Don't blame AIG

As the US public collectively collects its breath from all the huffing and puffing over the news that AIG was giving bonuses to the same executives that dragged the company into the ground, bringing along the US economy with it, it's important to remember who is tresponsible in this mess.

For the most part in this country, companies follow the law. Whether its labor laws, tax laws or "Hey, you shouldn't pay women less than men" laws. They do so because generally its more cost efficient to follow the law rather than try to make a buck or two breaking the law. Sure there are the occasions when companies try to skirt the law, like with the cases when Wal-Mart was forcing employees to work off the clock or industrial companies trying to get around environmental laws. But for the most part, following laws saves companies more money than they would make by breaking them. 

So when a company does something that pisses you off, that you think is unfair and unjust, blame the folks who make the laws. In following the laws, companies will just do the bare minimum to get by - i.e. minimum wage, insurance and privacy rights. So, when AIG decided to pay out these bonuses, the law was on its side. They had the right. I have found that when companies are accused of wrongdoing, there is a law protecting them from their actions. Companies are not going to do anything more than they are legally obligated to, they should but there is no bottomline incentive. 

Laws in this country so heavily company/business/corporate friendly. Companies hire armies of lobbysts and lawyers to ensure that the law is on their side. It's not fair, but do you expect anything less from our elected officials? 

Now, we could try to pinpoint the blame on the White House for not foreseeing said bonuses and denying companies who received bailout money to pay them or Congress, who approved loopholes, giving companies AIG the legal way to allocate these bonuses. 

I have to admit that I too got caught up in the ire over the bonuses but after I cooled off and reminded myself that the $164 million or so represented less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the total bailout money AIG has received. But I'm not so sure all this rage is constructive toward the bigger picture - fixing this economy. I can't even start on how we do that.