Its a freaking charade wıth AIG - they are bankrupt and the things happening behind the noise

I do not see any legal complication in this matter as a bankrupt company can not pay by definition and if not those silly payments would have been made to AIG they could not pay anyway one cent. That they lost close over 100 bil. with those derivatives (CDS) is very troubling and that tax money was used to settle the claims of other investment houses who used that to pay bonus makes it even more weird. Just to put it into proportion Wallstreet lost more money in one year than they made in decades - so basically all bonus of those years need to be returned as many bonuses especially after 2003 were fabricated as were the markets.

Many corporations buying back their own stocks at the highs are selling them now at the lows and wallstreet advised them in both cases and takes hefty commissions as well but still produces losses. You see where I am getting to this whole Wallstreet thing is mostly a rip off scheme of totally overrated 'talent' - and it covers the things behind the scenes as some people manipulate markets big time and make big money for insiders. That's an issue no one speaks off but those trading floors are basically a camouflage for a lot of illegal insider action. Goldman is one of the leading forces behind all this activity as they made some trades which were amazingly well timed to say the least. Martin Armstrong the famous cycle developer who sits in jail because he would not sell his model to the CIA and the fact that he was invited to the Insider circle a few times and his rejections are part of the reason he was in jail for 7 years without a trial ( that is unique by itself). The Rothschild boys work on many levels and some are covered up by official entities as some Hedge funds are their outlets and execution arms for public visible trades as they can not hide every move ( thats a thesis and not easy to prove ) but still very obvious for people who follow the markets. That's why it was essential to have the people on the right spots as the markets turned which they were aware off. It was crucial though that Goldman and some others were paid out on their hedges or they would have been crashed as well and Secretary Paulson from Goldman made that possible which was very convinient but not by accident.

Excerpt

AIG Bonuses May Face an Excise Tax From ‘Outraged’ Senators

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc.’s $165 million in executive bonuses may face “the highest excise tax” possible as Senate leaders including Harry Reid and Christopher Dodd seek to recover the money for taxpayers.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said he may impose the biggest excise tax sustainable in court on bonuses paid to employees after AIG took four taxpayer funded bailouts totaling $173 billion.

“The American people are outraged, and I am as well,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said during a hearing today in Washington. “One way or another, we’re going to figure out a way to get these resources back.”

Dodd said he wants the Federal Reserve, which is overseeing AIG’s bailout, to explain how it will resolve the situation. New York-based AIG, whose fourth-quarter net loss was the worst in corporate history, has been targeted by lawmakers for continuing to pay bonuses, including to employees in the unit that sold the credit-default swaps that contributed to the company’s collapse.

“I would recommend they give back those bonuses,” Senate Majority Leader Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said on the Senate floor today. “We as a Congress are not defenseless.”

Baucus’s proposal “will certainly send a message to the people at AIG, and all others who try to benefit from the hardships the American people face,” Reid said.

“What’s the highest tax we can impose on those bonuses that is sustainable in court?” Baucus asked Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman at a committee hearing in Washington.

“I share your outrage,” Shulman responded.

‘Serious Questions’

Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a speech on the Senate floor that he was sending a letter to AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy asking executives to return the bonuses to their “rightful owner.” He said if the money isn’t refunded, Congress will pass laws to “tax these bonuses at a very high rate.”

Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said the AIG bonus payout “smacks of greed, arrogance and worse.”