While Congress carries on long-winded hearings and the U.S. Treasury ladles out billions of dollars to bail out malfeasance and incompetence on Wall Street, it was left to New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to box the ears of American International Group for its easy-come, easy-go behavior that mocks the public bailout and shocks the civic conscience.
Cuomo descended on AIG with a crisp, unambiguous threat: If AIG doesn't instantly end frivolous spending and if it doesn't repay the public purse from excessive executive bonuses, he'll begin legal action alleging fraud.
One could nearly hear AIG executives shaking in their boots when they promised to "cooperate fully" with Cuomo. No official had ever been so stern with AIG.
Outrages that concern Cuomo were frivolous AIG outings after the U.S. Treasury agreed to give it $123 billion to prevent it from totally collapsing—a $440,000 weeklong executive retreat at a California resort and an $86,000 partridge hunting trip in Britain while AIG pleaded poverty.
As AIG teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, directors rewarded CEO Martin Sullivan with a $5 million bonus and $15 million "golden parachute." Cuomo demands that some of the funds be returned.
The debacle on Wall Street is the direct result of Washington's giving the financial community the go-ahead to find ways to reward itself and turning a blind eye to the consequences for the public and nation.
That sort of bracing, no-nonsense talk is precisely what's needed now and in the future to keep regulated financial institutions from self-destructing then yelping for public rescues.
