The 1st Thread For 2/3/10: America's Best Job

And the beat just keeps on going

American International Group plans Wednesday to pay another round of employee bonuses, worth about $100 million, said several people familiar with the matter, a year after similar payments at the bailed-out insurance giant infuriated many Americans and inflamed Washington.

But they took a wonderful pay cut through, showing how aware they are of the time.

This week's retention payments go to those employees at the company's Financial Products division who agreed recently to accept 10 to 20 percent less money than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are to receive their payments more than a month ahead of schedule.

AIG executives have been scrambling to hammer out a compromise before March 15, when the firm faces a deadline to pay nearly $200 million in bonuses to employees at Financial Products, the unit whose risky derivatives deals brought the insurer to the brink of collapse in 2008. Government and AIG officials have been eager to avoid a repeat of the public furor that erupted last March when an earlier round of payments -- worth $168 million -- went to the same set of employees.

Now they can leave this brutal winter weather and go on a nice vacation in a ten-star resort.

Oh wait, you mean to tell me they already could do that before? Silly me.