A company run by former American International Group Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg Monday filed a $25 billion lawsuit against the United States, claiming that the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional. In its complaint, Greenberg’s Starr International said that in bailing out AIG [AIG 21.01 — UNCH ] and taking a nearly 80 percent stake, the government failed to compensate existing shareholders. It said this violated the Fifth Amendment, which bars the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.
“The government’s actions were ostensibly designed to protect the United States economy and rescue the country’s financial system,” Starr said. “Although this might be a laudable goal, as a matter of basic law, the ends could not and did not justify the unlawful means employed.”
The United States, it went on, “is not empowered to trample shareholder and property rights even in the midst of a financial emergency.”
Monday’s lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., which handles lawsuits seeking money from the government. Once the world’s largest insurer by market value, AIG accepted $182.3 billion of federal bailouts beginning on Sept. 16, 2008, amid a liquidity crisis spurred by its exposure to risky debt through credit default swaps.
Unbelievable. The guillotine is way too good for this crook.
Libraries are sort of the Netflix of the book world, making it possible for people to read a book without buying it. eBooks makes doing so easier, potentially reducing sales. With movie companies pulling back from Netflix, etc (Starz not renewing their contract, DVDs being held back for 30 days before Netflix has them, etc) to try to get more people to buy rather than rent, it makes sense that book companies might do the same, despite the inevitability of the change. Record companies still haven’t really accepted the changes digital has caused them. Now time for book publishers.
