If AIG won’t give back the bonuses, it looks like Geithner is willing to slam down the cookie-jar lid on Liddy’s hand. From the WSJ (via TPM):
It was unclear what legal options the government can pursue to stop the bonus payments. Monday afternoon, a White House official said the Treasury Department will use a planned $30 billion infusion into AIG to compel the company to repay the bonuses promised to employees of its financial-products group, which is responsible for selling the exotic financial instruments that brought the company to near-collapse.
The infusion, announced March 2, won’t be finalized until the company and the Treasury work up repayment options, the official said. The bonuses to the financial-products division were “found to be completely unacceptable given that AIG is already surviving on taxpayer funds,” the official said.
Oops. Next time you tell Treasury to screw off (see here), maybe you should make sure your last allowance had hit your bank account before you do so.
[P.S. - You knew Cuomo couldn't stay away for long: "Cuomo to Subpoena A.I.G. for Bonus Information." [DealBook @ NYT]]
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found
Wait a second. What is meant by “the company” repaying the money? Either the bonuses are going to be paid to the employees or they aren’t. And the employees aren’t likely to voluntarily relinquish the bonuses, even if the feds threated to withhold funding.
If the government thinks that the economy can survive without infusing $30 billion into AIG, it should not pay the money, bonuses or no bonuses.