The current stimulus legislation has several "pork cutlets" which make the AIG bonus payments look like chicken feed, yet the Administration has decided to make AIG the boogey-man while all those congresspersons who added the extra schnitzel to the platter are TOTALLY ignored. How hypocritical!

AIG's excuse is that their employee contracts require these bonus payments. That's for the lawyers representing AIG, the employees and the Dept. of Justice to sort out and verify. If true, and the Administration tries to impound those bonuses, then then taxpayer is going to get stuck with the very high cost of of the government's involvement in significant litigation at the minimum, and if the employees win, then the taxpayer will get tagged with everyone's legal fees as well (check the Equal Access to Justice Act). If the Administration settles the matter outside of litigation, again, the taxpayer is stuck with the cost of the settlement. The constant theme is - the taxpayer pays....

All of this obfuscates the several servings of roast taxpayer (a.k.a. "pork") within the stimulus legislation and redirects the press and public knowledge from what is going on between the K Street lobbyists and Congress with the bulwark of our money.

This is the old con-man's trick of redirecting the attention of the mark while the pea is slipped out from under the cup and into the hand.