AIG insurance company was given an $85 billion dollar loan from the government to prevent them from filing bankruptcy. Here is an excerpt from today's Associated press article:
Outrage over perks
Lawmakers expressed outrage at perks AIG executives enjoyed less than a week after the bailout, including a spa retreat where they racked up bills for $200,000 for hotel rooms and $23,000 for spa services.
"They were getting facials, manicures, and massages, while the American people were footing the bill," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat on the oversight panel.The oversight committee examined thousands of pages of internal documents produced by AIG and former executives.
Comments ?? Opinions??
7 comments:
It is extremely discomforting to know that while these already extremely wealthy executives at AIG are getting facials and other spa treatments the American public is in frenzy about the economic situation. Adding an additional tax to already suffering Americans is difficult enough, but when the executives use that money to better their skin and not their companies is a slap in the face. If the government is going to involve themselves in the economic market, they better have a better handle on where exactly that money is going.
If AIG received an $85 billion dollar loan from the U.S. government, which is said to have given the U.S. an 80% stake in the company, how are there no regulations on the company's spending of this (or all) money? Reading further coverage of this scandal, the CEO of AIG claimed he had no knowledge of the retreat, in which case he should take severe disciplinary action on these employees involved. At a time when the public image of these bankrupt companies in the eyes of the American public could not be lower, an incident like will (and should) enrage American taxpayers who are forced to shoulder the burden of these companies' fiscal irresponsibility.
I’m with Meghan on this one; I think that if the CEO really had no knowledge of the retreat, then something has to be done to reprimand those involved. However, despite all this, I think it was a nice idea to get a little time off to go collect themselves. It almost seems as though they were trying to live like Spaniards… ¡Qué extraño! I guess I can sympathize with them a little… not
I agree with everyone as well....the CEOs remind me of whiny rich high school girls. Always having "daddy" bail them out of situations. I feel they are forgetting that every action has an equal reaction. How is someone suppose to learn, if they don't see and feel the repercussions personally. Their life styles are not being effect, and they obviously don't care enough about other to try and walk in most American's shoes. When things like this come out it is no wonder other countries think American's are selfish and glutenous...if they needed a retreat grab a tent and a sleeping bag and have one in nature so maybe they could have really done some soul searching. These CEOs get out of their fantasy world and take some responsibility for what they have caused!
This to me is just another example of people in the upper class being so detached from the real world. It reminds me of McCain promoting that he can connect with the common people better than Obama while he can't recall how many houses and cars he owns. I can't bring myself to spend $100 at a spa let alone just imagine how they could blow $230,000+ in a time like this for recreation.
This is why checks and balances are needed in basically every area of work and society. Money causes greed and most obviously can't resist greed.
I hope that they get some type of reprimand from this as well. Maybe they should be taking these retreats out of their future paychecks and they might start to feel the pain.
This is exactly why I believe America needs to have either little to no government interaction, which could have prevented the bailout in the first place; or the government needs to play a very large role in monitoring corporations (not small businesses)by holding them accountable under law for their actions. Of course the bailout was necessary. We did not want to completely scare away foreign investors so in this case government intervention was probably the only solution. The whole American capitalist situation reminds me too much of what happened in Russia when a few elites took over almost all of the country’s wealth and had to be dealt with by being killed and exiled by the government. (Anyone remember exactly what happened? I cant remember the whole story...)
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