One from the Care2 Campaign, the other from MoveOn. MCM
<http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldZ/zjyO/Nw2X> Dear Mark, In a grotesque misuse of public bailout funds, the American International Group Inc. (AIG) moved forward with $165 million in bonuses to corporate executives, even though they supposedly needed $170 billion in federal bailout money to keep the company afloat. It's simply outrageous. The U.S. unemployment rate is at 8.1%, yet AIG's corporate executives are receiving lavish bonuses and keeping their jobs after their company has been crippled beyond self-repair. <http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldZ/zjyO/Nw2X>Tell U.S. Secretary Geithner to block the AIG bonuses and hold those who are responsible for AIG's failures accountable » Had AIG been forced into chapter 11 bankruptcy or been liquidated due to the company's failures - as it clearly would have without government aid - no corporate executive would have received a bonus. They wouldn't even have a job. We need our government to stand up for American taxpayers and stop the excesses of Wall Street - it's time that AIG be held accountable for the money you are paying to prop them up. <http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldZ/zjyO/Nw2X>Speak out against the excesses and extravagance of AIG's corporate bonuses » Take action link: <http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldZ/zjyO/Nw2X>http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldZ/zjyO/Nw2X And once you've taken action, urge your friends to do the same. <http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldz/zjyO/Nw2X> Tell-a-friend: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFldz/zjyO/Nw2X Sincerely, Natasha Care2 Campaign Team >From MoveOn: The people at AIG who are most responsible for the severity of the financial crisis should be in jail. But instead, they're slated to get $450 million in bonuses. Unbelievable, right? I signed a petition urging Secretary Geithner and Congress to do whatever it takes to cancel these bonuses. Can you join me at the link below? <http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?r_by=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&rc=paste>http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?r_by=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&rc=paste Thanks! From: Daniel Mintz, MoveOn.org Political Action [mailto:[email protected]] Click here to add your name: <http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=1>"Under no circumstances should the AIG executives who helped create the financial crisis receive bonuses. That's our money and you should do whatever it takes to get it back." <http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=2> Sign the petition Dear MoveOn member, If you had to find one single group of people to blame for our economic crisis, you'd definitely have to consider the financial products division of AIG. They made huge, bad bets on the housing market that have cost taxpayers $170 billion...so far.1 But get this: The Washington Post just reported that these people are receiving $450 million in bonuses-and they got their first installment on Sunday.2 They destroyed our economy, and now they're being rewarded for it with our bailout money! President Obama has instructed Treasury Secretary Geithner to use "every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole." But AIG isn't budging-they claim that even after hundreds of billions of dollars and a direct request from the President, their "hands are tied."3 We need to turn up the heat. Tomorrow, AIG's executives are appearing before a House subcommittee, and we've got a chance to give them a piece of our minds. Can you sign our petition and submit a question for the heads of AIG? Or better yet, an idea for how we should get our money back? If you do before 5 p.m. ET today, we'll make sure it gets to the committee in time for tomorrow's hearing. Click below to add your name and submit your comment. <http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=3>http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=3 After you sign, please forward this to friends and family to make sure the outcry is impossible to ignore. The petition says: "Under no circumstances should the AIG executives who helped create the financial crisis receive bonuses. That's our money and you should do whatever it takes to get it back." The government may need to get creative to recover these bonuses, but where there's a will, there's a way. Secretary Geithner already shamed AIG into reducing the bonuses they planned on paying out. But seven executives in the financial products division still received bonuses of more than $3 million each. These people wrote literally trillions of dollars in insurance contracts-those infamous credit default swaps-that they could never hope to cover. And they're getting huge bonuses for perpetrating this fraud. AIG's main defense is that they have to honor the contracts with these employees. But let's be clear: AIG would be bankrupt and these folks would already have been laid off if it weren't for the government's massive infusion of money. The big car companies took far less taxpayer money, and they're modifying their contracts with autoworkers. AIG should do the same with its employees.4 Geithner and Congress need to do whatever it takes to recover that money. Wall Street has proven over and over that it's incapable of policing itself. So our elected representatives need to. Sign the petition below and submit a question or comment and we'll make sure the committee that will be grilling AIG's executives gets it in time for tomorrow's hearing. Click here to add your name and submit your comment: <http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=4>http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=4 Thanks for all you do. -Daniel, Eli, Peter, Tanya and the rest of the team P.S. Our friends at SEIU and ACORN are holding over 100 rallies nationwide on Thursday against the corporate excesses that got us into this mess. You can find a rally to attend near you at <http://takebacktheeconomy.org/>http://takebacktheeconomy.org/ Sources: 1. "A.I.G. Reveals Biggest Beneficiaries of Its Rescue," The New York Times, March 15, 2009 <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51236&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=5>http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51236&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=5 2. "Bailout King AIG to Pay Millions in Bonuses," The Washington Post, March 15, 2009 <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51235&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=6>http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51235&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=6 3. "Widespread Backlash Over AIG Bonuses," ABC News, March 15, 2009 <http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7087396&page=1>http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7087396&page=1 4. "UAW says it has deal on contract concessions," The Associated Press, February 17, 2009 <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51237&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=7>http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51237&id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=7 Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members-no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. <http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=15751-2839178-9mvOtWx&t=8>Chip in here. PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Pam Miles on March 17, 2009. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
