AIG's Got the Public's Money to Burn

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The insurance company American International Group (AIG), which "vowed to temper spending after hosting a conference at a California resort amid a federal bailout," belatedly canceled "a similar event planned for next week at a $400-a-night hotel." The U.S. government loaned AIG $85 billion in September and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York just loaned the company another $37.8 billion, to "replenish liquidity." Members of Congress harshly criticized AIG's earlier luxury conference, which cost $440,000. Before AIG canceled its more recent event, it considered buying ads to explain that such conferences are necessary to "motivate and educate" independent agents selling AIG coverage. But AIG's public relations consultant, George Sard, warned against the move. Sard, who heads the PR firm Sard Verbinnen & Co., emailed that "to spend the taxpayer's money on an expensive ad campaign to apologize for how you used taxpayer money leaves you open to further attacks." However, Sard mistakenly sent his advice to a Bloomberg reporter.