It is good to know that the rich and powerful are still willing to stick around and guide us poor mortals to wherever it is that they are guiding us. The NY Times reports today that the insurance giant AIG, whose credit default swaps helped to create the financial house of cards that has just collapsed on all of us, is still very much in action.

After taking over $170 billion in bailout funds so far - and they will be back for more next month as they have been each month since the end of last year - AIG has announced that it will pay out $100 million in bonuses because it has no choice.

This is a group of people who have more to damage the United States than Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Hugo Chavez put together. So we give them money to keep their company from bankruptcy and then they give themselves bonuses for work well done.

Wonks Anonymous used to think that public executions were a bad thing.