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Inspired by the death threat by garroting that was quoted at the House hearings into the AIG bonuses on Wednesday, ABC assigned Bill Weir to ponder why populist anger is inflamed by tales of mere millions in bonuses even as the federal government has committed whole trillions to failed financial institutions. "It was our system that rewarded their risktaking," Weir wondered, "but people do not get mad at systems, they get mad at people." Enter Elizabeth Palmer on CBS, ringing the doorbell of Joseph Cassano at his luxurious London townhouse. The 54-year-old Cassano was head of AIG's Financial Products Division, which made $3bn a year selling Credit Default Swaps as recently as 2005 before he was "forced to retire" leaving his bosses--and then the rest of us--"on the hook to pay out billions of dollars it did not have."
Palmer dug out this gem of a soundbite from Cassano just two months before the first CDS losses of just $352m were announced: "It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing one dollar in any of those transactions." Cassano refused Palmer any further comment.
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