A.I.G. Bonus Plan Under Fire

The AIG bonuses are contracts between AIG and its biggest producers. These are enforceable contracts and the Constitution prohibits the government from interfering with them. Recall that 79% of AIG stock is owned by the Treasury Department, that is, the taxpayers. So, one way to look at this is that the payment of bonuses of this magnitude means that AIG is making good profits, and thus can keep making payments back to the taxpayers. The other way to look at this is the whole AIG bail out was illegal (because of the fraud involving Goldman Sachs) and unconstitutional (because the Constitution does not permit the government to choose whom to bail out and whom to let die on the vine). A third way to look at this is: Will the AIG payments ($100 million every quarter) go to the Treasury to reduce debt, or will Tim Geithner just re-spend it, in utter disregard for the law and the Constitution?