More Bonuses Planned For Bankers

It's no secret...The economy in the United States is in shambles. With unemployment at an all-time high and everyone struggling to make ends meet while living paycheck to paycheck, it would unimaginable that bankers, most which have net worth's in the billions, would receive even more multi-million dollar bonuses, courtesy of taxpayer dollars. But, according to an article posted on the New York Times website early Sunday morning, that is precisely what AIG executives are going to receive.

According to the article, "American International Group (AIG), which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year."

In an attempt to justify the bonuses, Edward Liddy, the government-appointed chairman of AIG, said that the they're necessary in order to "keep the best executives with the company".

According to the New York Times article, the bonuses "will fuel a popular backlash against the government’s efforts to prop up Wall Street." This would certainly render the latest "stimulus plan" basically useless.

In what seems to be yet ANOTHER broken promise from the Obama administration, the bonuses were scrutinized by the President last week, yet they will allowed to go forward "because lawyers said the firm was contractually obligated to pay them." Past bonuses already have prompted President Obama and Congress to impose tough rules on corporate executive compensation at firms bailed out with taxpayer money. In fact, during his campaign, Obama made several statements in which he promised to take a stand against corporations shelling out massive bonuses from taxpayer dollars.

In an article posted on the ABC News website back in January, Obama blasted Wall Street executives "shameful" and "the height of irresponsibility" for accepting billions of dollars in bonuses.

With the future of the nation's (as well as the world's) economy in serious doubt, it would seem unconscionable that bankers would receive such gratuitous bonuses, especially from US tax dollars. However, it seems to be a growing and disturbing trend these days, complete with a President who is showing no signs of curbing it.