Put the pitchforks down

Congressional leaders look ready to light the torches, hoist pitchforks and descend on AIG headquarters in a populist mob. Sure, the $165 million being doled out to AIG executives is appalling, considering the billions of dollars taxpayers are spending to bailout the insurance giant and these same executives for making and selling a flawed product.

But the fury, the teeth gnashing and hyperbolic outrage from Congressional leaders is a little hard to take. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley went so far as to recommend AIG leaders commit hari-kari. (Grassley later recanted and said that suicide might be too severe and he'll take an apology or resignation.)

Sen. Grassley and others, let you who has not screwed up the nation's finances throw the first stone. Where were Congressional leaders during the crazy mortgage and subprime boom, when the lending standards went out the window? Where was their oversight of the banking industry? Where were regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, during the last several years? Are those authorities giving back their bonuses or salaries?

And what about Congressional leaders who voted for the war in Iraq that has cost $600 billion so far and resulted in more than 4,200 troops killed? In hindsight, that looks like a mistake - if not in intent, than in execution - that has had a far more profound effect on the nation than AIG. Where's the teeth gnashing there? Are Congressional leaders under pressure to give back a portion of their salary for that mismanagement?