U.S. government bails out AIG with $85 billion loan

And the world is safe again...BUT FOR HOW LONG?!!!!111

I bet they pay the CEO a cool $100M.

Onward to 1Trillion bailout it seems. -Who needs a handout next?

"A billion here, a billion there, sooner or later it adds up to real money." Senator Everett Dirksen

lets go republican leadership/// 4 more years, hell why not 8 12 15 maybe then we would be pulling ourselves out from being a third world country.

lets go republican leadership/// 4 more years, hell why not 8 12 15 maybe then we would be pulling ourselves out from being a third world country.

Are you unaware that Democrats control both the House and Senate?

Mark McCracken,

Only for the past two years. The problems we face are because of the Bush administration. They started with his first term in office. Ralph Nader predicted it back in 2004. It is just now we are feeling the affects. Bush hoped he would be out of office before this happen so he could not be blamed for it. Most of the problems we have been facing has been due to his decisions which benefit only him and his inner circle.

jwills79.....you are saying????

First of all, I'm not a Bush fan at all. But blaming him for the financial crisis we see in the US now is wide of the mark. For example Lehman. They played a risky game. They financed assets worth of 600 billion, while they only had 30 billion of equity. But, they lost the game. Own fault. Not GW's!!

Only for the past two years. The problems we face are because of the Bush administration.

But blaming him for the financial crisis we see in the US now is wide of the mark.

Here is the real true, not enough so called Americans buying AMERICAN (i.e. Made in the USA, U.S.A) Back in the history, american's actually purchased american made products. Not because is was cheap but because in was AMERICAN. The more we buy U.S.A, the better the dollar will be. The more we buy OTHER THEN U.S.A, the lower the dollar.

The more we buy U.S.A, the better the dollar will be. The more we buy >OTHER THEN U.S.A, the lower the dollar.

This isn't the result of a weak US dollar.

nope, it's the result of greed in the financial markets that the government had little or no control over. The only arguement is that the result of not bailing out AIG would have been worse than the bailout. I, for one, would like to see the leadership of AIG stripped of their positions and perks the way the heads of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac were. The AIG shareholders also need to be punished by having their stock declared worthless. The only way to keep this from happening again is to let the greedy get their collective noses rubbed in it.

In America, health care for all citizens is labeled "socialist" but bailing out private firms that have gone bust through incompetent management decisions is just fine.

These people don't get it.

While I agree that shoring up AIG is needed, its a very slippery slope the government is dealing with. This could very easily go the wrong way. And quick.

Are you unaware that Democrats control both the House and Senate?

And are you aware that the Republicans controlled the House and Senate from 1994-2006, and on top of that also have been in control of the White House since January 2001? Not that it makes much of a difference, because both major political parties in the US, like the LDP and DPJ in Japan, are under the control of the large corporate entities the members of whose management are the major donors to political parties and campaigns.

The AIG shareholders also need to be punished by having their stock declared worthless. The only way to keep this from happening again is to let the greedy get their collective noses rubbed in it.

In theory, this would be a good idea. However, almost 74% of AIG's shares are owned by financial institutions and mutual funds. Many of their shares, in turn, are owned by pension plans. That's why the government decided it couldn't allow AIG to fail.

the problem is this and is that. Well the problems I read that arte listed is not one that is responsible.. How about all of the above and then some. Want to talk unbalanced trade practices, instead of US citizens getting up in the morning going to jobs to make our produces we have more and more Chinese getting up in the mornings going to work to make our goods. While Beijing worries over an overheated economy we are worried about recession. And we wonder what has happened to our growth…. Why everyone is loosing everything even their homes. What is a point no one makes is that these people were paying on their loans fine when approved. They want to talk about risky mortgages and all of that, but what has changed between then is now is the same money not going as far as energy prices went out of control and those making mortgage p[payments , making the same money has not enough now, since the price of everything has doubled and tripled in price and these people are making no more money , Blame it on the people and loans,, I blame it on the out of control rise in everything across the board. Or the continuing job losses where all are jobs and production is allowed to go overseas at will and no limits on them shipping these items back made by the hands of others. The US system has gone directly to the dogs.. Actually gave to the dogs (large corporations) Now the ripple effects keep coming in, Everyone is going bust!

In theory, this would be a good idea. However, almost 74% of AIG's shares are owned by financial institutions and mutual funds. Many of their shares, in turn, are owned by pension plans. That's why the government decided it couldn't allow AIG to fail.

Thats not why AIG wasn't allowed to fail. AIG insures more banks worldwide then anyone else. It has more arms, then you can imagine, and shares of businesses all over the place. It has nothing to do with shares of stock. In fact, the value of that stock just dropped to nearly nothing. The US Government in saving AIG essentially forced it to issue it 80% of the company. Meaning the current stockholders had their stock diluted immensely.

TonyUS,

You are being a bit hysterical in your reaction. Things are not nearly as bad as you're suggesting. And the US system works, still. The biggest problem was the subprime mortages, which no matter how you look at it, were a mistake. And giving them out to everyone...

The Democrats are to blame. Their socialist/liberal policies, based in the teachings of Mao Tse Tung, have destroyed America. Bush has spent the past 8 years trying to fix America, but the DemocRAT/socialist damage has been too great.

Hahaha democrats are to blame.. let's go back 10 14 years ago and blame it on them.. I find those words by the extremist republicans very laughable,, just like the extremist Dems would sayClinton had no part of the economic booms with China and the huge trade imbalance with them and BUsh pushing it even further.. But hey. I hear this crap from many die hards. Want to blame today's situation on one period of time and one person a decade ago. hahaha Funny thing is Bush has let it get to the melt down we see today.. You know ""today"" ridsr??? plus the last eight years getting us to this point of "today" unbelieveable