Legal Commentary

House AIG Hearing

By Big Tent Democrat

AIG CEO Edward Liddy is appearing this morning before a House Banking subcommittee. CNN has a live feed.

Here is Liddy's op ed in today's Washington Post. Here is the part of it that really bothered me:

Although we have wound down more than $1 trillion in the portfolio of the AIG Financial Products unit that is at the root of the company's troubles, there remains substantial risk in that portfolio. The financial downside for taxpayers is potentially very large, and that's why we're winding down this business.

(Emphasis supplied.) "Taxpayers" could walk away from AIG right now and avoid any further direct "downside." The government bailout is not premised on the idea that "taxpayers" needed to protect their "investment" in AIG. AIG has become nothing more than a "backdoor bailout" for other financial institutions. This is unacceptable. That is what I would ask Liddy about.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 18, 2009 (boomark / email).