Just picture someone saying "It's the principle of the thing!" and you've probably got in mind someone who is at least 80 years old, and one way or another could be described by the word "crusty."
Well that's just what's going on with AIG. $165M is a lot of money, but the undeserved portion of that (due to arrogance, incompetence, or greed) is a far smaller number. Generously calling it half, I'll say this $80M is not that much to get worried about, and it's certainly not anything worth upending the structure of our legal system for.
That said, "someone" secretly removed a provision from the stimulus bill that would deal with this issue of AIG bonuses. And no matter which side of the argument you are on, you can bet that when there's a sixth of a billion dollars on the table, Principle can't afford a ticket to the show.
So who might have been a little more than friends with the folks at AIG? Let's check out the top ten list from OpenSecrets.org and see who's been getting the most contributions from AIG in the past 20 years:
| Dodd, Chris (D) | $281,038 | ||
| | Bush, George W (R) | $200,560 | |
| Schumer, Charles (D) | $111,875 | ||
| Obama, Barack (D) | $110,332 | ||
| McCain, John (R) | $99,249 | ||
| Baucus, Max (D) | $90,000 | ||
| Kerry, John (D) | $85,000 | ||
| Johnson, Nancy L (R) | $75,400 | ||
| Sununu, John E (R) | $69,049 | ||
| Clinton, Hillary (D) | $61,515 |
An interesting list, to be sure, but still not the way I like it. Let's find out how much AIG has been shelling out to these guys on an annual basis:
| Federal Candidate | Total | Yrs | Annual | |
| Obama, Barack (D) | $110,332 | 4 | $27,583 | |
| Bush, George W (R) | $200,560 | 8 | $25,070 | |
| Dodd, Chris (D) | $281,038 | 20 | $14,052 | |
| Clinton, Hillary (D) | $61,515 | 8 | $7,689 | |
| Sununu, John E (R) | $69,049 | 12 | $5,754 | |
| Schumer, Charles (D) | $111,875 | 20 | $5,594 | |
| McCain, John (R) | $99,249 | 20 | $4,962 | |
| Baucus, Max (D) | $90,000 | 20 | $4,500 | |
| Kerry, John (D) | $85,000 | 20 | $4,250 | |
| Johnson, Nancy (R) | $75,400 | 18 | $4,189 |
Now look, I'm not out-and-out accusing Barack Obama of being corrupt on this one, though I wouldn't be surprised either. But if you're mad about AIG, it's hard not to take a look at this list and think things through.
And honestly, if you really want to know who I think is behind this "secret revision" in the stimulus bill, my money's on Chris Dodd. That's one corrupt (looking!) dude right there. (Side note) And increasingly, the rumor is that his Senate seat might be in jeopardy, something unheard of for a 34-year, extremely powerful Democratic Congressman from a very blue state.