The Jake DeSantis piece in the New York Times was remarkable and an act of civic decency. NY AG Cuomo and CT AG Blumenthal whisper to AIG workers: give back your bonus or we will publicize your names. Hmmmm, an offer you can’t refuse. The threat is implicit: keep what you’ve earned and we will make sure the mob knows where you live, where your kids are, where your wife is…
Well, most people can’t refuse such an offer. Mudball tactics like this bully most into submission. Witness AIG CEO Ed Liddy’s craven response to throw his people in front of the mob. But DeSantis told the blackmailers: publish and be damned. He “outed” himself, he took control, he stood up and claimed his right to keep what he earned even in the face of intimidation. And he announced his intention to dispose of his property — the fruits of his labor — as he saw fit. Unfortunately, he also announced he was leaving the employ of AIG, yet another talented person forced out of service because of government ineptitude and class envy used by politicians as fuel for their vaulting ambition. The taxpayer-owners of AIG are the poorer for it.
4 responses so far
1 sinz54 // Mar 27, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I agree.
Regardless of what you think of AIG or their acceptance of Federal bailout money, for our elected officials to threaten to publicize their names (which may lead to death threats from nutcases against them) to blackmail them in relinquishing their bonuses is utterly shameful.
We should be ashamed to have government officials representing us, who regard blackmail and extortion as legitimate tools of governing.
2 FakirsCA // Mar 28, 2009 at 4:08 am
Don’t you Americans have privacy laws?
Also, what’s the state of your administrative law? I am sure Cuomo is going outside his jurisdictional powers by threatening to release those names – his decision should be open to challenge in federal court – and don’t you have ombudsmen who can review government employees’ decsions?
Re Liddy: It sounds to me like he exemplifies the old saying: “Fish start to stink at the head.”
Marnie Tunay
http://fakirscanada.googlepages.com/
3 Bulldoglover100 // Mar 28, 2009 at 9:16 am
Fence sitting on this one. I’ll apologize now so I do not have to later but I can see both sides to this issue.
As a tax payer? I am sickened at what it ‘Costs” to apparently maintain talent at AIG and so many other Wall Street companies…..as an intelligent person I KNOW that there are thousands of people who CAN do their jobs….and would for a smidgen of the cost. I look at some of the graduates coming out of OU, just to name one college, and these kids are so sharp and up tp date……so the story line that these people MUST, at any cost, be retained is just so much Bull to me and to millions of Americans……more of the Republican pablum they have tried to feed the public which have removed them from power for the same Bull on different days……I do not however agree with how the government is attempting to right their own mistake…….BUT it must be righted because I for one don’t agree with it and the public MUST be the last word or we as a nation are lost….and no matter what party you belong to or support, it must always be the public’s opinion that matters.
I felt for DeSantis and while he may donate the money? LOL How many others do you really think would do the same? You cannot use him as a yard stick no matter how tempting it would be to do so………In the end I don’t really care how we get the money back. It is tax payer money paid at a rate that is sickening. No one is THAT talented, sorry they just aren’t..
4 sinz54 // Mar 29, 2009 at 7:38 am
FakirsCA: Your name is not subject to privacy laws. The right to privacy does not include a right to be anonymous.
If it did, that would destroy the tax system, and would also destroy America’s ability to fight terrorism.
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