Nuh-huh

AIG: Before Credit Default Swaps, There Was Reinsurance

Reinsurance, when an actual transfer of risk, is an obvious, rational, and ethical choice. However, side letters can eliminate the economic substance of the reinsurance deal, leaving only an accounting scam as described in the article. PNC is an excellent example. I think this article is spot-on.

ABC: FBI and Prosecutors 'Closing In' on AIG's Cassano

This is the guy people, not the current AIG-FP staff who are working for very little (for example, Jake DeSantis had an annual salary of $1 when the mob ran him out) in order to try to recoup something for the American taxpayer. See Gretchen Morgenstern's NYTimes article from 9/28/08 if you need to learn about what really happened at AIG-FP, but in short, Cassano found a way to bet our money: heads he wins, tails WE lose. Git him.

AIG Exec Departures: What a Surprise!

Some people would rather carry pitchforks & torches than actually learn something... Here it is folks: Jake DeSantis was asked to stick around for a salary of ONE DOLLAR plus the retention bonus by YOU the people of the United States, who OWN the company. He agreed. Now he spent his time trying to save YOU the owner BILLIONS of dollars, and now you want to burn him at the stake.
You need to realize he wasn't working for $200/hour PLUS the bonus. He was working for $1/Year PLUS the bonus. The bonus was his ONLY compensation for agreeing to stay on and save YOU the owner billions of dollars. He was free to walk, and apparently he should have you ungrateful jerks.
You should be ashamed of yourself.

AIG Bonuses the Object of Misplaced Outrage

How many people were making decisions about what AIGFP did, and how many were just doing their job? Those executives who decided to do this business should have already been replaced by Liddy (who is, after all, a replacement himself). Those employees who were just effectively executing corporate policy should be paid to unwind the business at whatever the rate is. But those employees should not be vilified for just doing their job, even if their job was highly compensated. Anger over pay packages is recklessly risking $173B in taxpayer money, and is being arbitrarily focused on people who were not necessarily the decision-makers.

The AIG Bonuses and Selective Vilification

Odysseus is right on target here. As a government of the people, we have totally fallen down in demanding competent government. The incompetence of Congress and the Bush administration in particular led directly to where we are today. No one should be shocked that when we allow a system where financial experts can privatize gains and socialize losses, they will do so. We bought this bailout through years of incompetent self-government. We The People govern these United States, and it's time for us to look in the mirror.
Second, Liddy should make clear to the public that he came on board in Oct 2008 and that the prior chief executive has already been fired. I don't think this is widely understood.
Third, Liddy should replace all senior executives at AIGFP with new people, whatever the cost. The public needs competent traders and executives at AIGFP to wind in down without blowing an extra couple of hundred billion dollars, but everyone who was in an executive decision-making capacity at AIGFP should already have been fired. It may cost twice as much to bring in someone new, but at least the someone new won't be personally culpable for the failure.
Fourth, Liddy should make clear that all hold-over AIGFP employees were not in a decision-making capacity. Rather, they were just doing their job and implementing corporate policy put in place by former executives that are now gone. These people should not be blamed for higher-up decisions. Right now they are all being tarred with a very broad brush. Furthermore, these people will need to be compensated, or new people will have to be hired. This will be expensive, because AIGFP is being wound down, and no competent traders are looking for a 3 month job at $50K.
If the public is going to own stock in a company, it needs to hire a CEO that it trusts, and then support him in his or her decisions. Otherwise, we are only crapping on our own doorstep during the Open House. Let's not kick away $173B just to enjoy some populist rhetoric.

The AIG Bailout: Why Was the Onus Placed on Taxpayers?

First, taxpayers got equity. If we don't screw it up, we'll make money on the deal.
Second, the citizens of this country ultimately run this country - it's called a democracy - and for the last 8+ years we did a pretty crappy job of it. We need to vote in mature adult responsible leadership who will (a) regulate the financial system to ensure companies don't write checks that their ass can't cash, and (b) use the Sherman act to prevent companies from becoming so big that their failure presents a systemic risk.
To expect wall street to not take advantage of opportunities to privatize profits and socialize wealth is to expect more from them than any of us expect from ourselves. This is why regulation is important.
You wouldn't leave your cash on the sidewalk outside and then call the cops when it's gone, would you?

Not a Day to Dive Back In

You're missing it. The market, particularly the banks and insurers, are oversold. If you think the banks are going to all blow up, take you cash and buy torches, pitchforks, guns and a tanker-truck full of gasoline. Otherwise, put your money back to work.