News Flash: Financial Services Industry Still Doesn't Get It

I interrupt this rash of theater reviews (I still have the four plays that I saw last weekend to be discussed... and will do so when I have a few hours to write them—wish I wrote faster!) to give you a short screed on greed. The Times reports today that A.I.G. is contractually obligated to pay $160 million in bonuses to executives. The Obama administration actually doesn't dispute this, although they have tried to get A.I.G. to cut the amounts paid out. This quote stood out to me:

"... the administration will force A.I.G. to eventually repay the cost of the bonuses to the taxpayers as part of the agreement with the firm, which is being restructured."

I can live with the fact that people who in reality don't deserve bonuses will get them if I can be assured—and let's get those same damned lawyers who wrote up the executive bonus contracts to put this in writing for the American people—that A.I.G. will pay back every cent they owe and that once the company is stable again, the United States will not have contributed anything to these bonuses. Because we all know what's going to happen: at some point, the Administration or Congress or a combination of the two is going to come back to us and say, "You know, A.I.G. has done a pretty good job and they've gotten close to paying us back everything they owe: we're going to forgive the rest. It's in the interest of the economy and of the American taxpayer to let them have their company back now." Oh, they won't use those exact words, but the result will be the same: A.I.G. won't repay us in full; we will all have paid for the company and have nothing to show for it but a higher national deficit (see the 1980s savings and loan crisis, especially the net loss in the "Consequences" section).

Now, in fairness, I have a friend who works for A.I.G.—he's not a top executive, but it's safe to say that he really is one of those people who the company describes as "the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses." I firmly believe that if we're ever repaid what we've given this company, it'll be thanks to people like him and I want him to be fairly compensated for his work. That said, it doesn't take a financial genius—which are, admittedly, in short supply there these days—to realize that those well-paid lawyers really ought to figure out a way to defer these contracts or renegotiate or something.

It's the arrogance of the industry, as a whole, that they just can't see it. So what if the American people own 80% of their company? So what if they'd all be out of work if the government hadn't stepped in with a bailout? So what if the rest of the country struggles more on a daily basis than these people ever will just to survive? I have a contract: pay me.

Don't Bogart That Bandwidth

If you get your Internet service from Comcast, I'd suggest you start watching your bills—your fees may be going up after October 1. The company says their cap, 250 gigs a month, is approximately 100 times "the normal usage" and equivalent to 125 feature film downloads. People like my parents have little to worry about: if tomorrow my mother decided to e-mail our family every digital photo she's ever taken (and she's taken a lot), my folks couldn't use 250 gigabytes this month (assuming each JPG is less than a meg, which most are).

However, a family of four—like my sister Kelly's—that has two teenagers? There are videos and films, iTunes, Internet radio (to which I, personally, am addicted) or other streaming music, Facebook (which refreshes constantly when you're logged, whether you're looking at it or not), online gaming (whether on a Playstation or a computer, it's the same pipeline), newspapers, blogs (to which Kelly is addicted), IMs, e-mails with mega-attachments (those dancing cat videos add up if enough people send them to you)... and those are just the bandwidth uses I can think of; I've no doubt there are hundreds (if not thousands) of others. In my sister's family, each person gets 62 gigabytes, which is plenty for most people now; but as more and more video content becomes available, that will change. And remember: just like on your cell phone, you're using bandwidth whether you're sending or receiving.

How long until Comcast et al, like the cell phone providers, realize they can make more money by offering tiered pricing? Sure, you can get an Internet plan for $29.95... as long as all you do is e-mail without attachments. Want to read a newspaper? We suggest our $34.95 plan. Have a child? You'll find our $49.95 plan fits you perfectly. Two kids? Try the $79.95 family plan. Oh: they're both teenage boys? Our deluxe Gamers' package at $99.95 is just what you need.

Just don't go over your monthly allotment...

The Oil Goliaths

We hear all the time that people are driving less because of rising fuel prices. Because of this, I've also read recently, states and local governments are suffering drops in income from gasoline taxes, trucking firms are finding that they can't make enough money to compensate for the higher prices, and non-profits like Meals-on-Wheels are having to cut back their services because their volunteers can't afford the cost of delivering those meals. It seems that everyone whose business depends on oil is hurting this year.

Well, maybe not all...

Apparently, Exxon Mobil had record profits this quarter—that's profit, folks: what's left over after all the "increased expenses" they've incurred have already been paid—and Royal Dutch Shell did almost as well. The oil companies will, no doubt, try to spin this to say that it's not so simple, that they haven't made enormous sums of money at our expense. But don't let them FoxNews you: they are not suffering at all and are certainly not feeling the same pinch as you and me.

I don't say this lightly: I sincerely think it's time for a boycott of Exxon Mobil and Shell. I'm sure the other oil companies have made their own obscene profits at our expense but since we can't boycott oil altogether (although I wish we could!), the very least we can do is show the most egregious offenders that we're on to their BS.

Of course, I realize that this will hurt the local merchants more than either of these two MegaCorps, so if anyone has a better idea of how to lodge a protest, I'm game. Perhaps we buy our snacks and sodas from those folks and our gasoline somewhere else? I dunno, but I'm tired of reading about how rich the oil companies are getting while they pretend to "feel our pain."