Heres the bottom line..You all have fallen victims to the media's crap. Did you all really read in detail what this article said? The loan wasn't just to save AIG as a company. The 'ultimate' goal of the government making that loan was to try to save our country and ultimately our world from falling into a great depression. That is exactly what could happen if the world's largest insurer bites the dust. People, the media is making money off of you. That is their only goal: to put blinders on the public and sell their crap.

AIG didn't fail as a company - they were insuring the banks that gave loans to people who could not afford the loans there were given because there we not explained about the inflating interests they would be charged. The bottom line - the banks / CEOs that approved all these loans should be fired and have to live their lives like the ones that are getting their houses foreclosed on.
Don't get me wrong - AIG should also fire all the representatives that on the last resort and they should have to pay back the US all the money spent on that trip.

A Piece of Mynd

AIG being bailed out while seemingly sensible to lawmakers is reprehensible. The abuse of monies by execs should land them in bankruptcy court.
People cant fail financially and get bailed out, they cant even save the home they had foreclosed on. Peoples lives have been devastated by whims of people opening the floodgates to bad loans and wasteful corporate spending,

IN THIS WORLD , WE JAIL DEADBEAT PARENTS. BUT WE BAIL OUT DEADBEAT BUSINESSES AND WALL STREET MILLIONAIRES.

THESE PEOPLE RODE A WILD RIDE AND CRASHED BECAUSE THEY BASICALLY WERE INTOXICATED ON WEALTH.

WHEN WE ACCOMPLISH SUCH A DOUBLE STANDARD AS TO BAIL OUT THE RICH AND JAIL THE INDIGENT IN MAY CASE WE HAVE TRULY GOT SOME IGNORANT LAWMAKERS.

WHAT WILL BE NEXT ? AWARDS OF PAY RAISES , TRIPS AND THE LIKE FOR THE ALREADY SOLVENT?

THESE ISSUES DONT IMPACT MY LIFE , BUT FOR THE SAKE OF MANKIND WHAT HAVE WE DONE AND WHEN WILL WE WORRY ABOUT PEOPLE NOT WEALTHY BUSINESSES? iF aIG WENT UNDER, ANOTHER WOULD REPLACE IT.......IF A PERSON GOES UNDER, THEY STAY THERE FOR A LONG TIME WITH NO HELP.

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME, WITH THE LESS FORTUNATE NOT THE WEALTHY WHILE THE POOR GET POORER.

SHAME ON OUR GOVERNMENT! OUR DEADBEAT GOVERNMENT!

This package, nor any other package, is going to save the world financially or otherwise. The bailout was just another gimmic to ensure the ongoing class structure that has plagued mankind for a very long time. We, the tax payers who don't get to share in the write offs, are serfs and the wealthy bankers, political leaders, and business people are the kings and noblemen.
If after Clinton the US would have redistributed the wealth and responsibility a little more farily instead of living off of credit while selling us "Reganomical trickle down, I aint got wet yet economics", we'd be a lot stronger country right now. Oh, and lets not forget King George W's little personal war in Iraq becasue Sadamm threatened his daddy that is costing us how much a day? While his old budy (who had the same stock broker by the way and whose family was chaperoned out of the US the day after 9/11) Bin Lauden, is still at large.

And you know this how.? You probably were one of the one scheduled for the spa. Stop justifying immoral spending !!!

I work in the meeting planning department of a fortune 100 company and we won't place a meeting with a hotel who won't sign our cancellation clause...

Sorry, Ann. I can't agree with you that AIG did the right thing by going ahead with the retreat. This is a big black eye for them with the public who are footing the bill to bail them out - a total public relations fiasco. Even if they had to pay the cancellation fees at the resort they would still have saved most of the meals and entertainment expense - which would not have been a small amount. The air fares could have been negotiated with the airlines for use at a later date, possibly with a small fee attached. I believe the public perception would have been more positive had they cancelled and announced that they did so due to their economic problems. If the "top producers" are too dumb to realize the state our of national financial situation, AIG would be better off without them.

while they were making these plans for their "Top producers" they were sinking deeper and deeper and should NEVER have gone forward with plans under the circumstances.
Bleeding hearts will not FIX this problem.
They are accountable ... and if their top producers lose out
on trip benefit, then so be it.
Dergulation does not translate into RAPE the public ....
and that's exactly what's happening to us. The high cost of insurance is CAUSED by all the perks given the multi-levels
of people. I'm sick of it and you should be too.

that bull sht...they have known the mess they were in for more than months... I say they should all be arrested for unconstitutional spending.

What on earth is the matter with you? You can't see how bad this looks to taxpayers living on beans and rice? I hope there is a special corner in Hel- for you along with the AIG execs.

Well why schedule these trips anyway? you have got to be kidding me that is a defense. Why don't they choose to not cancel it and send some people who have lost their jobs and homes to go in there place so they can know what the good life feels like before they are living under a bridge? or better yet-call all the people they have reservations with and ask them to refund the money to a college fund for all the kids that might not get to go due to their lavish producers who are so talentented that they have run their company into the ground?

As a person with considerable experience in the business world, I would like to take exception to the notion that AIG had no choice but to take the trip because they had already purchase the trip and facilities. I am list just three of the options they had.

1) Cancel the outing, agreeing to pay a cancellation fee (if necessary) and offering to pay for the part of the rooms and facilities that could not be sold at full or reduced rates.

2) Negotiate a flat charge of cost plus a reasonable mark-up in return for not cancelling the event.

3) Sell the booking themselves and reduce the expense to taxpayers. This action (IMO) is especially appropriate since it is exactly what every working taxper will have to do to pay the additional taxes to fund this fat cat bailout.

AMEN, BROTHER!!!!

I happen to work in the insurance industry, and we get these trips, but, we are not in any trouble, as we do not handle home mortgages, only life and health.

What I want to know, is where do I sign up, so the government can bail me, out, and pay my bills!! :) No thanks, I will do it myself, as I do not want the government in my business, thank you! These companies, have brought this all on themselves, they were greedy!

And that's still too much. How about 30 for a room and 20 for food. Anything more comes out of their pocket. I'm sure these rich bastards can afford it anyway. Why is it the rich get so many privaledges?

I smell a war between the rich and the rest of the world brewing and it's not looking good for the rich.