Comments on: Yet another AIG subsidiary parties hearty days after bailout

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:41:57 +0000

I am outraged over our mainstream media who has distorted this story for pure sensatinalism. This AIG subsidary had nothing to do with the tax payer money, bailout, etc. There were not even executive there, but 1099 brokers who sell products from all companies.
I find out the retreat was planned a year ago and again no tax payer money was used.
My question is why isn’t the media reporting this? Oh yes, this does not sell! This is not sensationalized and takes our focus off the real issue.

This subsidary should go after the meida for distortion.
Yes lets focus on one of the few subsidaries of the comapny that brought in business and pay NO attention the real crooks, the investment Wall Street AIG guys in product who got into these mortgage back securities and brought down this company.

Is the truth that hard to understand?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:53:41 +0000

What all you negative people are forgetting to acknowledge is the fact that the government gave AIG a LOAN, which they are earning a high interest rate on, they did not GIVE AIG anything. You react as though AIG is just blowing free money. They are using this money to try to pay their bills and keep thier over 100,000 employees employed (they could have taken the easy route and just filed for bankruptcy).

So if you go to someone, and based on your track record they agree to lend you some money and you agree to pay the interest they charge, you can do whatever you want with that money. It is a basic business transaction. You shouldn’t care how they spend their money as long as they pay back the loan and interest. Let’s talk after the loan has been paid back and the government is counting its profits. Besides, if the government didn’t see the value in AIG they would not be willing to lend them the money (not only once, but twice!).

By: No name necessary

No name necessary — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:31:31 +0000

For those employees that are justifing the bad behavior of big business and their own hand made big problems stop making excuses for them! ILFC funds are NOW our funds. Whether or not it happened in the same week as their party or not, cancellation would have been a fraction of the cost of their ’self serving celebration’. No one involved at the top was taken by surprise as much as you would like to think. Shame on them! Steven Hazy, shame on you! Have you sat down and had a heart to heart talk with your employees that pensions are now worthless? They may have reconsidered the party and taken the cash.

By: AIG employee

AIG employee — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:22:30 +0000

By the way, the ILFC leased just about every airline in the U.S. airplanes. They found a product that was needed to keep the airlines from bankrupting….so they could keep flying you to your grandmother’s house , your company’s other branch (in another state) for that meeting, and to Tahiti for vacation… You may not think airplanes are important, but try to think of a company that doesn’t have it’s hands in AIG in some shape, fashion, or form… Your mortgage…the one you pay on-time and can afford (You being the FEW that didn’t get into a sub-prime)…It’s with a bank, right? AIG probably insures that loan…The part where if you don’t pay it, they pay it… That’s what happened in the sub-prime mess. So, when you want to bring down AIG…remember, you will be coming down with it…and so will a lot of other countries…so don’t think you can just fly (in an AIG insured airplane) to another country (who probably has invested in some AIG’s portfolio) and live there until the smoke clears…

By: Jenifer Weigand

Jenifer Weigand — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:33:42 +0000

Melanie Says: “I don’t have AIG insurance nor do I have a mortgage that I am not paying or cannot afford…I say we just let them fall.”

I don’t have AIG either, but they are one of the largest carriers of Workers Comp, Business Liability, Private Mortgage Insurance, and many other insurance lines. For them to go under would create even more problems. Someone more in the know about insurance could probably enlighten us on this subject. More oversight is needed when the government steps in, but I don’t believe the government has the brainpower to take over management. Huge issue!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:57:55 +0000

I don’t have AIG insurance nor do I have a mortgage that I am not paying or cannot afford.

No one is “blaming AIG for everything”. I say we just let them fall. The reality is they probably will anyway. Wait and see.

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:53:52 +0000

Why doesn’t the media, which includes all forms, know what a few of you know & I mean less than a handfull of people that are making comments?

By: Another Comment

Another Comment — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:43:12 +0000

I understand everyone’s anger, but the $85 billion bailout was necessary so that ordinary people like you and me around the WORLD who hold AIG insurance policies would not be left in the lurch. We’re talking about 1 company AIG owns that sunk AIG as a whole, and it’s a waste of energy blaming subsidiaries who are spending their own money on things for their employees (not taxpayer money) for the problems.

If you’re going to blame AIG for everything, then surely you should also blame yourself for taking out mortgages that were too expensive for your income and for causing this whole problem in the first place. Sure, the mortgage lenders got greedy because they wanted to make a fast buck under the Republicans’ unregulated eye. But it’s the American public’s fault, too, for making a bet and losing big.

Also, to the people who bought property as investments, thanks a lot jerks. You drove up property values too high, too, and have a huge hand in ruining this country. Instead of investing your money in America by buying stocks, you made property too expensive for normal people and quite possibly ruined the world.

Also, one last note. If your child were to declare bankruptcy, you would probably let that child move back home and leech off of you for a while. But I’m sure that your other children wouldn’t jump in to help. So who’s teaching whom bad values?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:25:41 +0000

Please everyone know that the party was paid for by ILFC funds, and ILFC only…AIG contributed NOTHING. It was in the planning for almost a year. The bailout happened the week of the party and canceling it would have meant losing money on deposits, hotels, etc. and also at the time of the bailout, most the party had been paid for already..again with ILFC money only.

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:25:08 +0000

I must copy & paste from a previous AIG article. I have found 2 people that feel they can justify this mess. They must have previously been to one of these affairs or went to this one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sara Says:
October 8th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Barb,
It’s not a lie. American General Life is totally regulated and has oversight in all 50 states. By the federal insurance commissioner. And this trip was an award trip for agents as Garyd56 above says. Precisely. American General Life had absolutely nothing to do with the mess of AIG. And at this event you all are upset over not one cent of your taxpayer money was spent. NONE.
I understand the financial mess in this country at present is very serious and scary but blaming the wrong companies (and American General Life is a solid strong company and will be one of the first to be sold by AIG—AIG has taken American General Life down. If you can’t see that then you understand nothing about the insurance industry across the board in the U.S. None of them. Whether American General Life, or Prudential, or Met Life, etc. They operate the same and they aren’t using taxpayer money and American General Life did NOT use any taxpayer money on this event. Check out how many companies AIG owns. The own to be looking at is AIG-FC….not American General Life, for gosh sakes.

Garyd56 Says:
October 7th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
If this was a legitimate award trip for top performing Insurance agents, then it is acceptable

Would you like to have worked very hard for the past year to be awarded a trip, then have the award trip pulled from you due to lousy decisions in a division that you have nothing to do with (the Financial divisions)

The timing was worse than anything, but think of the rank and file insurance agent who did nothing wrong and was just looking forward to an award trip

When I first heard of this, it was called a “retreat”, but now it appears it was an award trip only