A TV show for morons
Last year America became a TV show. Now apparently it is a TV show for morons, if this Reuters story is true — there is apparently phony outrage in Congress about some AIG bonuses that Congress and the administration knew about three weeks ago:
American International Group Inc has come under intense fire from the public…Fury over the bonuses threatens to undermine Obama’s efforts to solve the credit crisis and pull the economy out of a deep recession. Many voters view the financial rescues as free handouts to wealthy executives who made bad decisions, and the fat bonuses — although relatively small compared to the government’s $700 billion bailout fund — have fueled that anger. The situation has put Obama in a tight spot as he tries to strike the right balance between sharing the public’s outrage and keeping his focus on the bigger issue of repairing the economy.
Of course this is all a sham, today’s TV show for the rubes and morons to keep them riled up and to distract attention from The Great Train Robbery that really deserves universal opprobrium (and perhaps also to distract attention from genuine executive incompetence). AIG’s bonuses were only about 5% of what was paid by Merrill Lynch, for example. But AIG is Villain of the Day and so today we watch while AIG is thrown to the lions. Who gets eaten by the lions on tomorrow’s TV show?
Obama is an interesting character. His professorial approach and failings as an executive are paired with an apparently effective political strategy, at least as of this moment. Always have a clear enemy, always attack, and have a clear political aim. We wonder just how long the American people will let themselves be distracted by this endless cavalcade of villains being paraded before them to serve the purposes of the administration and congress.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:37 am
“But AIG is Villain of the Day and so today we watch while AIG is thrown to the lions. Who gets eaten by the lions on tomorrow’s TV show?”
That is cutting pretty close to the bone.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:02 am
This is the modern American version of the show trials of Stalin and Mao. The only difference I see is that the defendants are not yet being imprisoned or executed – not yet. America has a shortage of Americans at the moment. Too many are simply regular humans, insufficiently fond of liberty to sustain free market democracy. We will get what we deserve.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:45 am
January-March is HR musical chairs in NYC. In this case during March 2008, AIG gave contractual “bonus” guarantees to 73 people who represent over 50% of the contested bonus pool. I would suspect they are probably high value trader / sales and quant types who could have easily jumped ship for multi-year 7 figure contracts at that time. In fact the “bonuses” were contractual guarantees that they would make in 2008 what they made in 2007.
This was prudent managerial judgment, preventing a brain drain before any TARP money was received. The “bonuses” represent normal compensation levels for these employees.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Thursday morning links…
Shining Path Maoists embrace Capitalism. And shame on Amherst College: I guess they are the new Maoists. How come Lefties refuse to discuss ideas? All you get from them are insults and ad hominems.
40% of US births are out of wedlock. A…
March 19th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
After days of phony rage, it turns out that Senator Dodd specifically added a provision to the bill that the bonuses be paid. At some point, incompetence becomes impossible to conceal. We’re just about there.
Watching Schumer bluster is getting old. If he read the bill he voted on, he’d know what’s in it, wouldn’t he? Apologies are in order, but nobody ever mistook Senator Schumer for a human being.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Good point about Schumer, Mark D. But what is truly horrifying now is the move in Congress to ‘tax back’ the bonuses. Once they start aiming tax rates at specific companies/individuals, where will it end?