Atlas Insurance Group, Part 6

Here is something that is becoming increasingly rare - somebody standing up for themselves:

Dear A.I.G., I Quit!

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

Th writer is able to go out with his head held high ecause he believes he has done nothing wrong and has been ill-used by his bosses and his ostensible political leaders.

Ultimaltely, AIG's non-felonious employees are suffering for the sins of a razzle-dazzle group that has apparently been allowed to leave AIG quietly and, so far, retain their "earnings" from the last few years, leaving others to clean up their mess and face a full frontal assault from statist Dems and their media allies. That is a basic fraying of the social contract that canno tbe repaired without prosecutions and public exposure of the wrong-doers, and a show of restraint and respect for law from our elites. Neither of these options appear to be on the table.

The problem with the AIG bailout has been the utter lack of transparency. Until last week the $170 billion bailout had barely been spoken of, as AIG, the government, and the media engaged in a seeming conspiracy of silence to obfuscate and hide the truth of what was happening there.

The letter writer speaks of working 14 hour days to help AIG. Have you ever had a sense that this was happening? I haven't. After 9/11, there was a very publci display of flags and workers at the disaster sites. There has been no such display by AIG. No one really knows what's going on there, or at its counter-parties. In an atmosphere like that, of course a bonus payment - even if deserved - would look bad.

I have no idea what the writer's political associations are. It could be he's non-political. Then, again he makes an effort to emphasize his humble "son of two teachers," "mill town" roots, which makes him sound like a Democrat. If he is, he has undoubtedly marinated in tales of "stupid" Republicans," and the like. For people who like to think of themselves as liberal, I hope the last 8 weeks have been educational. Their preferred leaders have revealed themselves to be little more than disingenuous statist authoritarians, prone to panic and punitive acts to salve their left-wing base. Whatever rising tide of anger is out there, don't call it "populist." Call it a revolt of the productive class against those who have abused it.