As Michael noted yesterday the House passed Speaker Pelosi’s targeted tax increase on AIG (and other TARP funded) bonus recipients. Regrettably, almost half of the Republicans in the chamber joined in on the hypocrisy (proving once again that Republicans can always be expected to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory).
Taking their cue from Congress, local activists and unions in the Wilton, CT area are planning some drive by harassment of AIG employee homes this weekend to indulge in some good old fashioned schadenfreud. (If anyone had a doubt as to how card check will unfold, here’s your preview.)
Are you angry at AIG? I know I am. $165 Million in bonuses for a bunch of executives whose most impressive accomplishment was ruining their own company and helping drive the nation’s economy to the brink of ruin.
More money for AIG executives isn’t be the best way to dig out of this recession. So do you want to do something about it?
In Connecticut, we have a unique opportunity to tell AIG executives exactly how we feel. AIG’s Financial Products Division (the part of the company most responsible for this mess) is headquartered right here in Connecticut. And many of their top executives live nearby.
So this Saturday, hop on the bus, Gus: We’re going for a ride. Join us on a tour of the lifestyles of rich and infamous AIG executives. Did you ever wonder what kind of property billions of dollars in risky “credit default swaps” can buy you? This is your chance to find out. We’ll deliver a letter to each of these AIG executives to let them know how we think we can put our economy back on track.
The zeitgeist of the present Washington political class seems to emphasize a despicable invasion of the privacy of private citizens. Thugs like these (and the Congress that encourages them) happily embrace their mob identity, clueless to the threat they represent to individual liberty and freedom…but what should we expect in this post partisan world of collectivism? Robespierre would be fond of these jacobin asses (even though these particular ignoramuses probably don’t know what ultimately happened to the French scoundrel).
To their credit, The New York Times reports that there is real, human face behind this riot of indignation:
The A.I.G. executive who was nicknamed “Jackpot Jimmy” by a New York tabloid walked up the driveway toward his bay-windowed house in Fairfield, Conn., on Thursday afternoon. “How do I feel?” said the executive, James Haas, repeating the question he had just been asked. “I feel horrible. This has been a complete invasion of privacy.”
Mr. Haas walked on, his pink shirt a burst of color on a slate-gray afternoon. The words came haltingly. “You have to understand,” he said, “there are kids involved, there have been death threats. …” His voice trailed off. It looked as if he was fighting back tears.
“I didn’t have anything to do with those credit problems,” said Mr. Haas, 47. “I told Mr. Liddy” — Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G., the insurance giant — “I would rescind my retention contract.”
He ended the conversation with a request: “Leave my neighbors alone.”
Tom Wolfe would be proud….this past week resembles a scene from Bonfire of the Vanities.
