AIG not a scapegoat
Will Wojcik
Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: Opinion
The latest outrage sweeping through D.C. is the pay-out of contract dictated bonuses to AIG employees. These bonuses were written into employee contracts long before the financial downturn and are a payment for their service to their company. However, there has been an outcry by politicians in Washington for those that received the bonuses to return the money. Their argument is that the money that is paying for the bonuses are the same funds that have been given to AIG through the stimulus legislation. The stimulus bill was written and heavily endorsed by the men and women of Congress and then signed into law by the President. That money that was then given to AIG in an effort to keep the company from going under.
It would appear to be popular practice in America to lay the blame solely on the shoulders of the employees of AIG and the other financial institution for our current predicament. I will not argue that the majority of the blame for our current ailing economy doesn't not rest with them, however, I will not turn the employees of AIG into a scapegoat. No matter how dire or grim our situation may seem to be, we must not turn those employed by AIG into an escape for our frustrations. Although their actions, or inaction, may have lead in great part to the collapse of our financial system, we cannot expect to inspire change through death threats and hate.
In a recent moment with the press, President Obama spoke of the American people's distaste for the executives of AIG. "I don't want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry. I'm angry," Obama said, talking on the most recent swell of anger expressed by the public. "What I want us to do, though, is channel our anger in a constructive way."
Constructive anger? He wants us to focus our rage? But to whom should we focus? Certainly not to him or to Congress, right? Wrong. Who do you think it was that paved the way for those bonuses? It was President Obama that wielded the pen that struck the signature on that piece of legislation. It was Congress that crafted the words, allowing for those bonuses to be paid out to the AIG employees. Do not be fooled into thinking that the Congress and the President are the victims. They most certainly are not. And do not for a moment fall prey to the notion that they did not know about the area of the legislation that dealt specifically with the pay-outs, because they knew full and well what they were doing.
It would appear to be popular practice in America to lay the blame solely on the shoulders of the employees of AIG and the other financial institution for our current predicament. I will not argue that the majority of the blame for our current ailing economy doesn't not rest with them, however, I will not turn the employees of AIG into a scapegoat. No matter how dire or grim our situation may seem to be, we must not turn those employed by AIG into an escape for our frustrations. Although their actions, or inaction, may have lead in great part to the collapse of our financial system, we cannot expect to inspire change through death threats and hate.
In a recent moment with the press, President Obama spoke of the American people's distaste for the executives of AIG. "I don't want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry. I'm angry," Obama said, talking on the most recent swell of anger expressed by the public. "What I want us to do, though, is channel our anger in a constructive way."
Constructive anger? He wants us to focus our rage? But to whom should we focus? Certainly not to him or to Congress, right? Wrong. Who do you think it was that paved the way for those bonuses? It was President Obama that wielded the pen that struck the signature on that piece of legislation. It was Congress that crafted the words, allowing for those bonuses to be paid out to the AIG employees. Do not be fooled into thinking that the Congress and the President are the victims. They most certainly are not. And do not for a moment fall prey to the notion that they did not know about the area of the legislation that dealt specifically with the pay-outs, because they knew full and well what they were doing.
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