Well, according to the Washington Times, executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary spent $440,000 at a posh resort south of Los Angeles "even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government that it needed to stave off bankruptcy." The bill included $23,380 in spa treatments, as well as banquets and golf outings for AIG employees.

Looks like they learned their lesson, all right!

We should expect more horror stories like these because the government's position in the current economic crisis is exactly backwards. It will inspire even more greed among corporate executives by immunizing them from the natural consequences of their poor decisions. The message sent by the bailout is this: "It's okay to deceive your shareholders, enrich yourselves at your companies' expense, take on mountains of debt, and engage in reckless risk because Uncle Sugar will be there to bail you out when you fail. And, oh by the way, thanks for the campaign contributions!"

The government's bailout is a big fat juicy "carrot" for Wall Street miscreants. Congress' big wet kiss rewards Wall Street for its profligacy and immunizes it from the natural consequences of its executives' poor decisions. Rather than being punished by the market, AIG's executives are chilling at the spa!

Of course it's all being done for the taxpayer's benefit. Congress won't apply the stick to these bad boys because they are just "too big to fail." Innocent taxpayers might get hurt in the process.