AIG Bailout, Bonuses, and Business As Usual

I've been trying to follow the latest events on the bonus debacle with AIG and our Treasury Department. With each new update, I try to glean accurate information and form an opinion that isn't based on utter rage. No luck there.

I really don't understand how AIG executives can accept these tax-payer provided bonuses and not feel a twinge of embarrassment. Oh, yea, I forgot, these guys are greedy pigs - they don't know how to feel shame.

My understanding of the purpose of a bonus is to reward an executive for doing a good job. For instance, if the company makes greater than X% profit for the year, you get a portion of it. That makes sense - reward for a good job.

Now these yahoos nearly drove the company into the ground and they are being rewarded for it! If we are rewarding incompetence, then sign me up to run GM or Chrysler. I'll be the first to tell you I haven't the faintest idea how to run any sized company, so it's a sure bet that I will make a mess of it. Make my bazillion dollar bonus check payable to me, Elizabeth Alexander, thank you.

If It Worked Before . . .

We all have had the economy on our minds these days. President Obama's stimulus package is getting a lot of scrutiny and debate. While all these financial wizards and economists are crunching numbers for our future, I've been doing a little examining of our economic situation as well.

Sadly, massive layoffs and store closures are still on the rise. With this bleak picture, what can we do? I think our reliance on the big box stores has become a mistake. Sure, the bigger stores can give us deeper discounts because they can buy in volume. That's an economic no-brainer. Trouble is, when these big box stores came into our everyday lives, the smaller Mom & Pop stores went belly-up. The table has turned and now the big boxes can't stay afloat. Maybe this is a good time for us, since quite a few of us are unemployed anyway, to consider starting a small business. I'm not sure if President Obama's stimulus plan will provide much help in this area, but it might be worth thinking about.

The small business doesn't have to be anything fancy - a deli, an ice cream shop, a hardware store, whatever. The market niche could be anything - personalized and knowledgeable customer service, down home cooking, reasonable prices, or reliability.

I think we as a nation need to get back to the basics the way our ancestors got by. Home Depot wasn't around 50 years ago, Walmart wasn't even a thought 100 years ago, and Microsoft was not heard of 40 years ago. Small businesses built this country, and I believe we can do it again if we just pull together. Think creatively and talk to your neighbors, your city hall representatives, and other small business owners. A small business may not be able to employ 7,000 people, but it could employ a few as the business grows.

Spending time developing your own business beats out sitting around wondering how you are going to meet your mortgage or rent now that you have lost your job.