They Mean Firings, Not Suicides... Unlike Senator?
The rhetoric surrounding the financial travails of American
International Group -- better known to, and reviled by, the public
as AIG -- has reached a fever pitch. In addition to one US
lawmaker's suggestion that certain AIG executives commit hari-kari,
on Tuesday the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers (IAM) called for the "immediate termination of
every executive... who accepts a bonus payment" from the embattled
company.
"Gross incompetence is but one of the grounds to void those
contracts," said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. "These executives
destroyed their company. They triggered a global economic meltdown.
They misappropriated taxpayer monies. Their gross incompetence is
irrefutable. But another ground for firing them exists."
As ANN reported earlier this month, AIG --
which insures a number of aircraft owners, and is the parent
company of International Lease Finance Corp. -- reported a record
$61.7 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. The US government
promptly responded by issuing $30 billion in new Troubled Asset
Relief Program funds to bolster the hemorrhaging company... the
fourth time in six months the federal government has done so, on
the argument the insurance company is 'too big to fail.'
Stories of gross incompetence and likely
financial improprieties have swirled around AIG -- and, to be
fair, most other money-losing US corporations -- for the better
part of six months. On Monday, news surfaced AIG would pay out some
$165 million in now-taxpayer-supported bonuses to several
executives, despite overwhelming evidence most if not all those
employees did little to deserve them.
"If they accept those bonuses, they should be arrested and
arraigned," Buffenbarger said of those workers. "What they did over
the last four years was criminal. Just like Bernie Madoff, they
constructed a global ponzi scheme meant to defraud investors and
then hide their illegal actions from investigators. Those bonuses
are little more than a blatant attempt to buy the silence of
executives who planned, executed and were exceedingly
well-compensated for the trillion-dollar scam know as credit
default swaps."
The plan to pay senior executives at AIG millions in taxpayer
funded bonuses comes just weeks after lawmakers demanded steep cuts
in compensation for US autoworkers as a condition for any financial
assistance for struggling auto companies. "The double standards at
work here are outrageous," declared Buffenbarger.
The Machinists also took strong issue with the claim by AIG
Chairman Edward Liddy and others who claim there are lawful and
binding contracts requiring the obscene payouts.
"These
contracts are neither legal nor binding. Look beyond the bonuses
and ask 'why would anyone pay for incompetence of this magnitude?'"
suggested Buffenbarger. "The answer is obvious: Only by buying
their executives' silence can AIG ever hope to avoid criminal
prosecution for fraud, conspiracy and suborning perjury.
"Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Even corporations
like AIG and their executives deserve a presumption of innocence,"
Buffenbarger cautioned. "But they do not deserve to have their
criminal defense costs paid by the taxpayers. And if they will not
return the bonuses paid and refuse the bonuses proffered, they are,
in effect, admitting their guilt and furthering their conspiracy.
That is also grounds for immediate termination."
Even Buffenbarger's strong language seems tame compared to a
statement Monday by Iowa Senator Charles Grassley... who helpfully
suggested the AIG executives in question should "resign or go
commit suicide." Grassley has since attempted to step back from his
remarks.