GREENBERG: Of course everybody is going to feed on them. There are several things wrong. First of all, it’s owned by the government. So who wants to work in a nationalized company? There’s control on compensation. So if somebody is offered a better position and more compensation it’s a free market so you obviously do what you have to do. Life savings have been wiped out. I just got a letter from somebody in New Jersey. Let me take the time and read it to you.
DANKWA: This is a letter from an investor?
GREENBERG: This is from somebody that worked in the company.
DANKWA: I see.
GREENBERG: She writes to her congressman in New Jersey. "I am a 71-year-old retiree with 31 years of service. I own 12,000 shares of AIG which in 2007 had an average price $75 per share or a value of $900,000. Today it is $2 share for a total value of $24,000. So I suffered a tremendous loss. I also receive a monthly pension of $2,569 or $30,836 annually and a quarterly dividend of $2,640, or $10,560 annually. [That dividend as you know has been eliminated.] I also encouraged members of my family to invest in AIG. They too suffered losses as well. As you can see, my principal retirement asset is my 12,000 shares of AIG, which were practically wiped out." Following are the terms – and then she goes through the bailout. It’s a two-year term, blah, blah, blah. Then she comments on the plan B that I had recommended, which is also endorsed by the Wall Street Journal in its editorial on October 22nd. Even under these terms the taxpayer will still be ahead since the 10-year Treasury bond pays only 3.6%.
She comments that plan B really is a win/win for everybody. Although no fault of ours, the financial meltdown started with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Congress and the Senate let us down. They were forewarned of the danger looming since February 2004 by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and in 2006 by Treasury Secretary John Snow and by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. "Now citizen taxpayers like me suffer the loss," she goes on. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7