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Suck on THIS, AIG!
In response to the outrageous sums paid to executives at AIG while the ailing insurance giant is busily "sucking the t*t of the taxpayer", Congress is now thinking about considering taking steps to tax AIG bonuses...
BREAKING NEWS: This word just in... apparently, the text of the new bill, titled the AIG Bonus Recovery Act (ABRA) has been spotted on the Internet. In stark contrast to most legislation, the bill consists of but a single sentence:
All your Bonus are belong 2 US.
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2 comments
Comment from: Julie Pippert [Visitor] · http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/
Err...all bonuses should already be taxed...mine are! And at the higher rate, too!!!
Also if AIG promised bonuses *no matter what* it is an even dumber company than appearance suggests.
SOP in most industries is to promise bonuses out of excess profit (common tax workaround) based on performance.
LOL at your succinct bill.
We've been doing some AIG deconstruct over at MOMocrats.
I do believe in bonuses in theory---they do put money out in the economy---but this is ridiculous.
Also if AIG promised bonuses *no matter what* it is an even dumber company than appearance suggests.
SOP in most industries is to promise bonuses out of excess profit (common tax workaround) based on performance.
LOL at your succinct bill.
We've been doing some AIG deconstruct over at MOMocrats.
I do believe in bonuses in theory---they do put money out in the economy---but this is ridiculous.
03/19/09 @ 10:32
Actually I think the AIG bonuses are "retention" bonuses - aimed at giving folks an incentive *not* to leave during when the company is suffering from "the rats are deserting the sinking ship" syndrome. That being said, it does seem that there was some shenanigans going on over this - from both AIG *and* the government.
It certainly makes good blog-fodder.
I don't have problems with bonuses (where I work it is called either "incentive pay" or "pay at risk".) The tax avoidance issue is IMHO a red herring, as the idea (one would hope) is to reward people for a job well done (reflected by a successful year) - also if "We the People" don't like that, then simply get the tax code altered. I am also OK with "retention" bonuses in principle, as it keeps key folks at the helm during trying times (or even during a known death-spiral, as was the case at firms like Enron and even Circuit City.) However, given all the BS that AIG has gone through, and all the grief that they and their buddies have caused, I can certainly understand (and in many ways share) the resentment felt by folks.
~EdT.
(PS: zOMG I think this comment is longer than the original post!)
It certainly makes good blog-fodder.
I don't have problems with bonuses (where I work it is called either "incentive pay" or "pay at risk".) The tax avoidance issue is IMHO a red herring, as the idea (one would hope) is to reward people for a job well done (reflected by a successful year) - also if "We the People" don't like that, then simply get the tax code altered. I am also OK with "retention" bonuses in principle, as it keeps key folks at the helm during trying times (or even during a known death-spiral, as was the case at firms like Enron and even Circuit City.) However, given all the BS that AIG has gone through, and all the grief that they and their buddies have caused, I can certainly understand (and in many ways share) the resentment felt by folks.
~EdT.
(PS: zOMG I think this comment is longer than the original post!)
03/19/09 @ 11:33
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