AIG Bonuses: Bus Tour of ‘Gold Coast"..
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| Mon, 03-23-2009 - 9:57am |
It's not fair to harass people in their homes IMO. Those that received the bonuses obviously must be aware of the disapproval. Glad to hear of those returning the bonus.
AIG Bonuses Prompt Bus Tour of ‘Gold Coast’ Homes
Complete article see link....
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a2FFCwEXuZhE&refer=news
Protesters hired a bus to hand deliver the message that President Barack Obama sent executives of American International Group Inc. last week: Give the bonus money back.
About 20 protesters, along with a press corps of national and international media who outnumbered them, yesterday rode to the Fairfield County, Connecticut, homes of two AIG executives who received portions of $165 million in extra compensation. The payments were made after their Financial Products unit in nearby Wilton had losses that precipitated the insurer’s $173 billion government bailout.
“There needs to be some accountability,†said bus rider Mark Dziubek, a father of five from Southington, Connecticut, who was laid off recently at a Theis Precision Steel Corp. rolling mill after 19 years on the job. “It’s putting pressure on them to do what’s right.â€
Douglas Poling and James Haas, whose houses the protesters stopped at, weren’t seen. Both have agreed to return their bonuses, AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto said in an e-mail yesterday. She declined to say the amount they received.
‘More Harm’
AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, summoned to Washington on March 18 to explain the bonuses, told a Congressional subcommittee that the bonuses have brought death threats and that he was unwilling to name the payment recipients because he feared for their safety.
Asaad Jackson, 24, a musician, agreed. “With how the country feels right now, naming these executives might do more harm than good,†he said on the bus.
The house tour in Fairfield County was organized by the Connecticut Working Families Party, a coalition of union and community groups. The county had a population in 2007 of 910,003 and a median income of $79,326, according to the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. It’s located about 60 miles north of AIG’s headquarters in lower Manhattan. In addition to the protesters on the bus, another 20 demonstrators along with more print and TV reporters, cameramen and photographers trailed in a caravan of cars.
‘A Good Start’
When a handful of protesters got off the bus to deliver their written message at both houses, they were met by private security guards.
At Poling’s house, one of the people read the group’s letter aloud. Returning the bonuses was “a good start,†said the letter, which asked Poling and Haas to press for public policy that addresses the concerns of working and middle-class families. The protesters then left the letter in a mailbox at the end of the driveway and got back on the bus for the 4.3-mile drive to Haas’s house.
“They bear responsibility for some of the malfeasance that that company took part in,†said Stacey Zimmerman, a 35-year- old political organizer for Service Employees International Union in Stamford, Connecticut. The tour was “a way to show our members and members of our community how the other half lives.â€
The Gold Coast
For Craig Stallings of Hartford, the state capital, that was one of the reasons why he took his three sons, ages 4, 6 and 11, on the bus. The trip was their first visit to Fairfield, parts of which are known as “the Gold Coast†because of large houses and views of Long Island Sound. Poling’s house has three chimneys and at least 18 windows facing the front yard. To the rear of Haas’s house is the Sound and the Fairfield Country Club.
“It’s important for my kids to see what hard work and an education will get you,†said Stallings, a 36-year-old small- business tax preparer.
Stallings said there was another reason why he made the bus trip. “You shouldn’t be afraid to confront people when they’re wrong,†he said. “You’ve failed at your jobs, so why should you be rewarded?â€
AIG declined 97 percent in the last 12 months of New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
“While this controversy is very regrettable, it should not overshadow the fact that all AIG employees, including the employees of AIG Financial Products, are working very hard to pay back the government,†said AIG’s Pretto in an e-mailed statement. “The people working at AIG today are part of the solution, not part of the problem.â€
A Point to Be Made
After stopping at the two homes, the bus pulled up to the AIG unit’s red-brick offices, where there were three police cars with flashing lights. The protesters chanted “Money for the needy, not for the greedy!†and held numerous signs, some saying, “Middle Class, Too Big to Fail†and “Taxpayers Want Their Money Back!â€
On the streets of Fairfield County, one resident acknowledged that the demonstrators had a point.
“Of course, any American would be appalled by this gross excess in the financial sector right now,†said Sissy Biggers. At the same time “it’s gotten personal,†she said. Her husband Kelsey called the demonstration “classist warfare.â€
“You’re bringing people from outside to come and, in essence, harass a neighborhood,†he said. It’s just not right, and I wonder where it might go.â€



I think that they're getting the hint:
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/aig.bonuses.andrew.2.965982.html
Mar 23, 2009
9 Of Top 10 AIG Execs To Give Back Bonuses
By JEFF CAPELLINI, WCBSTV.com Sr. News Producer
In Addition, N.Y. Attorney General Cuomo Announces That 15 Of Top 20 To Return Funds Equaling $50 Million
AG Cuomo To Bigwigs: "You Have Done The Right Thing"
(snip)
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Monday evening that nine of the top 10 executives at AIG will return their bonuses.
The insurance giant came under scrutiny last week after it was revealed that company executives were scheduled to receive more than $165 million in bonuses following a taxpayer bailout.
In
>"53 percent
"Isn't that how bonuses work?"
That's what I thought. My DH receives a bonus from profit sharing... no profit, no bonus.
You mean they didn't give him a bonus just for showing up at work? aka "retention bonus. Maybe this is a reflection of the mentality of giving every kid an award for participation in school/sports, taken to the extreme in the real world. You don't have to perform but you still get an award so you feel good about yourself and are esteemed.
I do find outing their homes a bit disturbing. There are wack jobs out there that may harm them, their property or their families and these are people that actually gave the bonuses back. I'd be pretty pissed off about having my home put on a tour bus and the news for any reason.
"how violent people are getting"
Madoff, for example, had been wearing a bullet proof vest out in public. Though AIG bonuses are a non-issue compared to his crimes.