AIG just doesn't get it

The management at AIG just doesn't seem to get it.

After being the major beneficiary of the "reverse Robin Hood" bailout, in which the nation's poor "commoners" were forced to pony up for the bad decisions of the nation's rich, AIG has continued to thumb its nose at the American public with yet another corporate spending spree at a luxurious hotel and spa.

It's even worse that they seemed to realize what they were doing and tried to hide it.

What they spend in one day at one of those retreats would equal the annual salary of half a dozen average Americans.

And they've had the gaul to set aside up to seven billion dollars of our bailout money for bonuses for top officials (a move mirrored by several of the other companies that got large portions of the bailout). Apparently that bonus money is needed to make sure some of their top administrative staff, who helped make the bad decisions that led to the bailouts, don't bolt to other companies. And of course, without that bonus money, they may have to give up some of their fancy cars, extra townhouses and private schools for their kids. Never mind that if those billions were poured into public schools they might be able to come up to the standards of private schools, the point appears to be that these guys see themselves as better than the rest of us "commoners."

These guys need to go to jail, not a private retreat. There is no way the average American should be asked to pay for their extravagant lifestyles at a time when those average joes are struggling just to put food on the table, and far too many are looking for work because of the meltdown AIG officials and others on Wall Street caused.

Congress needs to add a tough salary and benefits cap to any corporate officials whose companies accept bailout money. Maybe if they had to start living like the rest of us they'd understand the pain they've caused.

-- Kelly Everitt