[Arizona Carolyn]

Congress has no business in the compensation business... they should not even be in the AIG business. According to Hank Greenburg (who should know) all the fed needed to do was put up guarantees. Why did they need guarantees? Because when Greenburg was forced out of AIG they lost their tripple A rating and AIG was then required to put up a higher level of equity due to the downgrade from Tripple A.

According to Greenburg, it wasn't the contracts AIG held that were all bad rather they had too many contracts to cover when they were required to put up additional equity for the contracts due to the downgrade... all the Fed really needed to do was act as a backup guarantee to AIG on the contracts. Instead AIG received TARP and then funneled the money through to the chute to satisfy equity requirements -- many of which were foreign banks.

[JrsyJack]

So now the big question. Has AIG been so vilified that its franchise is now poison? If employees begin to exit for fear of a punitive tax on their wages what happens, and more importantly who is at fault? If Liddy says "screw this" and AIG declares bankruptcy tomorrow, who is at fault? What happens to the $200 billion it owes.

Those of you in favor of lynching AIG had better think seriously about that. In your zeal to "get 'em" , you may be shooting yourself in the foot.

Just another thought. Your employer, your kids' schools, your favorite mall and other commercial ventures may suddenly find themselves without insurance, and forced to suspend operations, when AIG goes. No one is big enough to take on all of AIG's risk in those markets.

[EBH]

Oh I absolutely agree. Congress has no business in any of this. We had/have laws on the books to deal with failing companies. Congressional action should have been a minimum if any at all.

Personally when I hear the words ‘too big to fail’ I think monopoly. If there is a monopoly...then there is a legal consequence.

If there was to be any bailouts etc. it should have come from the bankruptcy court system. The courts should have never ever been circumvented. Even now, much of this could be stabilized by turning matters over to the bankruptcy courts for reorganization. Congress trying to do this with the tactics their using is fascism in my opinion.

Rally up anger towards these people, they are not trying to save their company, their just running away with our tax money...c’mon. It is all propaganda. The more I watched this today the more I believe AIG is a prop, an excuse, and is being abused as a means to a more sinister end. Poor useful idiots.

[castlebrew]

>>Congress has no business in the compensation business... <<

Hell, Congress has no business being in the Congress business!!