Poll: Majority ‘outraged’ by bonus pay

Three-quarters of the respondents in a nationwide poll indicated the U.S. government should recoup American International Group Inc.’s bonus pay, Gallup said.

In the survey conducted March 21-22, a majority of the 2,019 respondents indicated they were outraged by the AIG uproar in which the company scheduled $165 million in bonus pay for employees despite of losing billions and accepting $170 billion in bailout funds from the government.

Forty-six percent indicated AIG executives were to blame for the fiasco, that resulted in quickly assembled tax bills in Congress to target the bonus pay directly.

In lesser numbers, respondents blamed Congress, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and President Barack Obama for the bonuese, Gallup said.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents indicated all of the bonus payments should be returned, while 13 percent indicated half of it should be.

How to recoup the funds is another matter. Only 25 percent indicated a tax aimed directly at AIG recipients was the proper course of action. A slightly larger group — 27 percent — indicated asking for executives and employees to volunteer to return the funds was a better option.

The poll had a margin of error of three percent, Gallup said.