AIG needs attitude change

Newsday: It’s been a little over a month since insurance industry giant American International Group went from Wall Street hotshot to a majority-owned subsidiary of the American taxpayer. You might think by now that all those smart people at AIG would have adjusted to the new boss.

The U.S. government bailed out AIG with $123 billion in loans, after bad mortgage debt threatened to topple this colossus. But AIG executives continue to lavish money on themselves, as though they had actually succeeded in business.

The company’s top producers relaxed at a $440,000 spa outing in California just days after the rescue. Until last week, AIG was making payments to its departing chief financial officer on a $10 million golden parachute.

Paying lobbyists

Worse still, the company is paying lobbyists millions to head off new regulation of the mortgage industry. Yes, that’s right: AIG is fighting the very effort to prevent a future crisis.

Talk about an outrageous sense of entitlement. Former chief executive Maurice Greenberg is even petitioning the Securities and Exchange Commission for better terms on the federal loan. It seems like AIG really stands for arrogance, insensitivity and gall.

Fortunately, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is on the case. He’s seeking to recover unreasonable expenditures dating back nearly two years. As recently as February, a top AIG executive largely responsible for the collapse was permitted to keep $34 million in bonuses.