Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-8) yesterday expressed the outrage many American feel about the waste and egregious abuse of taxpayers dollars by AIG.
The Congressman repeatedly demanded to know the names of the people who directly led to the destruction of the company.
At the beginning of a hearing of the House Financial Service Committee, AIG Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy blamed “20-25 employees” for the collapse of the financial products division of the company, which led to the crash of AIG. Liddy provided only one name. Grayson asked, “These same people could now be working today at Citibank. Is it more important to protect them, the ones who caused a $100 billion loss, or protect us?” Liddy then told Grayson and the rest of the Committee that he did not know the other names. Grayson continued, “How can you propose to solve the problems of the company that you are now running, if you don’t know the names of the people who caused that problem?”
Liddy eventually promised to provide Grayson what he wanted, but only after consulting with AIG’s general counsel.
The U.S. Government spent $170 billion to stabilize AIG. It now controls 80% of the insurance and financial services company. Most recently, AIG came under fire for paying out more than $165 million in bonuses to 73 employees after the government rescued the company.
You can see the entire exchange between Grayson and Libby at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HYq6kdseV8
