Lösungen

THE BUCK STOPS…NOWHERE:

Edward Liddy, CEO of AIG, thinking about what there is to think about.

Edward Liddy, CEO of AIG is rumored to testify on Wednesday at a U.S. congressional hearing on the bailout of the troubled insurer. Gee, it’s about time, don’t ya think?

No word on whether or not this one is going to be televised, but if even on pay-per-view, sign me up. Aside from the obvious questions about bonus pay and such, I really just want to hear what this guy has been doing since taking the “helm” of this barge, way back in June, 2008.

Separately, at a press conference yesterday in the White House East Room, in decrying the misdeeds AIG, President Barack Obama attempted a really lame joke:

“Excuse me,” he said Monday, after coughing into the microphone. “I am choked up with anger here.”

There is nothing remotely funny here, and this, do nothing, “I’m just as upset as you” attitude from Mr. Obama is an unnecessary waste of copious amounts of both time and money.

Let’s get clear on this. If the numbers from the government are to be believed, AIG has been bailed out three times thus far for $180 billion. The “deal” sold to the taxpayers, was to replace the AIG CEO with Liddy, and take a preferred ownership of 80% of firm’s equity. Liddy’s job was to, at a bear-bones minimum, protect the taxpayer’s “investment,” and hopefully make us a buck or two.

Ensuring the taxpayers interest at Insuror AIG's HQ in NYC

When you get a “clean-up” job like this, the first order of business is to find out what where the “dogs” are hiding, to avoid getting twice-bitten. It’s just that simple, and if this task is too grand, then you go get a new “dog catcher.” Mr. Obama – do something – this solvable problem is running ahead of what you were elected to do, and people are taking notice.

Edward Liddy, for whatever reason, is not doing his job. Perhaps he’s lost interest since dropping his million dollar salary down to a buck, but he’s no turnip when it comes to running a business.

Liddy is currently on the board of 3M and The Kroger Company. Prior to taking the AIG gig, Liddy had to resign his board position at Goldman Sachs to avoid conflicts in what is now becoming and yet, another taxpayer fed money eating, double-dipping “counterparty” dog to bite our AIG.

Liddy is also the former chairman, president, and CEO of Allstate Insurance. Before Allstate, he held the position of chief financial officer of G.D. Searle & Company, where former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held the CEO position. Additionally, he has recently become a partner at the private equity firm of  Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which he joined in 2008. Educated at and with a degree from Catholic University of America, he also holds an MBA from George Washington University.

Suffice to say, the insurance business is not “over his head” or pay grade, so the question remains – what exactly has Mr. Liddy been doing at AIG since June 2008? If not too late already, maybe somebody will “man-up” and give us some answers – we deserve, and should settle for no less.

A man waits for...something. At the back door of AIG in NYC

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under Losungen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.