A open letter to the American People...from an employee of A.I.G.
With the crescendo of rage about the bonuses my team and I have received reaching a pinnacle today I thought it would be important for you to hear from the other side. It is getting out of control and I aim to make you understand that you would do the same in my place. I work hard, I am a God Fearing, tax paying, American...just like you. I had a 3.9 GPA in high school, and a 3.7 GPA at Harvard. I also went to Wharton School of Business and owe about $130,000 in school loans. My wife who went to Brown owes another $100,000 and she does the most important work there is which is raising and home schooling our three kids. Unfortunately one of the few jobs in the world the government doesn't subsidies so there is no income coming in there. I work with the commute between 60-80 hours a week. I owe $560,000 on our house which is not a mansion, and between our two cars another $78,000. Our net worth before summer of 2008 was 1.8 million dollars with stocks, bonds, 401K, and property. It is now at $400,000 not including the million dollar bonus I just cashed. Taxes before Congress does anything illegal will take about $450,000 and with paying down our house, student loans, and car payments I might be able to put twenty thousand dollars in my kids college fund.
I know we have it better then a lot of Americans, but god damn it I have worked for it. I can't help it if I was smarter then you. I can't help it if I was luckier or harder working. I did not cause the financial melt down. I am great at my job and in part will help save America by not letting A.I.G. fail. If you want to really blame someone, blame Congress, the former two Presidents, and the former Fed Chairman. Not to mention my former boss as well. He now lives in the Dominican Republic with a cool $50,000,000 stashed in some banks that didn't fail.
Don't blame me for the last two Presidents we had because I didn't vote for either of them. One was a narcissistic sex addict, and the other was an empty headed, silver spoon baby. One grew up poor and wanted to be loved by the rich and the other grew up rich and just wanted to help out his Neo-Con friends. The current one at least is trying to fix the mess of the last 30 years. An economy that doesn't bubble and burst sounds pretty good to me since I would rather live on a merry-go-round then a roller coaster.
So as an A.I.G. employee that cannot afford to give up my bonus, and still provide the lifestyle I promised my wife on our wedding day, consider the source when you hear people say that me and my family should be strangled with piano wire. I am not saying you shouldn't be mad at some of the people that got bonuses (derivative assholes) but not all of us are them. Take your anger...dial it back a bit and then call you Congress person. Tell them that the only hope is to fund stem cell research so that we can clone Obama 8000 times and make him the entire government in Washington. Then you will see some real damn change.
*This post is a work of fiction by the author of this blog...just for fun and practice.
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