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"Outrage" is the word of the week.
It is a word used incessantly since news broke that executives of insurance giant AIG would receive $165 million in bonuses even as taxpayers spend $170 billion to bail out the firm. The highly dubious and avaricious dealings of AIG, of course, are at the very core of the financial crisis that is afflicting the entire world.
As Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday, AIG is a company "that made all kinds of unconscionable bets." Indeed, it is outrageous that those corporate gamblers are being rewarded with monetary bonuses. That the very people who got their company and the world into such an untenable mess would be rewarded as usual is the epitome of corporate as well as individual greed. Yes, they deserve the outrage directed their way.
At the same time, let's not overlook the unprecedented gamble undertaken by President Obama and his advisors to pour billions of taxpayer dollars into efforts to stimulate the economy by rescuing firms such as AIG.
While expressing outrage over executive bonuses, Americans should be vigilant in demanding an accounting of the inordinate debt taxpayers are currently accruing. "Outrage" will continue to be a popular word if Mr. Obama's broader stimulus efforts, as approved by Congress, don't succeed.
