Pigs at a Trough....... ( Archived) (5)

You'll remember that $85-billion US taxpayer loan to the American International Group (AIG). That was made on Sept. 16. In return, AIG surrendered 79.9 per cent of its stock to the government.

Less than a week later, the company's executives, clearly to ease the mental strain they had been undergoing, pitched up at the exclusive St. Regis Resort at Monarch Beach in California.

It's not easy running a once-profitable insurance company into the ground, then waiting nervously for taxpayers to bail you out. The resort allowed these men and women to pull themselves together.

In one week, AIG executives spent $440,000. There was $200,000 for rooms. Another $150,000 in food, $23,000 at the spa, $1,400 at the salon and $7,000 in green fees. Then there is the old favourite, the bar tab, which topped out at $10,000.

Now for the kicker.

Joe Cassano was president of AIG's financial products division. Under the terms of his contract, the committee heard yesterday, Cassano and his executive colleagues were paid 30 cents on every dollar these CDS products made. All told, Cassano made $280 million running this division, a fact that raised the ire of many lawmakers.

Ruining is perhaps a better word than running, since the division lost $11 billion, which led to the near-collapse of the company. Cassano was fired Feb. 29 of this year, but was allowed to keep $34 million in bonuses.

How can anyone receive a bonus for this kind of track record?

PS: Cassano was then kept on as a consultant for $1 million a month.

What do you think Cassano is doing? He is crying in his martini each night because he just can't make ends meet on a meager $1,000,000 a month. Poor soul.

What can we do? Continue to pester your government officials from the mayor of your town to as far up as you have to go. As a lady who has been fighting with the V.A. for over 4 years now, yes there are times when I want to say, the hell with it, I an tired of this B.S and let them win, but I will not quit. I also have some other things going on for senior citizens. Can't go into a lot of detail, but one thing I can tell you is if you have a complaint with the government they are slow to react, if they have one with you they want immediate results. If we don't step up and speak in a voice that we can all understand without all the big words there will be nothing for our children or grand-children.