Silly bonus outrage versus reality

Last week we got a real dose of how absolutely ridiculous our elected officials have become. If I collected the outraged spittle flying out of the mouths of members of the House of Representatives, I could have turned Nevada into lush farmland. All the outrage over employees of AIG who received retention bonuses. The real situation at AIG was far more complex and so was the source of the "fake outrage" from congress.

First, the AIG situation is frankly a non-starter. Aside from a hand full of people who received those bonuses and were actually REAL executives (they should not have accepted the bonuses), the rest were employees who were trying to wind down the businesses and were needed to get the job done. They could have easily left AIG and got jobs elsewhere because their skills are in demand, regardless of what the media has reported. These people are not all failures and my guess is that many of them are hardworking extremely competent and highly skilled at what they do. They do not set company policy, they just execute it. And for doing the job they were asked to do, they should be paid. Pure and simple.

Congress on the other hand is a pathetic bunch of incompetent fools. Their first problem is that every one of them who voted for the stimulus voted to allow these bonuses. The approval was explicitly placed by Chris Dodd and held in the combined legislation by Harry Reid. And the language placed in the bill is clearly quid pro quo for Dodd and should be investigated. NOT ONE member of congress read the bill. NOT ONE! So their outrage is just a cover up for the GROSS INCOMPETENCE!

And the bill to tax bonuses for people who work for entities that the government bailed out? Okay. That's a lot more than AIG. That would include all of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And if we are retroactive to last year, lets go all the way back to when the crimes actually occurred. Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick received a bonus of close to 4 million in bonuses after the organization lost 200 million dollars. But then we would probably have to indict Barney Frank who presided over that mess and assured its continuity. And we also have to look the other way there because otherwise we would have to ask why Frank, Dodd and Obama received the three highest donations from Freddie and Fannie.

The government needs these bailed out organizations to succeed. Our money as taxpayers will only be paid back if these companies return to profitability and pay the money back. And driving their employees away is not going to accomplish that goal. That is why it is asinine to demonize all of the loyal employees desperately trying to turn these organizations around. I wonder if congress is prepared to eliminate bonuses for union employees and retirees at GM? They are bailed out companies as well as AIG and should be held to the same standard.

If Congress wants to get outraged, try some of these:

- Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA) embroiled in a scandal regarding earmarks to the tune of 300 million dollars (2 times the AIG bonuses)
- AIG paid 90 billion dollars to foreign banks (why weren't we told?)
- Both Bush and Obama administration have no accountability for stimulus funds-WHY?
- Just under 8,000 earmarks in the budget bill. Where is the outrage?
- Senior level Democrat nominees that all have one thing in common. They don't pay taxes! Why?

Congress needs to grow up and stop politicizing the small things and start concentrating on the big things.

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