Bipartisan populism? So it turns out that a branch of AIG is located in CT, and AIG says they have no choice but to pay bonuses. From the Hartford Courant:
The company says it needs to pay the bonuses because of a provision in Connecticut law, under Section 31-72, that is known as the Connecticut Wage Act.
"The state of Connecticut should not be used as the scapegoat or the excuse for AIG to pay these outrageous'' bonuses, said House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk.
Those receiving the bonuses work primarily at AIG's financial products unit that is based in Wilton, an affluent town in Fairfield County. As such, AIG says that the bonuses must comply with Connecticut state law.
Cafero and Senate Republican leader John McKinney of Fairfield are calling for lawmakers to change the Connecticut Wage Act in order to exempt the double-penalty provision for any bonuses that are paid by companies that have received TARP or federal stimulus money.
If AIG failed to pay the bonuses under state law, legislators said, the company could be forced to pay a double penalty - meaning paying $330 million in bonuses.
That's right, CT lawmakers are taking steps to change the law.
Cafero and Senate Republican leader John McKinney of Fairfield are calling for lawmakers to change the Connecticut Wage Act in order to exempt the double-penalty provision for any bonuses that are paid by companies that have received TARP or federal stimulus money.
The Republican Governor Jodi Rell agrees (""The fact that AIG would even consider paying bonuses of any kind out of taxpayer funds is appalling"), and on the other side of the aisle, the Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal isn't happy with AIG, either.
Connecticut's attorney general said he had "significant doubts" that $165 million of bonuses recently awarded by American International Group Inc are required under state law.
"AIG is shamelessly shielding itself behind the Connecticut Wage Act, a joke of a justification for squandering scarce taxpayer resources," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement on Tuesday. "We should use any and every well-founded legal weapon to recapture these baseless bonuses."
Blumenthal said his office will "carefully investigate" the merits of AIG's claims, but added: "Corporate collapse demands accountability -- not windfall payments.
Who else in CT? Well, there's CT-05's Chris Murphy (via press release):
On WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 AT NOON, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) will host a press conference call to announce legislation to stop taxpayer funded bonuses for the very people that got us in this economic mess by taking unreasonable risks that have toppled our financial system by crippling credit markets for small businesses and threatening the retirement savings and livelihoods of Connecticut families.
Murphy is drafting this legislation in response to the news that the American International Group (AIG), which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, will give out more than $165 million in bonuses to its executives.
And there's a few more:
As outrage over the AIG bonuses continues to mount, Congress is demanding answers --- and searching for ways to block the payouts.
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the banking committee, joined other senators in urging Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to stop bonuses from being paid.
Meanwhile, Democratic Representatives Joseph Courtney and Bruce Braley drafted a letter Tuesday, cosigned by 78 House members, calling for "a full accounting" of AIG's use Wall Street bailout funds. They are also asking the Obama administration to intervene and stop the payouts.
Hey, Braley's from Iowa - how'd he get in this story?
In any case, this seems to be some sort of tipping point from the politicians' POV. That genie is not going back in that little bottle any time soon.
