Certain controversialists have made a lot of hay over the AIG "bonus" payments. As I have pointed out (and as has No Runny), this 'outrage' is bogus. Some facts:
1) The vast majority of 'bonus' recipients had NOTHING TO DO WITH CREATING the problem, and have EVERYTHING TO DO WITH FIXING it.
2) The 'bonus' payments are actually "lights-out" or "retention" awards, paid to those who agree to stick around and fix stuff in an orderly fashion. In other words, they are the maintenance crew.
3) In a lot of cases, these are people who could have taken very nice positions with other companies--but chose to both do the 'right thing' AND to be compensated for it.
One individual decided that he's had enough...
...As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.
Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.
...I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree
By the way--this guy accepted a salary of $1.00/year to do this job, and he intends to donate all the (after-tax) proceeds of his 'bonus' to charities.
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