AIG Bonuses - Pay The Stupidity Fine

By Shaun Pierce

Hey you with the pitchfork marching off to AIG ... can I talk to you for a moment?

Everyone is outraged at the bonus money being paid to some suits at AIG. I understand the reaction. I never was handed a bonus for doing a bad job. That means I never ran for public office. It's a joke my elected (and now offended) readers.

As the bank of Obama tosses billions of your bucks out the window, it only natural to get a bit pissed off, yet we must take a sober moment to direct our anger.

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley went duck hunting with a cannon when he suggested that executives of the embattled financial institution AIG apologize, be fired and/or kill themselves for financial malfeasance. Wow. Maybe the death penalty for failure is what we need to the economy around?

Most of this shock and outrage on the part of our elected officials is about as real as a Rolex from a flea market. Do you remember the outrage over the Lehman Brothers bonuses? No, that's because they did not get a bailout when the well ran dry. They did what any respectable American business would do ... they went out of business.

Make no mistake Obama and his gang of politicians knew all about it this. There is no surprise here and there is no true shock or outrage. The problem is that does not play well with Americans who did not know about all this and the president needs to save his political capital that is beginning to fade. So the outrage tug-o-war begins. Which side is more angry?

President Obama has promised to do what he can to stop AIG from spending taxpayer funds on bonuses. While that sounds great, there is a huge danger lurking here. If the government cancels compensation contracts, it could start a dangerous precedent and result in more economic instability. Basically any contract could be worthless if the government knocks on the door. All these really smart bailout folks should have covered this long before the first dime was handed out to anyone. Fact is it too damn late now. Just pay the stupidity fine and shift the focus toward creating future contracts that don't require bonus payments in the case of financial ruin.

Liddy testifies in front of the House Financial Services Committee today. There are few sights as entertaining as watching members of Congress trying to outdo each other in moral outrage.