Maria Benito, journalist

A tomato-against AIG

I do not know if you remember the war snowballs against the banks ... well, now a group called Democracy in Action MoveOn has launched a similar initiative, but virtual. It consists of a website through which anyone can undertake it against AIG and express your anger because the executives of the insurer, which had to be rescued by the government to avoid bankruptcy, have collected millions in bonuses. "It takes time," says a co-worker to devote himself to do these things. Or be very angry ... I think. The fact is that as they are pulling tomatoes from a photo of a building of AIG, the website will give details. Thus, when tomatoes have released 40 inform us that this is the number of billions that AIG received in November ...

MoveOn aims to cover the image of the entrance to the headquarters of AIG with virtual tomatoes 6.4 million, a figure that matches the dollar amount of the higher premium paid by the insurer to one of its executives. The issue has become a scandal and takes several days to the fore in the media around the world, is what the information society is ... another day perhaps reflect on this. In any case, I think that the initiative does not outweigh the anecdotal and it is true, we must take time to do that, but not bad report certain situations. The government is using taxpayer money to save certain institutions and companies, until then fine, but these funds should not be converted into raw finish some executives who obviously have not done as well as they could have.

To contextualize: up to 73 executives of American International Group (AIG) , eleven of whom no longer work for the company, received more than a million dollars each after the company had to be rescued in September 2008 with a disbursed national of 170,000 million dollars, bringing the U.S. government has made almost 80% stake in the company.

One of the executives received a "bonus" of $ 6.4 million, the seven largest recipients were made with premiums of more than four million and among the ten biggest beneficiaries were distributed 42 million dollars. In addition, 22 executives perceive more than two million dollars each.

On Wednesday March 18, learned the news that AIG CEO Edward Liddy, considered "bad taste" of 165 million dollars in bonuses the firm distributed among its executives, but defended his deal because the company was "tied "legally: premiums had been signed in contracts over a year old.

A few days ago got another news media: nine out of ten executives of insurer American International Group who received the higher premiums of the company and have returned the money obtained in view of the controversy raised, according to the attorney general of New York, Andrew Cuomo. It's only 63 ...