I haven’t been writing any new posts here in a while because Pound-It is going through some restructuring and I’ve been rather busy as well.  However, this one subject is too ridiculous not to write about.  I’m talking about the $218 milllion in bonuses AIG paid out.  Now, what’s outrageous isn’t the fact that these bonuses were paid.  What’s outrageous is the hypocritical, self-serving Congressional response.

Regardless of whether you think these bonuses are justifiable from a moral or practical standpoint, the fact remains that these bonuses were not illegal.  They were guaranteed by previous contracts and by a clause in the bailout bill that Congress passed.  Which raises the question: why is Congress so confused about it?  Do the senators not read what they’re voting on?  It’s interesting that members of Congress are so angry at AIG when they’re the ones who allowed it to pay those bonuses in the first place.

The response is also peculiar in light of the fact that the recent spending bill passed by Congress contained over 9,000 earmarks totaling from $3.8 billlion to as much as $12.8 billion according to the New York Times.  In addition, Citizens Against Government Waste found $17.2 billion in pork barrel spending in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2008.  Who’s wasting more taxpayer dollars here?  Should Iowa Senator Charles Grassley be calling for AIG executives to “resign or go commit suicide” when according to Citizens Against Government Waste, in 2008, he himself had over $321 million in pork to his name?

This witch hunt for the people who received bonuses from AIG is completely silly.  It’s been played up by the media and being used to fuel populist fire, distracting the public from the real issues our nation faces, while undermining the Obama administration’s ability to fix our economy.  As the citizens of this nation, let’s stop calling for blood and go back to calling for meaningful change.