Kanjorski: Bonuses for AIG Executives ‘Outrageous’

Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) is the latest lawmaker to blast corporate bonuses as excessive executive compensation.

Kanjorski, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, slammed ailing insurance firm American International Group (AIG) for paying some $450 million in retention bonuses after it took in more than $150 billion in federal bailout money.

The bonuses are “simply outrageous,” said Kanjorski, chairman of a subcommittee on capital markets, insurance and government sponsored enterprises.

“We are in extremely difficult economic times, and AIG knows this from personal experience,” he said. “After gaining access to more than $170 billion in taxpayer money to keep itself afloat, AIG has now decided to provide an average of $1.1 million to about 400 of its employees at the very business unit that caused the company to collapse. I have already personally told AIG