Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/aig1-o17.shtml

American Insurance Group, which has received nearly $200 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, is slated to pay 400 employees in its financial products division another $198 million, according to a report published Wednesday by the Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s “pay czar” for executive compensation at bailed out institutions, has “informally advised” the company not to pay the bonuses, according to the report. But the White House has claimed that Feinberg is not legally empowered to block the bonus payments, since they were negotiated prior to laws regulating bonus payments at companies now largely owned by the government. WSWS/TPV: Dow climbs to 10,000 as jobless rate nears 10 percent. RawStory: Goldman Sachs to pay $23 billion in bonuses for 2009.