Ok so I thought I could resist from a Hot Topic Tuesday, but I cannot. Not with the recent news break yesterday regarding AIG. In case you've been under a rock, you can read the story on foxnews.com. Of course it was all of the news yesterday on talk radio and world news. My favorite take on it however is this particular article on foxnews, quoting the Iowa senator who suggests that the AIG executives take a Japanese approach to their mistakes and either apologize or commit suicide. His point is that most Japanese men would rather commit suicide than issue a public apology. Of course, I do not condone suicide, but I do find this rather comical and proof of the outrage of so many Americans regarding the scandalous "bailout" plan.

If you've been an Opp Knocker for a while, you'll recall my first post on the bailout plan and my lack of support of this grandiose plan. Now, not even 3 months later, we've got an even bigger mess on our hands.
I think what's most frustrating, however, is our leadership pointing fingers back at AIG and other corporations who spent the bailout money irresponsibly. My problem with that is why didn't we monitor their spending more closely? Why did we get to this point? Why are we just now starting to implement a "watch dog" mentality? OBVIOUSLY these corporations aren't good stewards of their money, otherwise they wouldn't be on Washington's doorstep asking for a hand out.
We haven't even begun to talk about the auto makers, but I do find this a valid point to ponder:

“So Mr. [Timothy] Geithner [Treasury Secretary], instead of being outraged at AIG’s last revelations, perhaps you can explain to all of us why a UAW worker earning $29 an hour must give back wages and benefits to keep their company alive, while the architects of the biggest financial disaster in history get to keep their gold-plated contracts,” Morici (economist) says.
(You can read the rest of the story here.)

I don't even know how to comment on that because I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it, honestly. It's a "dammed if do" "dammed if don't" situation that we've gotten ourselves into.
Comments? Opinions? Your own plan for a bailout? They're welcome and it's another great HOT topic Tuesday on our hands...one that will likely come back around again.