Definition of modern elitism: expecting the government to pony up $85,000,000,000 in tax dollars to bail out your company due to your mismanagement, then spending $440,000 on a retreat to a posh resort for your top executives days later.

Why do these people think that they are entitle to wine and dine themselves at our expense? Perhaps the average American who is paying taxes would like to use some of their tax money for a massage. Perhaps these sorts of expenditures are what made the bailout necessary.

In every socialist regime the world has ever seen, a select group of important people used the collective’s money to fund their own luxurious lifestyles. We call those people elitists — the rules don’t apply to them. They say all the right things, but what the do and how they live conveys a different message.

Just like the executives at AIG, who think our tax dollars should be spent on them for pillow mints and massages.

Gosh, I wonder who these sorts of executives support politically? Perhaps other elitists who think middle America clings to guns and religion…

(Uses without permission, but as a fair use, from The Homa Files)

[UPDATE...] To be fair, I wanted to see to whom the greatest percentage of AIG’s contributions went to. Because the title listed on campaignmoney.com is fuzzy, I am unable to drill down on the executives. According to campaignmoney.com, 62% of the AIG employees donated to the Democrats (many had multiple donations, but each was counted only once).

Caveat: No casual relationship can be gleaned from the above stats. All that can be said about the data is (1) those who have the means to donate are more likely to be executives; and (2) approximately 2/3 of those who donated lean liberal. However, all of this is conjecture from shoddy data that doesn’t give rise to much more than casual inferences that I would be hesitant to rely on (unless you are a global warming scientist).

The majority of AIG donations went to the American International Group Inc. Employee Political Action Committee (AIG PAC). Listed below is where the $$ goes. Notice that none of the money goes to Obama or McCain. 15 of 77 donations are to Republicans, which means 81% of these donations went to Democrats.

Political Candidates Receiving Contributions/Support in the ‘08 Election Cycle from AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC. EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE Candidate Name Office Party State District Primary/ General $ Dollar Amount Date BAKER, RICHARD H House of Reps Republican LA 06 P $1,000 10/17/2007 BAUCUS, MAX Senate Democrat MT – P $1,250 03/05/2007 BAUCUS, MAX Senate Democrat MT – P $2,750 03/14/2007 BAUCUS, MAX Senate Democrat MT – G $2,250 03/14/2007 BAUCUS, MAX Senate Democrat MT – G $2,500 06/06/2007 BEAN, MELISSA LUBURICH House of Reps Democrat IL 08 G $1,250 04/22/2008 BEAN, MELISSA LUBURICH House of Reps Democrat IL 08 G $3,500 05/15/2008 BENNETT, ROBERT F Senate Republican UT – P $1,000 08/22/2007 BERMAN, HOWARD L House of Reps Democrat CA 28 P $2,500 12/03/2007 BIDEN, JOSEPH R JR President Democrat DE – G $5,000 08/22/2007 BIDEN, JOSEPH R JR President Democrat DE – P $5,000 08/22/2007 CAPPS, LOIS G House of Reps Democrat CA 23 P $1,000 05/15/2008 COOPER, JAMES H. S. House of Reps Democrat TN 05 P $1,000 08/09/2007 CORKER, ROBERT P JR Senate Republican TN – G $3,000 01/12/2007 CORKER, ROBERT P JR Senate Republican TN – P $1,250 04/21/2008 CROWLEY, JOSEPH House of Reps Democrat NY 07 P $2,500 11/05/2007 DODD, CHRISTOPHER J President Democrat CT – G $5,000 08/22/2007 DODD, CHRISTOPHER J President Democrat CT – P $5,000 08/22/2007 DODD, CHRISTOPHER J President Democrat CT – G $5,000 08/22/2007 DODD, CHRISTOPHER J Senate Democrat CT – P $5,000 04/04/2008 DOLE, ELIZABETH Senate Republican NC – P $2,500 12/03/2007 DONNELLY, JOSEPH S MR. House of Reps Democrat IN 02 P $1,000 08/09/2007 DURBIN, RICHARD J Senate Democrat IL – P $5,000 09/28/2007 DURBIN, RICHARD J Senate Democrat IL – G $5,000 09/28/2007 ELLSWORTH, BRAD House of Reps Democrat IN 08 P $1,000 08/09/2007 ENGEL, ELIOT House of Reps Democrat NY 17 P $1,000 05/15/2008 GARRETT, SCOTT House of Reps Republican NJ 05 P $2,500 06/27/2007 GILLIBRAND, KIRSTEN ELIZABETH MRS. House of Reps Democrat NY 20 P $1,000 06/22/2007 GORDON, BART House of Reps Democrat TN 06 P $1,000 05/15/2008 GRASSLEY, CHARLES E Senate Republican IA – G $1,000 05/16/2008 INOUYE, DANIEL K Senate Democrat HI – P $2,000 08/22/2007 JONES, STEPHANIE TUBBS House of Reps Democrat OH 11 P $1,000 05/24/2007 KANJORSKI, PAUL E House of Reps Democrat PA 11 P $1,000 04/15/2008 KANJORSKI, PAUL E House of Reps Democrat PA 11 G $500 04/15/2008 KANJORSKI, PAUL E House of Reps Democrat PA 11 P $4,000 03/04/2008 KIND, RON House of Reps Democrat WI 03 P $1,000 08/22/2007 KING, PETER T House of Reps Republican NY 03 P $1,000 05/08/2008 KIRK, MARK STEVEN House of Reps Republican IL 10 G $1,000 05/20/2008 LARSON, JOHN B House of Reps Democrat CT 01 G $5,000 05/15/2008 LARSON, JOHN B House of Reps Democrat CT 01 P $1,250 04/23/2007 LEAVITT, DAVID O House of Reps Republican UT 03 P $3,000 09/28/2007 LOWEY, NITA M House of Reps Democrat NY 18 P $1,000 06/22/2007 MAFFEI, DANIEL B MR. House of Reps Democrat NY 25 P $5,000 10/11/2007 MAHONEY, TIM House of Reps Democrat FL 16 P $1,000 08/09/2007 MAHONEY, TIM House of Reps Democrat FL 16 P $3,000 09/28/2007 MALONEY, CAROLYN B House of Reps Democrat NY 14 P $2,000 12/05/2007 MEEKS, GREGORY W House of Reps Democrat NY 06 P $2,500 06/22/2007 MEEKS, GREGORY W House of Reps Democrat NY 06 P $2,500 10/24/2007 MERKLEY, JEFFREY ALAN Senate Democrat OR – P $2,500 01/15/2008 MICHAUD, MICHAEL H House of Reps Democrat ME 02 P $1,000 07/31/2007 NEAL, RICHARD E MR. House of Reps Democrat MA 02 P $500 06/06/2007 NEAL, RICHARD E MR. House of Reps Democrat MA 02 P $3,000 03/04/2008 NEAL, RICHARD E MR. House of Reps Democrat MA 02 P $1,500 12/03/2007 PERLMUTTER, EDWIN G House of Reps Democrat CO 07 P $1,250 08/27/2007 PERLMUTTER, EDWIN G House of Reps Democrat CO 07 P $2,000 09/18/2007 POMEROY, EARL RALPH House of Reps Democrat ND 00 P $2,000 05/24/2007 RANGEL, CHARLES B House of Reps Democrat NY 15 P $5,000 09/28/2007 RANGEL, CHARLES B House of Reps Democrat NY 15 G $5,000 09/28/2007 REED, JACK Senate Democrat RI – P $1,000 05/24/2007 REED, JACK Senate Democrat RI – G $5,000 05/24/2007 ROCKEFELLER, JOHN DAVISON IV Senate Democrat WV – P $5,000 01/22/2007 SALAZAR, KEN Senate Democrat CO – P $1,000 01/15/2008 SHAHEEN, JEANNE Senate Democrat NH – P $1,000 05/15/2008 SHELBY, RICHARD C Senate Republican AL – P $2,500 03/04/2008 SUNUNU, JOHN E Senate Republican NH – G $600 08/09/2007 SUNUNU, JOHN E Senate Republican NH – G $400 02/05/2008 SUNUNU, JOHN E Senate Republican NH – G $4,000 06/27/2007 SUNUNU, JOHN E Senate Republican NH – P $1,250 06/18/2007 TIBERI, PATRICK J House of Reps Republican OH 12 P $1,000 08/22/2007 UDALL, MARK E Senate Democrat CO – P $2,500 03/04/2008 UDALL, MARK E Senate Democrat CO – P $1,000 01/15/2008 WARNER, MARK R Senate Democrat VA – P $1,000 12/03/2007 WARNER, MARK R Senate Democrat VA – P $2,500 03/17/2008 WEINER, ANTHONY D MR House of Reps Democrat NY 09 P $1,000 04/09/2008 WEINER, ANTHONY D MR House of Reps Democrat NY 09 P $1,000 06/27/2007 WILSON, CHARLES A JR House of Reps Democrat OH 06 P $1,000 08/09/2007

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Tags: aig, contributions, elitism, Politics, tax

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