government bails out aig

starman hit the nail on the head. bailouts for rich guys who will invite you into their golf club = good. personal welfare = bad.

 

ALL government bailouts -- whether they be corporate welfare or personal welfare -- are on the surface harmful.

By eliminating risk, they eliminate responsibility.

When you eliminate responsibility, people aren't held accountable for their actions. The welfare state (personal) has created an underbelly of families without fathers, which has created a sociological problem that is possibly the United States' No. 1 problem. The welfare state (corporate) has created a nation of companies that can make profits (which are good) when things are good, but then need a safety net when things go bad. Yes, if the company goes belly-up, thousands will lose their jobs and thousands more (like me) could get screwed on our managed assets (thankfully, I don't have that much $$ invested through AIG), but we knew the risk and assumed it.

I've said for a long time that Bush is not a conservative, especially fiscally. His low approval ratings aren't just angry Dems upset about the war. They're also angry Republicans upset about the runaway spending and the Fed's loose-money policy (it's those people that pushed John McCain -- a moderate, but a deficit hawk -- to the forefront of the party, despite the wishes of most in the party).

Rush Limbaugh is mad as a hornet about this ... or at least he was in the 90-second update the local radio station plays on my way to work.

 

I wouldn't worry if I were you. I don't think AIG clears its own accounts. Check on your statement. If there is a clearing house at the bottom, like Pershing, then your money is heald elsewhere. [Pershing is owned by the Bank of NY].

If they do clear, the assets are insured by the SIPC for at least 500,000 and usually more, since most firms have a private insurance policy.

That said, your assets - if they are held in stocks - are safe.

If they are held in Mutual Funds, then they are at the fund company. AIG just is the middleman.

I was a broker for 12 years before going into this business, so I hope that helps.

 

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen and Amen.

This kind of welfare, to me, is far more harmful, far more immoral and far more disgusting than any personal welfare program liberals can dream up (and we all know they are good at dreaming them up).

This is just the latest in a series of holes blown in the fallacy otherwise known as "Republicans are fiscally conservative and/or for smaller government"

 

I'm sure the GOP talking point for tomorrow will continue to lay blame on the "two years of a Democratic Congress."

They sure as hell deserve their piece in the pie of blame, but let's not pretend the GOP Congress of 2001-06 was a bunch of do-gooders who tried to keep this flood from happening. I'm sure when the dam finally breaks on this, they'll be fine while the rest of us will be drowning. Heard someone say that no one should be shocked if the Dow takes a 1,000-point header tomorrow. If that's the case, God help us all.

 

Lets see what happens when one of the Big Three (Re: Ford) comes asking for a loan, hat in hand...

 

I agree with many of you about corporate welfare, but let's keep in mind that we could spend $50 billion now and save some jobs, or we could let AIG go to hell and let thousands of people go to the unemployment line.

Not all of these companies employees are rich fat cats. They are clerks, secretaries and other lower five-figure wage earners. There are small businesses that rely on corporations for a good chunk of their revenue. We can't just shrug our shoulders and say sorry. That would be catastrophic.

Yes, businesses have proven we need regulation. Not only that, but we need to back up those regulations with significant punishments for those who can't abide by them. The inmates can't run the asylum, but we can't punish the innocent with the guilty.

 

Let's not forget the insurance policies, which will then go into the hands of the states they are underwritten. For example the state of NY will have to pay out the claims on NY AIG policies according to state law.

 

The bailout isn't about saving jobs at all, but keeping other companies and aspects of the market afloat. Which is probably the scariest thing of all, that the US feels it needs to (or deems it a better option) to spend $50 Billion now than deal with the consequences of not saving AIG.
I think my biggest problem with some of these businesses failing, is that these businesses are involved in so many different things that have nothing to do with their core business. I think most of this is due to CEOs who know "business" but don't really know their company's business. Why AIG is in the ski resort business or is leasing planes I have no idea.
For that matter I don't know why GE is selling everything from military equipment to medical equipment to ad time on The Biggest Loser.
What seems to happen is these companies get so fat on profit and eat up other businesses that when they are on the brink and start choking, they are deemed "too big to fail" putting all Americans at risk.