Cojones, Chutzpah, Couilles.
So this is week old news now, but it's news to me.
The former CEO of AIG Hank Greenberg, who now leads Starr International, the largest shareholder of AIG (before the government bailout) is suing the US Government. The lawsuit alleges that the US government acted unconstitutionally, specifically that the government breached the Fifth amendment "Takings" clause.
Now the problem for Greenberg, is that the takings clause states that the government cannot seize private property for public use without just compensation. There are two problems for Greenberg with this. Problem number one, the AIG board voted to accept the conditions of the bailout. AIG received $85 billion for 100,000 shares. The government didn't actually take it, they bought AIG.
Second, fair market value at the time of the taking is how the US Supreme Court has interpreted this clause in the Fifth Amendment. If we ignore that AIG wasn't actually bought, and work under the notion that this was a taking, then what was the compensation at the time of taking? September 16 2008 was when the bailout occurred. AIG receives $85 billion for 100,000 shares. The stock price on September 15 2008 closed at $95.20. Some quick math will show that the US government paid far...far far far more than fair market value. By 3 orders of magnitude...
Those wacky 1%ers...:roll:
So this is week old news now, but it's news to me.
The former CEO of AIG Hank Greenberg, who now leads Starr International, the largest shareholder of AIG (before the government bailout) is suing the US Government. The lawsuit alleges that the US government acted unconstitutionally, specifically that the government breached the Fifth amendment "Takings" clause.
Now the problem for Greenberg, is that the takings clause states that the government cannot seize private property for public use without just compensation. There are two problems for Greenberg with this. Problem number one, the AIG board voted to accept the conditions of the bailout. AIG received $85 billion for 100,000 shares. The government didn't actually take it, they bought AIG.
Second, fair market value at the time of the taking is how the US Supreme Court has interpreted this clause in the Fifth Amendment. If we ignore that AIG wasn't actually bought, and work under the notion that this was a taking, then what was the compensation at the time of taking? September 16 2008 was when the bailout occurred. AIG receives $85 billion for 100,000 shares. The stock price on September 15 2008 closed at $95.20. Some quick math will show that the US government paid far...far far far more than fair market value. By 3 orders of magnitude...
Those wacky 1%ers...:roll:
