Robert Benmosche, the CEO of AIG had this to say…
“All of the states where we’re a leader, where we’re the No. 1 insurer, are red states, all of the states where we’re at the bottom are blue states,” Benmosche, 66, said yesterday at a conference in Washington. “Part of what we found out is that our model is about culture and it’s about the attitude in the public. And what we find is where there’s more of a tendency for people to be more liberal, more that the government is responsible for what happens to me.”
Of course, of the states hardest hit by the recession and housing bust, only CA is reliably a blue state. Arizona… well, I think we all know how they roll. Even in blue state CA, two of the areas hardest hit are strongly Republican, the Inland Empire region and Orange County, home to many Olive Gardens and I’m relatively certain a large number of losses for AIG. Investors in AIG need to be SERIOUSLY concerned by someone running the company who is apparently making business decisions based on ideology not economic reality. That’s a problem because that’s exactly how we got in this mess. In 2004 SEC Commissioner Cox arbitrarily decided to effectively let the investment banks self regulate because ‘the free market is always best’. Look how well that turned out. In less than four years, they were self destructing.
Also, there is absolutely ZERO chance I will ever send another piece of business over to AIG’s United Guaranty mortgage insurance unit. In fact, I’m going to drive EVERY SINGLE CLIENT to use MGIC or another competitor.
Let’s also not forget that were it not for Big Government, AIG would not exist. Neither would Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
Forget the fact that Benmosche, in his short sighted drive to pay back the government as quickly as possible, has seriously crippled AIG long term. Focus, instead, on his irredeemable stupidity and desire to use people who’ve helped him as a punching bag as often as possible.
The last word goes to VT Senator Bernie Sanders…
“If AIG, whose reckless behavior resulted in a $182 billion taxpayer bailout, prefers to do business in Republican states, then the next time they go bankrupt, I hope they don’t ask taxpayers in Vermont and other Democratic-leaning states for another bailout,” Senator Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent, said today.
In related news of the Stupid and Right Wing, Tom Pawlenty has completely forgotten the necessity of the bailouts he himself supported. If the Tea Party folks support him, they deserve scorn and complete disrespect. I can stomach someone who disagrees with me but I can’t stomach pandering, opportunism and conveniently forgetting the past necessity of certain actions which the uninformed now think were a mistake.
If Pawlenty was any kind of man, he’d get up in front of these people and explain his position. Instead, he’s opting for the rewrite. What a coward.