AIGreedy

What were they thinking? AIG and the $165 million in bonuses to the division of the company most responsible for their disastrous, catastrophic decisions. On the Sunday shows, and in news reports over the weekend, it seemed that the new prez of the company had convinced Treasury people and administration financial advisors that (a) he didn't want to give out the bonuses but he was contractually bound to do so, and (b) the government couldn't stop them either.

But that didn't survive past Monday morning, when President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and other members of Congress got into it, as well as the Attorney General of New York. Now the Administration is restructuring payments to make sure it isn't government money, remedies under existing law are being sought by Treasury and others as ordered by the President, several bills are being introduced in Congress that deal with it in different ways.

Besides the bonuses, there were additional statements by the new AIG prez indicating they were necessary to retain "the best and the brightest" in the company. Which led to further outrage, and Rep. Barney Frank pointing out that the U.S. is an 80% owner of AIG, and ought to be firing some people rather than retaining them.

So if anybody is still wondering why it is dangerous in a democracy to have a very small group of people who pay themselves tons of money, while the vast majority has vastly less, this is a case in point. It's the Culture of Greed, a mindset, a consciousness, as well as an actual subculture: people who know only other people who don't get it.

Given the fact that a share of AIG and a buck will buy you a cup of coffee (though not quite a latte), it's hard not to also believe that what's really going on is gold collar looting. They're going to get as much as they can while they can still get anything. Because this company--and this world--is never going to be the same. Let's hope.