on bonuses and retention pay. Since lawyers at both the Treasury and AIG have concluded that canceling the payments would open up AIG to a lawsuit, I don’t know why Geithner is pretending like he is so shocked and outraged, but that’s beside the point.

In a letter to Geithner yesterday, Liddy agreed to restructure some of the payments. But Liddy said he had “grave concerns” about the impact on the firm’s ability to retain talented staff “if employees believe that their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.”

I agree with Liddy, wholeheartedly, but you should have thought of that before you started begging for bailouts. You’re like the newly turned eighteen-year-old who tries to defy his parents. “I’m eighteen; I can do what I want.” Not so fast, grasshopper. As long as you live in your parent’s house, you’ll be living by their rules.

You might be the king, AIG, just remember, you sold the government your castle and now you will be forced to live by their rules.