Levin- My Senate Floor Speech on AIG bonuses

Senator Levin has said it well as to the moral conduct of the financial institutes when it comes to the sacrifice needed at a time when our Nation is in great fiscal peril and while others are doing their part to stabilize their Companies, the Executives on Wall Street are once again thinking they are above the cut, worth more then others, deserving of pay that no one person should get in reality. 

 

Though Senator Levin probably voted for the Bonus tax on these executives, violating the Bill of Retainer clause in the Constitution, I embrace this speech he has given here.

 

R. George Dunn

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: senator_levin@levin.senate.gov

To: rgdunn@veionline.com

Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 8:51 AM

Subject: My Senate Floor Speech on AIG bonuses

Dear Mr. Dunn:

I thought you might be interested in the speech I gave in the Senate yesterday regarding the outrageous bonuses given to executives at American International Group (AIG).

As has been widely reported, AIG chose to dole out sizeable performance and retention bonuses last week to executives of the very financial services division that was responsible for creating many of the exotic securities that brought the company to its knees. This tone-deaf decision represents not only an egregious misuse of taxpayer funds, but highlights just one of the many double standards that have been applied to companies receiving federal assistance.

It was only four months ago that our nation's struggling domestic auto-makers asked for government loans that amount to a small fraction of the money we have given to Wall Street. Hardworking Americans, who put in an honest day's work building automobiles, were summarily criticized for making a living wage as executives at financial services companies receiving billions of taxpayer dollars rewarded themselves with obscene bonuses. Unlike the autoworkers, A.I.G.'s executives didn't step up to the plate. I felt compelled to highlight this shameful double standard when I spoke yesterday on the floor of the United States Senate.

You can view my full statement by clicking on the following link: [http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=310035]
Sincerely,
Carl Levin

If you would prefer not to receive future email updates from me, you can unsubscribe by clicking here: http://levin.senate.gov/contact/unsubscribe.htm