Grassley: AIG Execs Should Quit Or Commit Suicide

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Sen. Charles Grassley wants AIG executives to apologize for the collapse of the insurance giant _ but said Tuesday that "obviously" he didn't really mean that they should kill themselves.

The Iowa Republican raised eyebrows with his comments Monday that the executives _ under fire for passing out big bonuses even as they were taking a taxpayer bailout _ perhaps should "resign or go commit suicide."

But he backtracked Tuesday morning in a conference call with reporters. He said he would like executives of failed businesses to make a more formal public apology, as business leaders have done in Japan.

"What I'm expressing here obviously is not that I want people to commit suicide. That's not my notion," Grassley said Tuesday. "But I do feel very strongly that we have not had statements of apology, statements of remorse, statements of contrition on the part of CEOs of manufacturing companies or banks or financial services or insurance companies that are asking for bailouts."

Grassley's initial comments came during an interview Monday with Cedar Rapids radio station WMT. They went further than remarks he has made in the past about corporate executives and public apologies.

"I suggest, you know, obviously, maybe they ought to be removed," Grassley said Monday. "But I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say 'I'm sorry,' and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.

"And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology."

Japanese executives often take responsibility for scandals within their companies by issuing public apologies on camera and stepping down. It is rare, however, that business executives have gone so far as to take their lives, though in feudal Japan, ritual suicide was considered an honorable death under the samurai warrior ethic.

Grassley spokesman Casey Mills noted that Grassley had in the past criticized executives who accepted tax money and then spent it on travel and bonuses.

"Senator Grassley has said for some time now that generally speaking, executives who make a mess of their companies should apologize, as Japanese executives do," Mills said Monday. "He says the Japanese might even go so far as to commit suicide but he doesn't want U.S. executives to do that."

The senator's remarks added to a chorus of public outrage over the disclosure that AIG was paying its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. President Barack Obama on Monday lambasted the insurance giant for "recklessness and greed" and pledged to try to block payment of the bonuses.

Comments

[somsoc]

The vast majority of the AIG execs and the other Wall Street execs we see getting the 7 to 9 figure salaries and million dollar plus bonuses are from already rich families that see this as just business as usual. This is just their due, their place in life. Just like how that endowment granddad made helped them get into the ivy leagues, etc. They have never done anything on their own, they see the middle and working class as having made the decision to accept that life and they have grown up seeing unions and the little people as their lessers. These are the people, the American aristocrats, that Thomas Jefferson was concerned would develop if we allowed the great accumulation of wealth through inheritance and other means. He was right.

We now have the class warfare that he worried about. With the aristocracy making the equivalent of $500+per hour while hold the working person (who actually produces and builds this nation) to an average wage of less than $25.00 per hour with few if any benefits.

The policies instituted by Reagan and Greenspan and accelerated by Dubya only radicalized the gap between rich and poor. The executives think they are entitled to this money just as they think that they have done nothing wrong, just as Madoff believes he should not have to spend time in prison.

[Oxonian2001]

I agree with you!

Some random remarks I'd like to add.

Jefferson was actually one of those aristocrats himself. He bankrupted himself with his taste for fine wines so he never got to free his slaves as he hoped to do.

Thomas Paine was the ONLY Founding Father who talked the talk AND walked the walk. He was proud of his small, humble house and a handful of farm animals.

And yes, a lot of this does come down to the fact of class entitlement and privilege. Upper class brats are taught from DAY 1 that they are the be-all and end-all. When they mess up, the hired help pick up the slack. Daddy bails them out. W epitomizes this more than anyone else: he was bailed out on numerous occasions when he fouled up at Yale. Are we surprised then that it was so easy for him to bail out Wall Street?

Secondly, the Ivies compound these problems. Many of their students get grossly inflated grades. When students show up for only one week of class and get a B, are you surprised that they think that any work at all deserves an A? This is why so many of those Wall St. execs think they're "entitled" to a bonus.

The fact is, the upper classes, wanna-bes, and their spawn think they like Louis XV: apres-moi, le deluge. It's time to bring back those guillotines!

[somsoc]

Excuse me, I was wrong, the average for the mid-level to senior exec. hourly salary runs between $5000 to $10,000 per hour plus perks, not including bonuses.

[BLCKSHP1]

Let me finish since I was cut off. When the gov settles for 10 cents on the dollar and then taxes the amount of money received by the whistleblower for helping return this money to the government coffers, then their is little incentive for people like me to recommend this avenue to others. The DOJ and others do the best they can against these huge corporations that drag these cases out 6 to15 years and in the end the work and effort by the whistleblower is taxed for retuning huge amounts of money back to the government then the system is broken.
I am in the process of trying to personally tell my side of a long story to the Judicial comm. of the Senate which Grassley is a member to make this work better.
It is time that all Americans rise up against Corporate America that keeps on bilking the taxpayers of billions of dollars just like Eli Lilly and AGI and the others. There are ways to stop this and it is time the Judicial committee listens to those of us who has seen the system work from the inside.

[prog]

How about this:

Everyone goes to jail for fraud.

That will do nicely, thank you.

[BLCKSHP1]

Congrats to Sen. Grassley's comments on this issue. Sen. Grassley has been on the side of the taxpayer for years and an example is work on the False Claims Act which I have had in depth experience in since I am one of the whistleblowers on the recent Lilly 1.42 Billion settlement with the government for bilking us taxpayers. Yes it took 7 years of my life and a lot of work and in the end I was awarded a few million dollars for helping to return this money to the American Taxpayers.
A point that I would like to make in my efforts to make this law even better and trying to set up a meeting with him and other members of the Senate judiciary committee, is that the risk involved and the benefit received leaves many potential whistleblowers actually doing nothing about the money "stolen" by big corporations.
When the government settles for 10 cents on the dollar or less in my case

[ThoughtfulComments]

Haiku from Grassley:

Caused a long winter at AIG
Humbled
We commit Hara-kiri!

[allieq]

I would like to see any politician who can look at their own fortune and honestly say that they have earned every dime via highly ethical and moral means with little negative effect on the American public. I appreciate this guy speaking out and what he has to say...I just think that it is pretty ironic that any of these politicians are waving fingers at big corporate CEOs when they are all in bed together.

[Budokan]

Grassley's previous comments sound like a good plan for the Konservative Party.

http://kennethmarkhoover.com

[calfacon]

"And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology."
That is quite a feat. Apology after suicide (?????) Ooops, it's a republicin talking, don't expect sense, facts or reason.

[KataVideo]

Chuck Grassley's "seppaku" comments were meant as gallows humor, and anyone with a lick of common sense would take them as such.

He is 100% correct that AIG's executives should go before the American people, admit to wrong-doing and ask/beg for forgiveness. That IS what they do in Japan, although it doesn't go far enough. There must be consequences for AIG's ineptitude and arrogance!

[dmbraddy]

Gallows humor? Fair enough. In the same spirit, perhaps Senator Grassley should take his own advice.

[suzie z]

Unfortunately, some people resort to violence in these situations. Death threats to anyone is irresponsible and wrong. Gang banger attitudes need go away. This mentality just goes to show that when you can't use intelligent reasoning (ie: a good education to help you think things through) violence is the only judgement known. Thank you Mr. Bush for being part of the "dumming down" of America, which is still getting worse by the way. Dear Mr. President and others....­..we need a complete overhaul of education not just a bandaid.

[OkieIntellectual]

But there were no death threats or "gang banger" attitudes.

[suzie z]

Why when I don't do my job correctly do I not get my bonus or get to keep my job. What is so difficult about this. Their jobs aren't much different than any other, they just get more money....t­hey should still have to perform no matter what job it is....

[pmag88]

President Obama, Grassley and others are correct in stating that apologizing and voluntarily forgoing bonuses would restore a lot of trust in the financial industries. We have an economy that requires investment and spending and saving, and all must happen simultaneously in order to create sustained growth. We NEED the financial industries and the expertise of the people working in these industries to make this work. There is no alternative that I can see.

[suzie z]

I don't understand anyone saying that legally they must pay the AIG bonuses. If I do not perform with a positive at my work I don't get my 4% bonus. They did not perform positively, they performed way below what was expected of them and all be damned if they should get any bonus no less a salary. They should be out and out fired. Come on people, lets get real here.

[notAMoron]

I have advocated all along the following bailout plan:

Trampolines on the roof of every building on wall street.

[NYCIC]

Oops, he got that call from Rush.