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Washington, DC - Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe says outrage over AIG bonuses to executives should be targeted at Washington and those who voted to give the insurance giant money.
"The AIG situation is clear evidence of what happens when you shovel money out the door with no strings attached and no transparency," Inhofe said in a blog on his website.
Inhofe says point the finger at the 74 senators who voted for the AIG bailout.
"Including now President Obama, who voted in favor of handing over an unprecedented amount of money and power to an unelected bureaucrat last August."
AIG used some of the government bailout funds to pay 165-million dollars in executive bonuses it says it was legally obligated to pay because of contracts that were signed before the bailouts.
AIG came under fire late last year after revealing it spent 200-thousand dollars on hotel rooms and more than 20-thousand dollars on spa services just days after receiving 85-billion dollars in government funds.
Since then, the company has received additional government funding, something Inhofe says shows the government needs to cut the cord.
"I’ve said for a very long time, from the outset in fact, that the federal government needs an exit strategy for its entanglement into the financial system," Inhofe said. "The revelations that AIG is trying to give hundreds of millions in bonuses at the same time it’s the recipient of the biggest government bailout in US history shows why."
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