ELIZABETH WARREN

Senator Elizabeth Warren released the following statement reacting to reports that the AIG Board of Directors is considering joining a lawsuit against the federal government for the terms it received as part of its 2008 government bailout.

"Beginning in 2008, the federal government poured billions of dollars into AIG to save it from bankruptcy.  AIG’s reckless bets nearly crashed our entire economy.  Taxpayers across this country saved AIG from ruin, and it would be outrageous for this company to turn around and sue the federal government because they think the deal wasn’t generous enough.  Even today, the government provides an ongoing, stealth bailout, propping up AIG with special tax breaks—tax breaks that Congress should stop.  AIG should thank American taxpayers for their help, not bite the hand that fed them for helping them out in a crisis."

Senator Warren and a bipartisan group of former members of the Congressional Oversight Panel criticized the continuing taxpayer bailout of AIG in an op-ed published in the Washington Post in March 2012. 

"When a company accepts a taxpayer bailout to stay in business, it ought to follow the same tax laws followed by companies that aren’t bailed out. In its ongoing efforts to reform corporate tax law, Congress should close this egregious loophole and prevent AIG from continuing to receive a stealth bailout every time it files its taxes."

Washington Post Op-Ed: AIG is still costing taxpayers
By Elizabeth Warren, Damon Silvers, Mark McWatters and Kenneth Troske

When the U.S. economy was in crisis in October 2008, Congress passed a $700 billion bailout of our financial system. The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) was heavily scrutinized in the media and passionately debated on Wall Street and Main Street. Congress created a bipartisan committee — on which we served — to oversee the funds distributed through TARP. The committee conducted dozens of public hearings and produced 30oversight reports.

Compare that experience with a recent event. AIG, a massive insurance company that received $182 billion in TARP and Federal Reserve bailouts during the financial crisis, reported in February that it had earned $19.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Its profits increased a staggering $17.7 billion — from a loss of $2.2 billion a year earlier — because of special tax breaks from the Treasury Department.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/aigs-past-losses-cost-taxpayers-now-and-into-the-future/2012/03/29/gIQAI8ssjS_story.html