NC delegation weighs in on AIG bonuses

We're action packed this week, so some material prepared for print is getting bounced on to the blog. Posting for Keith T. Barber here....

In response to reports that employees of American International Group will be receiving $165 million in performance bonuses, members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation offered harsh criticism of the company’s actions. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan issued a statement March 17 touching on the American public’s response to the failing financial services company using the $170 billion in government bailout money it received to reward its employees. “I share the public’s outrage at their taxpayer dollars being used in this manner. At a time when working families are struggling to make ends meet, this is atrocious use of our money,” Hagan said. A number of senators, including Hagan, demanded AIG give the money back. Rep. Brad Miller, the Democrat who represents North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, joined Hagan’s call to hold AIG executives accountable. “It should be a condition of any future contract with taxpayer money to deny these kinds of bonuses,” Miller said. Rep. Howard Coble, the Republican who represents the 6th Congressional District, said the reason he opposed the second $350 billion payout from the Troubled Assets Relief Program was that it provided no guarantees that taxpayer money wouldn’t end up in schemes such as the bonus payouts issued by AIG.