As you can see only a tiny fraction of the money that AIG received was handed out as bonuses. Now what is the truth about these bonuses? They were given to the people who caused this problem in the first place. These people probably shouldn’t be getting bonuses but it was in their contracts. The contracts are legally binding and if they aren’t paid the bonuses, they’ll sue and get more money.

Geithner and everyone else in Washington D.C. knew about the bonuses before they happened. How did they know? On March 3, Representative Joseph Crowley (D) of New York asked what could be done to stop these bonuses from being paid.

Now people are blaming Edward Liddy. Edward Liddy was not the CEO of AIG when these contracts were negotiating. Edward Liddy is working for $1 dollar a year in an effort to help solve the problem. Edward Liddy has asked people to return the bonuses. Why is it, that people are attacking Edward Liddy? For the simple fact that he won’t give out the names of the people who received the bonuses because they have been receiving death threats. Edward Liddy has done three things. Took a huge pay cut, asked for people to return bonuses, and protected people from the angry and possibly violent public, and how does he get repaid? By the government throwing all blame on him and going out of their way to offend him.

Who is really responsible for these payouts? The simple answer is congress. Senator Chris Dodd (D) of Connecticut placed wording into the bill that stated that bonuses would still be paid. How could congress pass this and then be shocked that it took place? The reason is because no one in congress took the time to even attempt to read the bill. They all voted for without even knowing what was in it.

This proves that the old saying, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers,” as another lie we were told growing up. Our government needs to learn to read what they are voting on, before they do so.

So who is to blame for the AIG bonuses? You decide.