RESIGNATION

"Ever since I could remember, all I ever wanted was to be a wise guy."

Some of you have not worked in offices or for a big corporation, most have probably not seen the ugliness of a corporation dying or cruelly sacrificing portions of its self for profit at the top. The guys who work at AIG have, and here's a letter from one of the guys that resigned. The man's name is Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit. He agreed on a 1 dollar salary (like the CEO Edward Liddy). He's leaving the company and has a few choice things to say which were printed in the New York Times:

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
...
I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.
...
Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.

There's more, go take a look. Then look at congress and how President Obama are treating this company. Look at the fake, drummed up protests ACORN is setting up to intimidate AIG workers.

I have no sympathies with the AIG management who engaged in the idiotic business practices that got them into the position they are now. I have no sympathy for the ones who went to congress asking for money to continue in business. Here's a bit from the excellent movie Goodfellas in which the main character explains how it works when you go to the mob for a loan:

Now he's got Paulie as a partner. Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with a bill, to Paulie. Trouble with cops, deliveries, Tommy, he calls Paulie. But now he has to pay Paulie every week no matter what.

"Business bad? F*ck you, pay me. Had a fire? F*ck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning? F*ck you, pay me."

Also, Paulie could do anything. Like run up bills on the joint's credit. And why not? Nobody will pay for it anyway.

Take deliveries at the front door and sell it out the back at a discount. Take a thousand dollar case of booze and sell it for five hundred. It doesn't matter.It's all profit.

Then finally, when there's nothing left, when you can't borrow another buck from the bank, you bust the joint out.

You light a match.

That's how it works when you go to the government too, especially the Democrats. Yet unlike the mob, the government makes you out to be the bad guy in the process, uses the press and activist groups to smear you, turn you into a demon. Why? Because it sets up other policy initiatives, like President Obama's sudden desire to take all financial institutions and investments under the government's wing, not just banks. You get hurt? Well you're just rich white guys anyway.

I have sympathy for all the people who worked hard and with good faith trusting a company and its management to treat them right. I have sympathy for the writer of this letter and all the people like him.

This guy's had enough. Can anyone blame him?

*hat tip Ace of Spades HQ for this story