Let Them Eat Cake

American International Group (AIG) has demonstrated an arrogance that only Marie Antoinette could appreciate. After receiving billions of dollars in the bailout, this company has had the gall to award "retention" bonuses totaling $165 million dollars.

Let us address the sheer absurdity that the people who have engineered this financial crisis are somehow "talent" that needs to be retained. These people should be fired at the least and prosecuted if there is any justice. Yet, we are told that running the business into the ground needs to be rewarded. Instead, why are there not investigations into the deals that were made with the government, at the behest of Hank Paulson, that rewarded these abysmally talented individuals?

The big kick from these guys though is that now they are claiming that they "must" be paid due to contractual obligations. Mind you, this is an entire business that has been unable to deliver on its contractual obligations.

But has anyone noticed the contrast to how contracts are viewed when the recipients are millionaires? When Detroit was looking for a bailout, the most important act that needed to occur seemed to be renegotiating the contracts of auto workers. What about their contracts?

This is what America has become, a nation that defends the moneyed and powerful, and demands concession from the average citizen. While we're all tightening our belts, the very people who destroyed the economy continue to gorge themselves at the trough.