How AIG — read: you and I — are bailing out the world

By Michelle Malkin  •  March 17, 2009 04:13 PM

Bob Owens keeps his eye on the ball and breaks it down:

Barack Obama’s lack of leadership in a down economy has now hit crisis proportions, as his claimed inability to block millions of dollars in bonuses for executives of bailout recipient AIG has caused even his supporters to turn on him.

But while the ire of Congress and the media focus are on the $165 million that AIG paid out in bonuses to their executives, the president is hoping you won’t notice the $100 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars that AIG paid out to other banks, including $58 billion to foreign banks and $36 billion given to French and German banks alone.

The Obama administration is allowing AIG to bail out the rest of the world with your tax dollars.

So by all means, the president is happy to have you railing at “evil” but relatively small potatoes AIG executive bonuses, as it points your outrage away from his own far more costly executive abuses.

And of course, the re-distributor-in-chief hopes you won’t notice where much of the rest of the AIG bailout cash is being spent.

While $58 billion of your tax dollars — or more accurately, your children’s tax dollars — are being used to pay foreign banks, a substantial portion of that money ($43.5 billion) is being used to pay American banks, including Goldman Sachs, Merill Lynch, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wachovia, Morgan Stanley, AIG International, and JP Morgan.

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Posted in: AIG

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Comments


  1. #1
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:15 pm, cpodug said:

    Accountability? We don’t need no stinkin’ accountability!

  2. #2
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:17 pm, sonofdy said:

    From Germany
    Vielen Dank für die Kassenschößlinge!!!

    From France
    Merci pour les surgeons liquides!!!

  3. #3
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:19 pm, RedDog said:

    Recall election now please.

  4. #4
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:19 pm, sonofdy said:

    From the Russians.

    Спасибо за финансирование наших вооруженных сил, мы скоро сокрушим Вас

  5. #5
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:20 pm, sonofdy said:
  6. #6
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:22 pm, maisy said:

    SUCKERS!!!!

  7. #7
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pm, sonofdy said:

    Thats why there was a whole bunch of hearings on the gm bailout. Scream and yell about 25 billion while handing out 700 billion quietly with no one saying a word.

    to quote maisy,

    SUCKERS!!!!

  8. #8
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:26 pm, Misscheryl said:
  9. #9
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:27 pm, mattymatt10 said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:19 pm, sonofdy said:
    From the Russians.

    Спасибо за финансирование наших вооруженных сил, мы скоро сокрушим Вас

    Hey sonofdy, its “Thank you for financing our armed forces, we will soon crush you,” or similar right?

    I’m in 2nd year Russkie now. It’s a tough language.

    Incidentally, has MM mentioned anywhere FauxBama’s plan to save $540 million from the VA? That way being to make wounded soldiers pay for their own healthcare. Outrageous.

  10. #10
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm, emjem24 said:

    Who the hell is looking out for the FOLKS anymore? Who? These Washington bloodsuckers don’t know how to manage anything except our country into the ground.

    I’m so sick of this inept, moronic collection of government lemmings and their brainless supporters.

    It’s not just time for a Tea Party it’s freaking time for a revolution.

  11. #11
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    This is why I asked in another thread, where’s the outrage over the other 99.9% of the bailout money given to AIG?

    The bonus crap is a smokescreen. They don’t want people hearing about or thinking about the fact that a HUGE chunk of our money went to overseas banks.

    And they knew it would happen.

  12. #12
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm, Southpaw said:

    The whole worldwide financial system is a house of straw. Anyone not convinced yet? AIG is too big to succeed. It needs to be dismantled and the useless parts need to be thrown in the trash bin of history.

    Some executives at AIG and other companies should be doing time washing toilets at Rikers Island. Their bonus can be a pack of cigarettes, if they can afford the NeroBama taxes.

  13. #13
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm, Insomniac said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:20 pm, sonofdy said:
    http://translation2.paralink.com/

    Translation link.

    And here I was, thinking you were an honest to goodness polyglot. I’m crushed. ;-P

  14. #14
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pm, sonofdy said:

    Hey sonofdy, its “Thank you for financing our armed forces, we will soon crush you,” or similar right?

    Yeah, works for the chinesse as well.

    Incidentally, has MM mentioned anywhere FauxBama’s plan to save $540 million from the VA? That way being to make wounded soldiers pay for their own healthcare. Outrageous.

    As a soldier and an NCO, BELIEVE ME, I am watching that. I have 3 soldiers under my command still being treated for Iraqi war injuries. I am going to blow a F$%KING headgasket if that goes into effect.

  15. #15
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pm, Insomniac said:

    Smilies aren’t working?

  16. #16
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:31 pm, Misscheryl said:

    This is Obama’s slight of hand that he has been doing his whole life. It is his core and it is all smoke and mirrors. Know one thing, what he says is a lie.

  17. #17
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:31 pm, sonofdy said:

    It was too close to the period.

    .;-)

    vs
    . ;-)

  18. #18
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:34 pm, regularguy said:

    Jail space. Jail space for the criminals in Washington would go far to resurrect the financial market(s). The current false rally is only temporary, the market won’t come back until more people committing these crimes face hard time.

  19. #19
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pm, prendad said:

    BOHICA FOLKS! The “new transparent government” strikes again. There is an old saying “I’ve just been screwed but I didn’t even get my kiss”. Hell, every day I read about the government, I read about them screwing me again, but so far, not one kiss!

  20. #20
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:39 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    Barack Obama’s lack of leadership …

    Whoa, whoa! Bob Owens has obviously not read Jack (the Hack) Cafferty’s latest column titled (I kid you not) “Obama: A leader who actually leads”

    Gulp. Just typing that made some bile rise.

  21. #21
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:42 pm, sonofdy said:

    Obama: A leader who actually leads

    Obama couldn’t lead a boy scout troupe. He is the kind of arogant know it all would would have gotten fraged in veitnam.

    Not pay for my guys injures you back ally f$%# arrghhh If I say any more I’ll get banned.

  22. #22
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:43 pm, CO2 Producer said:

    What I said yesterday

    $170,000,000,000
    —. . . . 165,000,000
    __________________
    $169,835,000,000

    Tip o’ the iceberg. Madness, I tells ya. Utter madness. I see that Santelli’s onto it, too. Mind your Ps and Qs. Mind your Ms, Bs, and TRs.

  23. #23
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pm, CWinNY said:

    Sonofdy,

    When I was in the service the comment on leadership was: “he couldn’t lead a pack of hungry cub scouts to a candy store”. That seems to be quite appropriate for the “leader” we have in the WH right now.

  24. #24
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:50 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    Stupid voters – rejoice. We can’t be them – pay them! Oh, to be like Europe and be on the receiving end of billions of our dollars. They must be laughing their collective heads off.

  25. #25
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:54 pm, Elm Creek Smith said:

    Worst OER (Officer Evaluation Report) comment I ever heard of was: “The only reason soldiers would follow this officer was out of idle curiousity.*”

    Hope is not a plan; not all change is good. The resistance is here; the resistance is now. RESIST!!!!!

    ECS
    CPT, AR
    US Army (Ret.)

    *(Not on my OER!)

  26. #26
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:55 pm, txvet2 said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:42 pm, sonofdy said:

    That’s the first time I’ve seen anybody get so mad that their typing lapsed into incoherence…..

  27. #27
    On March 17th, 2009 at 4:57 pm, scrat said:

    Marvelous. I like MM “you and I” title so much that I think I’ll just mentally replace AIG with UNI everytime I read it.

  28. #28
    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:04 pm, secondsight said:

    (Shhhh, it’s working. Look at all that fuss about <200 Million dollars, they’re not slamming us for our trillion here, trillion there Democratic deficits.)

    So what. AIG is paying on insurance policies for securitized mortgage packages. If you think the US can burn foreign investors for both the mortgage tranches AND the insurance on them and not have China decide to sell every treasury bond they have and nationalize every US investment in China, then maybe it’s a good thing that you are not the decider.

    The bigger deal is why there is not prosecution of the ratings agencies that stood blindly in the corner as Fannie and Freddie led the race to the bottom of the borrowers pool. If the ratings agencies had knocked down their evaluations as the securitized mortgage quality declined, the entire subprime mortgage business would have died at birth.

  29. #29
    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:20 pm, corona said:

    While $58 billion of your tax dollars — or more accurately, your children’s tax dollars — are being used to pay foreign banks, a substantial portion of that money ($43.5 billion) is being used to pay American banks

    Sorry, that is self-contradictory.

  30. #30
    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:22 pm, d1carter said:

    Glen Beck is skewering Barney Frank and Chris Dodd on his show today. It is very enjoyable.

  31. #31
    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm, sonofdy said:

    Glen Beck is skewering Barney Frank

    Please rephrase that.

    ;-)

  32. #32
    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:41 pm, drfredc said:

    This is AIG bailing out the world. It’s the US taxpayers bailing out folks around the World who were screwed over by the easy mortgage schemes pushed by Carter, Democrats in Congress, Clinton, Obama and Bush (roughly in that order) thru Fanny and Freddie. These bad loans spread like a computer virus thru the international banking/financial system.

    In hind sight, financial institutions should have passed on the Freddy/Fanny deal and set up their own independent private non-profit fiscal tool much like insurance companies have non-profit reinsurance entities that provide stability to insurance markets. But no, bankers (many with big ties to Democrats) were suckered in by government promises and programs — “we’re from the government and we’re here to help you”…

  33. #33
    On March 17th, 2009 at 6:00 pm, wrcnossen said:

    What did people think was going to happen to the money used to bail out AIG? Aren’t they paying off on the insurance policies they made with these banks to cover possible losses in the market? This was the business AIG was in, and they were kept from bankruptcy so that they could cover these loses.

  34. #34
    On March 17th, 2009 at 6:07 pm, Buy Danish said:

    The Obama administration is allowing AIG to bail out the rest of the world with your tax dollars.

    They’ll love us, they’ll really love us! We are the one’s they’ve been waiting for!

  35. #35
    On March 17th, 2009 at 6:59 pm, feebiebabe said:

    It is especially infuriating that the unit of AIG responsible for taking down the “Worlds Largest Insurer” was their London office, headed by an executive by the name of Joseph Cassano (started his career out with junk bonds in the 80’s). Joeseph, who left the company (or was, ahem,,,fired) in March – pocketed $280 million in cash and an additional $34 million in bonuses before he left.

    Article:

    Joseph Cassano started out at Drexel Burnham Lambert under Michael Milken, “the Junk Bond King.” Drexel imploded in 1990 and Milken landed in prison.
    AIG promptly hired a team of Drexel people to start a Financial Products unit, Cassano among them. Cassano became the head and began dealing in securities known as “credit default swaps” out of one office in Wilton, Conn., and another in England, dubbed “the London casino.”

    With AIG employees like these…who needs enemies.

  36. #36
    On March 17th, 2009 at 7:02 pm, feebiebabe said:

    It is especially infuriating that the unit of AIG responsible for taking down the “Worlds Largest Insurer” was their London office, headed by an executive by the name of Joseph Cassano (started his career out with junk bonds in the 80’s). Joeseph, who left the company (or was, ahem,,,fired) in March – pocketed $280 million in cash and an additional $34 million in bonuses before he left.

    Article:

    Joseph Cassano started out at Drexel Burnham Lambert under Michael Milken, “the Junk Bond King.” Drexel imploded in 1990 and Milken landed in prison.
    AIG promptly hired a team of Drexel people to start a Financial Products unit, Cassano among them. Cassano became the head and began dealing in securities known as “credit default swaps” out of one office in Wilton, Conn., and another in England, dubbed “the London casino.”

    With employees like these, who needs enemies?

  37. #37
    On March 17th, 2009 at 7:56 pm, Stillwaiting said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:20 pm, corona said:

    It’s poorly worded…$58 billion went to forrign banks and $43 billion to US banks.

    The crooks in DC were in bed with the crooks on Wall Street, but the honest, taxpaying Americans are the ones who are going to be walking funny for a long, long time to come–financially speaking.

  38. #38
    On March 17th, 2009 at 9:14 pm, MarcoPolo said:

    It has been my experience that the overseas community feels “entitled” to the money, because AIG sold them bad investment insurance. No responsibility at all, even though their highly-skilled money managers should have known there is no such thing.

  39. #39
    On March 17th, 2009 at 9:18 pm, MarcoPolo said:

    Aren’t they paying off on the insurance policies they made with these banks to cover possible losses in the market? This was the business AIG was in, and they were kept from bankruptcy so that they could cover these loses.

    CDSs are not insurance products. They were sold by the investment division of AIG, not the insurance division.

    The people buying them absolutely knew the difference.

  40. #40
    On March 17th, 2009 at 10:04 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    The Obama administration is allowing AIG to bail out the rest of the world with your tax dollars.

    This isn’t the first time that Mr. “Assault Hope” has tried to redistribute the wealth of the USA to the world…

    Have you ever read Obama’s Communist Global Poverty Act?

  41. #41
    On March 17th, 2009 at 10:10 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 7:56 pm, Stillwaiting said:

    The crooks in DC were in bed with the crooks on Wall Street

    The group mike Huckabee calls “the Wall Street-to-Washington axis”. He was criticized when he said it in 2007, but he was and is right.

  42. #42
    On March 17th, 2009 at 11:03 pm, Stillwaiting said:

    I suggest changing it to: “you and me” because it rhymes with “AIG”

  43. #43
    On March 17th, 2009 at 11:31 pm, DannoJyd said:

    Anyone else up for a tea party? I sure as heck am!

  44. #44
    On March 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am, cheapseat said:

    but but but but we are the bank and the military of the new world order. while we fight the world’s despots, our government funds the world’s elite society such as the u.n. and western europe. it has been this way for 60 years today, with the founding of the u.n. korean war, vietnam war, bosnian intervention, iraq 1, iraq 2, and now afghanistan have all been u.n. mandated wars where americans fight, and the europeans talk and sell weapons to all combatants.

  45. #45
    On March 18th, 2009 at 10:11 am, Mach1Duck said:

    Well, if congress did not know how AIG was to distribute the bailout monies, and did not investigate what AIG proposed to do, and yet allowed it to happen…then the bonuses and monies to foriegn banks should come out of congressional salaries.

  46. #46
    On March 18th, 2009 at 12:38 pm, prendad said:

    On March 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm, sonofdy said:
    Glen Beck is skewering Barney Frank
    Please rephrase that.

    I would like to rephrase that but I don’t think Michelle, in all her kindness, could allow it.

  47. #47
    On March 20th, 2009 at 6:54 am, Mostly Annoyed said:

    It’s the standard diversionary tactic. Hide your own incompetance by starting a witch hunt. Nice to see that as much as the big “O” changes how government operates. Yes it may be a change, but a change for the worse.

    They all knew AIG gave bonuses, if they didn’t want that to happen, they should have put it in the agreement.

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