AIG Problems Will Kill 400 CT Jobs
By DEBRA ALFARONE
Updated 10:34 AM EST, Mon, Mar 23, 2009
AIG’s problems are being felt across the country and it looks like there will be a direct hit on Wilton and Fairfield County.
About 400 workers at American International Group’s Wilton office might eventually lose their jobs when the company shuts down the office in a few years.
The office houses the embattled AIG Financial Products Group, which is settling contracts and selling off investment portfolios worth $1.6 trillion, the Connecticut Post reports.
The direct effect of those lost jobs, some of which are high paying, will be felt in Wilton, the surrounding area and throughout Fairfield County in the form of lost tax revenue, experts said.
On Saturday, several protesters hopped aboard a bus tour past several “Gold Coast” homes of AIG executives who received the controversial bonuses.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he’s estimating the bonuses actually surpass the $165 million total, and could reach as high as $218 million.
“I'm focused on it because I want to know what the total was and we deserve back every taxpayer dollar paid to bonuses to execs and employees who drove this company into insolvency,” Blumenthal said. “I'd like to see the executives and employees treturn the money.”
Blumenthal is not the only one who wants to see the money back in taxpayers’ hands.
The House wants to tax those bonuses at 90 percent to get the money back. But President Barack Obama says he's not fully on board with the House's plan and hopes the Senate has a better fix.
One Connecticut lawmaker who’s feeling the strain under this controversy is the state’s senior senator, Christopher Dodd.
The long-time Democrat first said he didn’t know how the language that would allow for the bonuses got into the federal bailout bill, then, some said, he flip-flopped when he later admitted he made the amendment at the request of the Treasury Department.
“I think he’s got a real challenge in his reelection now,” said Howard Reiter, a professor of political science at UConn
Those controversial bonuses will be the topic of a special panel discussion presented by the Connecticut Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society Monday at the State Capitol.
Panelists will talk about the current law and possible policy changes to make sure this situation never happens again.
First Published: Mar 23, 2009 6:14 AM EST
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