Let's say you're a big insurance company like... oh I don't know, let me just pull one out of thin air... like AIG. Let's say you are AIG circa... 2008 and due to a weakened economy and some very poor business decisions that have left your company gasping for air, you've just received a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars... do you A) put that money back into your company to get it up on its feet again, B) use that influx of cash to buy lottery tickets hoping to hit it big in the Mega-Millions, C) take that government check and head down to the track to play the ponies because you know you can double that money or D) use the taxpayer money to send your executives on a plush and pampered resort weekend to help unburden them from all of those pesky cares and concerns that weigh on their souls. Ahem.

Well, if you're AIG, the correct answer to that question would be "D". Yes, after the first round of bailout money, AIG execs burned nearly half a million dollars... a half a million of OUR tax dollars... at the very plush St. Regis resort in Monarch Bay, California. Nice, huh?

Let's now fast forward to 2009 and the second round of bailout money sought and received by those fine, upstanding folks at AIG. With this round of cash, AIG has now received nearly 200 BILLION taxpayer dollars because of their shady dealings and poor business practices. So... pop quiz time... if you are AIG, and you're receiving tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and you lived through the firestorm ignited by your executive... ahem... "team building" trip to California, do you A) use the bailout money to fix your damn company, B) invest it all in condominium construction on the moon, C) invest it all with the good man in Nigeria whose letter you received assured you that countless millions would soon be flowing your way or D) give more than 150 people in your failing company bonuses that total more than 160 million dollars.

Again, if you're AIG, the correct answer is "D". It seems fairly unbelievable to me... I know it shouldn't... that having taken nearly $200 million in taxpayer dollars to cover for their shady dealings and poor business decisions the brass at AIG thought the best use of some of that money was to give performance and "retention" bonuses, some bonuses of more than a million bucks, to their execs. Seriously, if I screwed the pooch as royally as these clowns have, I wouldn't be getting a "retention" bonus... I'd be looking for gainful employment at the local McDonald's.

As if all of that garbage weren't bad enough already... AIG has come up with a way to make all of that even worse!!!! Didn't think it was possible, did you? Yeah, neither did I. But I'll give those evil, soulless bastards at AIG credit for something... they're creative!

On February 27, 2009 lawyers for AIG filed a lawsuit against the government... you know, the same government that's handed over nearly $200 BILLION of our tax dollars to them. It seems that AIG feels entitled to have $306 million in tax payments returned to them by the government... in part for taxes paid to foreign governments by AIG entities located in other countries.

From the article:

The lawsuit contends in part that the federal government owes A.I.G. nearly $62 million in foreign tax credits related to eight foreign entities, with names like Lumagrove, Laperouse and Foppingadreef, that were set up or controlled by financial products, often through a unit known as Pinestead Holdings.

United States tax law allows American companies to claim a credit for any taxes paid to a foreign government. But the I.R.S. denied A.I.G.’s refund claims in 2008, saying that it had improperly calculated the credits. The I.R.S. has identified so-called foreign tax-credit generators as an area of abuse that it is increasingly monitoring.

The remainder of A.I.G.’s claim, for $244 million, concerns net operating loss carry-backs, capital loss carry-backs, a general refund claim and claims for refunds of other tax-related payments that A.I.G. says it made to the I.R.S. but are now owed back. The claim also covers $119 million in penalties and interest that A.I.G. says it is due back from the government.

In part, A.I.G. says it overpaid its federal income taxes after a 2004 accounting scandal that caused it to restate its financial records. A.I.G. says in part that it is entitled to a refund of $33 million that SICO paid in 1997 as compensation to employees, which it now says should be characterized as a deductible expense.

I just have to say that while I'm absolutely repulsed here, I have to sort of... almost... admire the set of stones it takes to file a lawsuit against the people... the people in the end being US... that just handed over that much cash. Especially in light of the subsequent waste and squandering of so much money. Granted, the total amount of money for the weekend junket and the executive bonuses is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things regarding the bailout, but I don't know a single person that wouldn't LOVE to have $160 million in their pockets right now. Hell, I don't know a single person that wouldn't like to have just ONE of those bonuses that AIG was handing out.

This takes a serious set of stones. I'm truly in awe.