[Quote:]

American International Group Inc. employees unwinding the insurer’s derivatives may leave in March if they don’t get their promised retention bonuses, said a lawyer representing some of the workers.

Staff in the Financial Products unit may depart if the company, under pressure from regulators, doesn’t pay the $198 million it previously committed, Andrew Goodstadt, a partner at Thompson Wigdor & Gilly LLP, said today in an interview. There will also be “instant litigation” against New York-based AIG if the awards aren’t sent, he said.

Yeah, sure, there are still good smart people working at AIG, and those may deserve a bonus if they perform well. Are these guys part of that group?

Financial Products, the unit blamed for pushing the company to the brink of collapse with bets on subprime home loans. Remaining employees are now working to reduce the number of derivative trades as AIG sells assets to repay loans included in its $182.3 billion bailout.

So, these are the guys mopping up their own mistakes, and they want a bonus for cleaning up their own garbage.

I’d say let them resign. Fuck ‘m. I’m sure there are some burgers that need flipping.

And how’s the rest of AIG doing? Well….

[Quote:]

Middlesboro and Clinton are two tiny, impoverished towns in southern Kentucky with a combined population of 12,000. In 2008, Middlesboro’s per capita income was $13,189 a year, only a few hundred dollars more than the average worker earned in third-world Mexico. That is if they were lucky to even get a job. Real unemployment hovers somewhere around 30%, and the state is so broke that half the people eligible for unemployment benefits can’t receive them. Life may be tough and most people live in poverty, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be made a little poorer. That’s the lesson locals learned after bailed-out insurance villain AIG took over their water utility and instantly raised rates to squeeze an extra $1 million in profits out of its new customers, forcing some to consider choosing between running water and food.

[..]

Residents had been getting their water bills like clockwork for as long as anyone could remember, but confusion and disorder set in as soon as Utilities rolled out its new and improved billing system. Monthly statements started coming late or didn’t come in for months at a time. People were double-billed and double-penalized for bills that never arrived. One month, a bill would include sewer fees, the next month it wouldn’t—and you’d be charged if didn’t catch the omission. It’s obvious the new invoice system was designed for pure harassment, creating chaos and reaping the rewards of the late fees it generated.