Local Residents Say AIG Bonuses Are Wrong

Edward Libby, Chief Executive Officer of insurance giant AIG, acknowledged to Congress Wednesday that many Americans were angry about the company's recent multibillion bonuses to employees.

Testifying under oath at a congressional hearing, Liddy added he has appealed to employees to voluntarily return at least half of the $165 million and that some workers already have stepped forward to give money back.

The federal government now owns 80 percent of American International Group Inc. after the $170 billion bailout it provided the company last year.

Local residents shared the national outcry over the bonus flap.

"I'll be polite," said Barbara Guthrie, who was sitting with a group of friends at Lakeshore Mall on Wednesday. "Everyone else needs to sacrifice. They should sacrifice, too. They shouldn't have monetary compensation."

AIG is under fire for $220 million in retention bonuses paid to its financial products employees - $55 million in December and the rest over the weekend. Some $170 billion in tax money has been pledged to the insurance conglomerate.

According to Liddy, the payouts were contractually mandated - designed to keep employees from leaving the firm's financial products division, the sector under fire for much of the business that crippled the company.

Liddy said that the retention payments, ranging from $1,000 to nearly $6.5 million, were not his idea. He is not getting a bonus and is only drawing $1 a year in salary.

But at least some people from Highlands County said they don't agree with rewarding AIG employees financially for what they believe are mistakes they have made.

After Guthrie talked about how angry she was, her friends began speaking up.

"If I didn't do my job, I wouldn't get paid," said Dolores Sheppard, a year-round Sebring resident.

The women said that contracts made with AIG employees should be revised - even if it meant lawsuits.

"We need to do a better job of setting guidelines," said Mickey Crawley, a resident of Indiana.

"Isn't that the golden parachute?" asked Janet Johnson, year-round Sebring resident.

"Imagine the people living on the streets - what must they think?" Sheppard said.

Bill Kindred, who lives in Lake Placid and was also spending time at the mall, said he agreed with getting the money back even if it meant a lawsuit.

"Their bonuses should not be allowed," Kindred said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.