AIG Bonus

The much debated bailout funds approved by Congress was recently used up by AIG for bonus payouts worth $34million to 52 individuals. How this slipped through the cracks, only the Feds could answer. In the words of AIG CEO, it was necessary to retain top executives. One wonders with all the major banks in the US going bust, where would the top execs go to seek employment? US Treasury Secretary, who mistakenly did not pay his tax before taking his oath, had said that executive pay in the US has been exorbitant.

Poor Americans are being chased out of their homes for defaulting their loans, an error on the government side for making it too easy to withdraw loans in the form of subprime mortgages. Executives on the other hand are cashing in. So will Obama's message during inauguration of making America once again the "beacon of hope" materialize?

Congress later passed a legislation to tax the executives heavily.