Good Riddence to Anastasia Kelly

Posted on Moondogs: December 31, 2009

Head back to the ranch, I say!

I read today that Anastasia Kelly, the general counsel for AIG, the insurance company which is spending $150B of our tax money 1, has quit her position because she didn’t want the US Government to limit her pay. Instead she received a severance package worth $3.8 Million. 2

I didn’t think a person got severance when they quit. Except that an executive severance plan at AIG would let managers collect as much as two years salary and bonuses as they were heading for the door.

First of all, this is obscene. Second of all, this is really obscene.

Who is Anastasia Kelly anyway?

Mz. Kelly was promoted to vice chairman of AIG in Jan. 2009 after being general counsel at both MCI/WorldCom, the bankruptcy of which fleeced thousands of shareholders and led to the conviction of its CEO Bernard Ebbers for fraud 3, and Fannie Mae, currently under FBI investigation for fraud 4.

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a pattern here.

So what’s the big deal? These execs all get big bucks

Well, most executive pay rates are kept under wraps, but consider this. Just in her severence package alone, Mz. Kelly will earn more than President Obama will make in his entire term, if he gets re-elected 5.

Revolting, Sickening, Unconscionable. Did I mention Obscene?

It’s revolting that this attorney with less than pristine credentials gets a severance package worth more than you or I will make in our entire lifetime, not to mention her salary for the last 40 some odd years (she’s 60 years old, after all), when more than 10% of the workers in our great nation are unemployed because of a financial meltdown that she help create. This sort of usury should be illegal and she, and those like her, should be held accountable.