Why You Should Be Outraged About AIG's Bailout-Funded Spa Retreat
What do you do for a living? Do you work for a school? A non-profit? A small business? I bet you're exhausted. You deserve a break. How about a day off? How about a massage? How about an all expenses paid retreat for you and your colleagues to a ritzy southern California spa? After all, you're not paying for it; taxpayers are!
On September 16, troubled insurance giant AIG (American International Group) was bailed out by the New York Fed with an $85 billion boost that gave the U.S. government a 79.9% equity share in the company. Feuding executives, risky financial practices, and a slashed credit rating precipitated the bailout/partial takeover, which neither party in Congress was happy about. Republicans blamed the Treasury, Democrats blamed Bush, and AIG fired its CEO. Congressional hearings were mandated to determine where AIG went wrong. You would think, under congressional investigation, AIG might be extra cognizant of its conduct and business practices.
Instead, it hauled its executives to Dana Point, CA, for a "retreat" at the St. Regis Resort, one of the ritziest in the nation. $7,000 was spent on tee time, $23,280 was spent in the spa, and the grand total for the retreat was a whopping $443,343.71. To add fuel to the fire, remember the whole "no more golden parachutes" promise? The recently-terminated head of the AIG Financial Products group will continue to be paid $1 million a month, on a "consulting" basis.
Barack Obama, in Tuesday night's debate, insisted that AIG's executives should be fired and the $440,000 repaid to the Treasury.
In Tuesday's congressional hearing, Henry Waxman (D-CA), head of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, decried AIG's actions: "Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance... Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."
That, folks, is our tax money at work. You and I are at the grocery checkout line, putting back items that put us over budget; we're at the gas pump, putting $5 at a time into our tanks, remembering a time when that bought a lot more than 1.2 gallons of gas. And the AIG executives who committed fraud and attempted to conceal their wrongdoings were choosing between the $260 "Hollywood Glow" facial or the $350 "Mediterranean Harmony" massage, in which not one but two massage therapists work on you at once (I'm not making this up, here's the website).
You know, I work for a nonprofit. And several weeks back, we had a staff "retreat"... to a conference room, where we had a great dialogue about different generations in the workplace, enjoyed a delicious lunch, snacked on our favorite candy bars, and went home an hour earlier than usual. We can back to the office the next workday relaxed and energized and ready to be productive. When I worked for a hedge fund a few years back, we had a holiday "retreat" that entailed our boss treating the six of us and our significant others to an amazing Italian food dinner at a local restaurant.
Rewarding hard work is important. But rewarding immoral business practices, greed, and fraud is ridiculous and insulting to those of us whose money was wasted so people who don't give a damn about any of us could have two masseuses instead of one. Congress should take back its bailout of AIG and let that selfish corporation tank like it should've a month ago.
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Think about McCain's Health Insurance Scheme... He would turn Medicare over to these people to manage and administer.....It makes my skin crawl...
The AMERICAN FANTASY of the FREE MARKET has given us the MOST EXPENSIVE health care in the WORLD with No results, NO RESULTS, absolutely NO RESULTS to indicate it's performance is any better than CUBAS or CANADAS health care..
The whole thing is OUTRAGEOUS. Reminding of the pre-French revolution atmosphere.
Is there something to do? Is there a petition, a letter, a web site, an organization that can intervene?
I am blown away. I just made huge cuts to our family budget, no more piano lessons to my kids, no more health club, no more eating out. And at the very same time, so f..ing jerk from AIG is getting a f..ing massage?
This should not be allowed, these people should be held accountable, or at the very least, not rewarded.
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Very well said, Colette. It sounds like your family is doing all of the belt tightening you can. It's a crying shame that corporate America and these crooks can't follow suit.
I am totally blown away by the cavalier attitude of AIG. Not only did they take a $440,000 junket after siphoning off $85 Billion taxpayer dollars because they were in such dire straights, but they defend their right to take another at a luxury Ritz Carlton. While the taxpayers whose hard-earned dollars whet into the bailout count their pennies to see if they can afford the gas to drive to a Super 8, money that should have gone to education, healthcare and a myriad of other programs, instead goes to pay for good times for agents AIG wants to coerce into carrying their products.
Ooops. Maybe it would have been a very good idea, both politically and fiscally, to just say, "Sorry guys. The money has to go to making sure you have something to sell and service for us."
Space is limited here, and I'm hopping mad. To read my whole rant about this an other issues, go to http://myspace.com/sallystraight.
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The pieces of garbage that run that company are a perfect example of why this country is in the shape it is in! They have no morals nor do they care about the ignorant American taxpayers that are stupid enough to allow it! I think until we have someone in office that will toss these CEO’s and top Executives in Jail our country will never get better. I personally feel that the leaders of AIG that allowed this lavish retreat to happen should be fired, fined and thrown in jail!
Notice, the Brits are taking action against their bankers while over here, in the good ol' USA,
the CEOs get to make another spa visit next month. Those banks, etc. now belong to the
tax payer and we should demand firing those gluttons.
AIG executives were not at the retreat. The 85 Billion in no way paid for this retreat. You should be outraged that you do not understand the situation.
So everyone who is reporting this is wrong? Even if this was for "TOP Brokers" IT WAS OUT OF LINE!!!!! I mean the timing for this was awful...You should be outraged that the American people are being raped by these companies, and there lack of morals.
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And apparently Congress is wrong, too, because they are the ones who uncovered and investigated this retreat.
Yes you are correct the 85billion did not pay for this retreat - this was a retreat for TOP producers and Agents NOT AIG Exec's.... once again, the Press got it wrong.
Ok, so this is the analogy:
Mom and Dad are in financial trouble and borrow 10,000 dollars from the Grandparents
Little Johnny sneaks into Mom's purse and takes that money for a weekend binge cause he got
an A on the report card.
Should Mom and Dad still be responsible to pay back this loan? Should Mom be held responsible for not securing the large amount of money in a more appropriate place? Is it right for the Grandparents to be upset that this happened?
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I'm outraged that any company who needs to take taxpayer dollars to stay afloat funded, attended, supported, or even thought up the idea of such an outrageous waste of money at a time where the rest of the country is losing its jobs, retirement funds, and houses. You should be outraged about your cavalier attitude in a time of national disaster.
I may be wrong , but it is likely that this event was long planned and although the end result does not look good from a public relations standpoint, the costs incurred due to cancelling may well have resulted in not much money being saved..
Perhaps more pertinent is the whole issue of corporate funded senior executive perks, all paid for by those extra few cents on the price of the goods that their companies sell.
The individual customer doesn't really notice the extra amount, but when all those cents are added up from all those individual customers it translates into an almost a bottomless pit of money for those same executives to enjoy the good life, all at your expense.
But hey we know the argument -the're so good at their jobs they deserve it all.
AIG wants another $37.8 billion. Wonder where they'll head to this time? Bailout, loan, whatever. CNNMoney calls it both ways. http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/08/news/companies/aig/?postversion=2008100818
I have to laugh. At least you got treated for a dinner and a luncheon etc.. I don't even get that. I do not get any vacation and I work about 10 hours a day, seven days a week. Even you are too rich and well off for my blood. Perspective is interesting isn't it?
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"Rich and well off"? Because two years ago, an employer treated me to dinner, and two months ago, I got free lunch as part of a training session?
Cylindar, 95% of this country is not rich or well off. In fact, few people are even living "comfortably" right now. Your work hours are actually typical. Many people have two or three jobs. Many people work at least 10 hours a day, and anyone whose jobs correlate with the stock market or real estate industry hasn't seen a weekend in months. Many people can't afford to take a vacation even if they are lucky enough to accrue vacation days. I don't know a single person who works only eight hours a day, except maybe schoolteachers, and that's not counting the many times they have to take work home to grade and review. And the worst part is, the people who work the longest hours, like social workers and nurses, make the smallest salaries.
Perspective is indeed interesting.
We watch these hearings and wonder how individuals can behave this way. We are aghast at their practices. What we need to understand is that they are a different breed. They are nothing like the average American. They don't live like us, work like us or think like us . They are the moneyed. Their sole objective in life is to make themselves richer at any consequence. They have no conscience. Its impossible to expect a mindset like this to regulate itself.
When I first heard Obama mention this in the debate. My jaw dropped but only a little. With a question, what did I think was going to happen? Thieves and liars one and all and we just gave them 25% of the nation’s cash. I wonder what crook wouldn’t think it was a holiday.
The only government funded outing these jokers and their counterparts at Lehman Brothers, et al should experience is lengthy stay at a white collar Federal penitentiary. If they can't be prosecuted for fraud or some violation of the RICO statutes, Patrick Fitzgerald should be rehired to see what he can make stick.
Both you and Barack Obama have your facts wrong.
AIG did not receive a "bailout" of taxpayer money. The government lent AIG 85 billion at 8.5% for two years. In exchange, the government has received a 79.9% stake in the company.
If you went down to your local Wells Fargo branch and obtained a loan for $300,000 to buy a house, and you decided to purchase a $297,000 house and spend the rest "irresponsibly" on a spa for the back yard, will Wells Fargo come and chastise you.
Answer to above is NOPE. You still owe them $300,000 plus interest for term of loan. They believe you will repay it.
The government has received great assets for their investment in AIG. AIG will repay their loan too -- sooner, rather than later. Regardless of what you are reading for research, iooooo ggff AIG does
You can't be serious ... you think this behavior is OK? Whether it is a loan or not to be spending on these kind of excesses while average American's have to work more than one job just to pay for heat, groceries, health care and gas ... incredible. If the private sector companies want to manage their companies this way that is fine and dandy. Your right ... none of our business. But when you need US to bail YOU out head over to one of those private sector lending institutions and ask for a loan ... we are full up here. If it is so easy to pay back this freakin loan ... then why do they need to come to us ... the American taxpayer? I know , I know ... the free market will make it all better in the end ... right? I never ever ever want to hear again about "tax and spend" liberals ruining our country. At least we get SOMETHING for our money. Better that than "charge and run" conservatives that like to saddle our children with their *$#$ ups!
What you said is EXACTLY why we should have RETROACTIVE TAXES on these crooks... This was not just 449,000, that number did not include either the travel expenses or the salaries for the time they spent on the "RETREAT"""
Only people in Germany get Spas included in their healthcare, even they do not get paid salary while they are not working at the spa, and they do not get their travel expenses paid either..
WHEN did you ever get to deduct your SPA VACATION and EXPENSES from your income taxes???
I'm with you lifelong-
Someone should publish the names of these people so we know who they are. They are the types of people that are causing these problems. They have no shame. The American people need to have all of this made public and exposed, so that the public is protected from these sharks.
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