I’ve not commented on whether or not those bonuses to AIG executives should have been paid or not. I’ve heard lots of discussion both ways on the issue. But today’s New York Times carries the resignation letter of one of those executives – and offers one particularly compelling reason why those bonuses were appropriate.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

Got that? These bonuses went, by and large, to folks who were taking nominal compensation as salary, with their overwhelming majority of their compensation deferred into one lump-sum payment. They were contractually owed that money as salary, they were repeatedly assured that it would be paid, and they were never asked to renegotiate or forego any portion of the money they were guaranteed. I don’t know about you, but for me that places this entire matter in a different light than how it has been presented by some demagogues.

H/T Don Surber, GayPatriot, PoliPundit