AIG Merrill Bonuses Rattle Regulators

AIG, whose fourth-quarter loss was the worst in corporate history, earmarked $1 billion in retention pay for about 4,600 of the company’s 116,000 employees so they won’t leave the crippled insurer. Liddy has vowed AIG will repay “every penny” to the U.S. for its bailout package by selling subsidiaries, and said the retention pay for talented people helps taxpayers by making the units attractive to buyers. (By Hugh Son and Robert Schmidt)


Reactionary tactics are killing the US Government. Bail out first, see the results later. Just like with GM, personnel costs are killing companies. Bankruptcy seems to be the best method to sort things out, under court supervision. The rush to bail out these companies is surely the wrong approach. Circumventing the laws were a part of the Bush administration. Let's move on.