Quote:
In March, American International Group (AIG) said it paid approximately $120 million in bonuses to about 6,000 workers. The company now says it paid close to $454 million.
But AIG tells Politico, a Web site covering Washington, that it responded accurately to the questions as asked.
Later that month, Congressman Elijah Cummings sent written questions to AIG, including, “Please specify the exact amount in bonuses -- not retention payments or any other form of compensation -- paid by AIG to employees of any division of AIG in 2008 or paid in 2009 for work performed in 2008.”
The response: $454 million.
Politico, unlike Cummings, didn’t ask for totals for 2008, including bonuses paid this year for work performed last year or for details on “any division.”
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AIG can make that argument with a straight face, but it should understand by now that Washington politics aren’t conducted according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and broad questions shouldn’t be answered narrowly.
These are the same kind of questions, end-run answers, and changes that got Enron and Arthur Andersen into legal problems a few years back. The government, which is comprised of yours and mine tax dollars, gave AIG, billions in bailout money to keep from going under, only to use $454 million of that for bonuses, the reason for the bonuses, to keep the good people at AIG that had made the company so profitable??!~!
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