Bon(ehead)us

Ah, everyone is in a fine dither about the AIG (that's pronounced "Aaaaiigghh!) bonuses for the very same wingnuts who brought the company to its knees.

"Joe, you oversaw the division that insured the uninsurable and turned the company into a financial Chernobyl. Great job! Couldn't have done better myself. Here take a few mil, just as a symbol of our appreciation.
Don't spend it all in one place. Heh, heh."

Makes sense to me. Man, if I'd have gotten bonuses for all my eff-ups over the years, I'd be on easy street.

The explanation from Edward M. Liddy, latest CEO, (wonder if he's any relation to G. Gordon Liddy who ran the "plumbers" operatives who burgled the Watergate?) said it was in the contract and is necessary for "employee retention."
Retention bonuses.
Sounds kind of anal, doesn't it?
Maybe they should get more fiber in their diets.

Best part, I heard on the Rachel Maddow show, is that eleven of the wingnuts got their "retention bonus" and left the company. Those bonuses really work.
My guess is that they were escaping rather than just leaving.
They all should have gotten pink slips instead of green checks.

Of course, considering the size of the bonuses compared to the size of the bailout money we've given (yeah, we—you and me) AIG, that amount is small potatoes.
All those Congressmen who are bitching seem to forget that there was an amendment in that stimulus bill which would have prevented this. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. said that he and Sen. Snow of Maine had put one in, but it somehow disappeared by the time the bill was voted on.
Gee, how'd that happen?

So a lot of this is a distraction. Aggravating, but it's just scratching the itch while ignoring the melanoma.
Instead of spending so much time on this, Congress should be working on ways to make sure the vast bulk of the money is being used the way it was supposed to be used. They should be exercising our owners' rights, since we now own the bulk of the company.
(I still want to borrow my corporate jet to fly down to Puerto Rico for my daughter's wedding.)

Congress could also be examining its own soul to see how it contributed to this problem. But hell, I'm not going to wait for that.

In one of his few bonehead moves so far, Obama, or his minions—same thing— was suggesting that soldiers with health insurance should use that instead of depending on the VA.
"Lost your leg in Iraq? Blue cross will take care of you. All you need to do is come up with the 5 grand deductible."
Even a conscientious objector like me knows that if you send a guy out to fight for you and possibly die or get maimed in the process, then you owe him something. Something like all the medical care he needs. I believe I saw somewhere today that that doofus idea has been dropped.

I'm running out of rancor. Gottagive up the brandy, it makes me too mellow.
Good night all (or rather, both of you.)