Column:

Shame on you, AIG

By Jacob Houska

Published April 2, 2009

During an ordinary week in an ordinary year, I wouldn't write a single sentence about politics. Not even if you doubled my $10-a-week salary. But hearing about what some people from some organization called AIG did recently, I couldn't resist.

Right now we are dead smack in the middle of a mini-depression. Call it a recession, whatever. But right now is when people lose some materials they have to cling to that define them, and as a trend, what they truly stand for starts to gain prominence since there are less material distractions to rely on.

Accordingly, now is the time to tighten our belts and become less selfish. AIG begs to differ.

Here's what happened. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve give $182 billion of taxpayers' money to save AIG, only because their business, if it's successful, has potential to help the economy. You'd figure they would at least send us a thank-you card or something.

Instead, these people turn their backs and start handing out bonuses to their top executives, bonuses they could only afford because the government just gave them billions and billions of dollars. They end up dishing out $165 million dollars to their employees in bonus money.

You've probably heard the story by now. You've also probably read several reactions from the media's talking heads about how this is a terrible economic move, and this company is blatantly stupid. You've maybe even read a few responses that use the terms "Wall Street" and "Main Street," that talk about how it was a good idea to give them the money because if you help them, it helps us, even though they are stupid. They all sound the same.

My reaction wasn't quite as civil. This is just a good old-fashioned example of bad people doing bad things. They should be considered criminals, not just idiots. How can you possibly justify giving away $165 million of our money to people who already make more than they earn during the middle of the biggest economic crisis in recent memory? This is like a kid from a poor family getting $100 from Mom to go to the grocery store and buy food for his hungry family, but instead he gives the money away to all his friends and watches his family starve.

Someone should find whoever's idea this was and tattoo a warning label on their forehead. It should read, "If you are a member of the opposite gender, please do not have sex with me because if I reproduce, the world will be polluted with more idiots like myself."

Obviously our country's leaders will never be ballsy enough to do this, but they should sack-up and do something. A moral stance needs to be taken here. This wrongdoing was allowed by money, but should be solved through solid morals. Even if it didn't involve money, it would still be wrong. So, rather than explaining the financial implications of the situation, explain why this is absolutely wrong by any standards and how you are taxing the money they handed out only because it is the closest we can come to righting the wrong.

That would make the situation easier to understand for the majority of the laity, myself included. If nothing else, it would be funny conversation piece if you ever meet someone with that tattoo on his face.