Why are bonuses paid?

Why do EMPLOYEES get bonuses? Is it because they did not do what the company expected of them? Is it for failure? For being a Lone Ranger and doing what ever you want? NO!!

Bonuses are paid to EMPLOYEES for going above and beyond what your company expected you to do or you did just what they wanted you to do. Either you made money for the company or you made a big difference in the company in some way.

The AIG EMPLOYEES would not have been eligible for a bonus if they had not met the terms of that contract, PERIOD! A contract states a certain criteria for each person named in the contract to fulfill that contract. With a loan contract the lender agrees to give you a certain amount of money and you agree to the interest rate and the amount of time you have to pay it back. If you or the lender breach that contract in any way there are consequences. To say that the AIG EMPLOYEES do not deserve the bonuses can only be true if they did not meet the requirements of that contract.

These EMPLOYEES must have done exactly what AIG wanted them to do or they would not have gotten any bonus! If that meant buy more toxic assets then they bought them. Or if they were told to have subordinates buy toxic assets and they did then they were doing what was expected of them.

How do we know that all of these EMPLOYEES were part of the problem? I am sure that not all of those who got bonuses were dealing in bad debt. This is an insurance company. What if some of these people were selling groups of insurance to home owners, life insurance policies, any kind of insurance. Should they be penalized for selling insurance.

My whole point is that the people who are under fire for getting bonuses were entitled to them under CONTRACT LAW. The met the requirements and got the contracted bonus.

If the former CEO had a pair he would take some of his MILLIONS and pay these people what the earned.

Now Congress is violating not only contract law but the Constitution. Besides the fact that they had inserted(DODD) a provision in the last $400 billion bill that protected these and many other bonuses.