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AIG has to pay out those troublesome executive retention bonuses, because they are contractually obligated to do so. These bonuses are a fraction of the $170 billion in taxpayer bailout monies that AIG recieved, then turned around and paid out to banks and other 'investment partners, those who suffered most from the financial meltdown.

Now, we hear this great squalling sound coming from Washington D.C.; from Obama, from the House and Senate, and from average Americans who don't understand why we've given money to AIG, just to see it go to..fulfill contractual obligations.

Sorry, folks, that's the way AIG has always been run; it's business, and simply stated the bonus money has to be paid out. It's called a contract; a legal obligation.

There's a great clamor for the Government, for somebody, to do something; to take this money away from these evil AIG employees who obviously don't deserve it.  Obama of the New Telepromptocracy is moving to cancel these bonus, to recall this money. But they can't..

The government agreed to uphold those contracts when it seized control of American International Group in September. It argued that failing to repay the debts of the globally interconnected company could cause catastrophic losses at big international banks, potentially toppling the financial system.

Scrutiny of AIG's dealings with its trading partners comes after revelations over the weekend that the insurer planned to pay out tens of millions in executive bonuses. President Barack Obama on Monday accused AIG of "recklessness and greed." He pledged to try to block the bonuses, which AIG insisted it's contractually obligated to pay.

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Obama's aggressive stance toward the AIG bonuses raises the question of whether the government could also pursue the billions paid to AIG's trading partners. Under growing scrutiny from Congress, AIG on Sunday finally identified those trading partners that indirectly benefited the most from its bailout.

Among the largest recipients, Goldman Sachs received $12.9 billion; Merrill Lynch got $6.8 billion. AIG also funneled billions into foreign banks, including $11.8 billion to Germany's Deutsche Bank and $8.5 billion to Britain's Barclays PLC.

Asked if he'd favor trying to see if those AIG contracts could be broken so the government could recover some of those payouts, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, stopped short of endorsing the idea. But he said "that's something that has to be examined."

Examine this, Barney Frank: why are you still in office, spluttering about with your financial pronouments and desires to fire bonus recipients, when you were so deep in the muck and most likely at the bottoms of the Freddie-Fannie debacles?

Republicans are outraged as well. Senator Chuck Grassley..

"I suggest, you know, obviously maybe they ought to be removed, but I would suggest that the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them [is] if they would follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I'm sorry and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

Come on, Senator, seppuku amongst the Bushido was suicide for the purpose of honor retention. Lose your bowels, retain your honor. There's not much honor surrounding money, really. Or politics.

I'd rather see the Bushido code of honor established in our House and Senate. At least we'd have turnover. And once a politician's honor is lost and The Code upheld, we wouldn't have to hear from those purposeless idiots anymore.

And that would be a good thing.

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