Misdirection

The hot button news of the day has to be the AIG paying bonuses. All that I am about to talk about is personal. I don't know what you (the reader) thinks about AIG paying their employees bonuses based on merit, but these are the facts: AIG has been given a bailout twice, the amount of money they gave out in bonuses drafts the amount of money they have been given, and just as the president admits, these were contracts! These were not what most people view them as.

When most people hear that AIG is giving out bonuses, they probably view the executives swimming in a swimming pool of taxpayer money. They envision smoke-filled rooms with a couple of fat white men drinking expensive brandy and smokey expensive cigars telling each other, "the money from the government came in. Who wants some free money?!?" This is a complete misconception. These were contracts entered into years ago in which payment would be given in the form of bonuses based on merit. Now how would you feel if Uncle Sam walked in and told you you couldn't have a bonus this year, because it isn't fair?

"But, it's taxpayer dollars!" Are you outraged over the money being given to AIG in the first place? How about the second time? Here in lies the true reason for this demonization of the AIG bonuses. There are a lot of people out there furious over these bailouts. With Obama's polling numbers starting to fall, they must redirect this anger from themselves back to who they foresee as the true enemy. It might work temporarily, but more bailouts and government waste is going to follow, and the AIG bailouts will fade out of the news cycle just like any bank bonuses paid out in the past. The waste and out of control spending of the federal government is not going to leave the minds of those Americans who are angry about it.

The anger being thrown at AIG is completely wasted. Let's forget about the almost laughable amount of money AIG gave to its employees, and start directing some of that anger where it truly belongs. At the federal government. They are the poster boys (and girls) for what it means to waste money!