Published: October 08, 2008 08:58 pm            

It’s no time for a party

Let’s say you live on a quiet cul-de-sac where the neighbors all know one another. And, as in many residential areas, your neighbors know a bit about each other’s business – maybe too much.

A family on the cul-de-sac is having money trouble. The husband is laid off. So one of your neighbors stops by your house, asking you to donate some money for the struggling family.

It’s a tough economy. Your car needs work. Your son’s marching band soon will travel to Disney World to perform. You need every penny you have, but you still give more than you can afford.

Yet only a week later, the struggling family throws a swanky backyard barbecue. The husband grills thick steaks and lobster. Aerosmith – the actual band – plays late into the night. And as you’re trying to sleep – while “Toys in the Attic” blares through your closed bedroom window – you wonder why no one from the neighborhood was invited to the party. Do they not get it? you ask yourself.

They don’t. Tuesday we learned insurance giant AIG doesn’t either. Just days after receiving an $85 billion federal loan to prevent it from bankruptcy, executives spent $440,000 on a retreat to Southern California.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requested invoices from the St. Regis resort. Included was a $23,380 bill for spa treatments for AIG employees.

“Average Americans are suffering economically. They’re losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance,” blasted Chairman Henry Waxman. “Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation.”

Now, no executive from AIG’s financial products division – the one that almost sank the company – flew to St. Regis. And such a retreat isn’t illegal.

But it looks bad. Really bad. The company should return what was spent on the junket to the federal government.

And it wouldn’t hurt to learn a little about being a good neighbor, either.

        

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