Barney Frank on AIG: 'Maybe It's Time to Fire Some People'

Over the weekend, the revelation that bailed-out insurance firm AIG was still doling out hundreds of millions in "retention bonuses" sparked bipartisan outrage. On NBC’s Today Show this morning, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) called for the government to fire AIG executives. "These bonuses are going to people who screwed this thing up enormously," he said:

FRANK: The federal government now is the 80 percent owner. … So, since the federal government, thanks to the Federal reserve’s use of the power under the 70-year-old statute, now essentially owns that company, maybe it’s time to fire some people. We can’t keep them from getting the bonuses, but we can keep some of them from continuing in their jobs.

"Well, if they were in high school, they wouldn’t have gotten retention, they would have gotten detention," Frank said, adding, “And yes, I think the — the time has come for the federal government to put some people in charge.”