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The Huge Bonus of AIG
AIG的巨额奖金
Anger was the common reaction of Americans this week to bonuses paid at rescued financial companies. Lawmakers held hearings and President Barack Obama denounced the extra pay at American International Group. The huge insurance company nearly collapsed last September.
美国民众对接受救援的金融公司本周（2009年3月第三个星期）发放红利一事都感到很愤怒。立法部门举行了听证会，总统奥巴马也对美国国际集团额外支付红利进行了谴责。该巨额保险公司在去年(2008年)9月濒临崩溃。
A.I.G. chief Edward Liddy waits to speak to lawmakers on 18th. Code Pink protesters demonstrate behind.
A.I.G.总裁爱德华利迪等待3月18日对立法部门进行说明。粉色代码示威者已经开始进行游行。
Since then，it has received more than one hundred seventy billion dollars in government aid. Taxpayers now own about eighty percent of the company. Billions loaned to A.I.G. have gone to pay debts owed to Goldman Sachs and other American and foreign banks.
自那时起，该公司已收到超过1700亿美元的政府援助。纳税人现在拥有该公司大约百分之八十的股份。数十亿借给A.I.G.的援助金被用来支付所欠高盛和其他美国银行和外资银行的债务。
The bonuses were retention payments—a way to keep good employees. Yet some who got them at A.I.G. have already left.
奖金被延缓发放——这是留住优秀员工的一种方法。尽管很多拿到奖金的员工已经离开了AIG。
On 18th, A.I.G.’s new chief, Edward Liddy, told Congress that he has asked employees to return at least half of bonuses of one hundred thousand dollars or more. Some, he said, have already done
星期三(2009年3月18日），AIG的新任总裁，爱德华·利迪，在国会上声称他已经要求员工退还至少5万美金的奖金。并表示，有些奖金已经退回。
Even some critics agreed that A.I.G. had to honor contracts. But Thursday, the House of Rep-resentatives voted to place a ninety percent tax on those bonuses at A.I.G. and at other companies getting large bailouts. Yet such a measure could violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.
甚至一些批评家也认为AIG必须履行契约。3月19日（星期四），众议院投票表决对AIG公司或其他获得巨额援助的企业发放的这部分奖励将征收90%的税金。但是该行为将会违反宪法中依法保障平等的规定。
Earlier in the week, the president directed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to look for ways to block the bonuses. But there were questions about why new restrictions on companies had excluded contracts dated before February eleventh, including those at A.I.G.
本周早些时候，总统指示财政部长蒂姆·盖特纳寻找禁止发放奖金的方法。但是问题在于为什么对公司的新禁令排除了2月11日之前的一些合同，其中也包括AIG的合同。
Opinion polls show that more than half of Americans oppose more aid for the financial industry. Some observers said it was easy for politicians to attack big bonuses. Much harder, of course, is changing a system that let companies take the risks that led to the current financial crisis.
民意调查显示有超过一半的美国民众反对给金融产业发放援助。一些观察家认为政府官员对获取巨大的红利的目标进行评击，但比较困难的是改变让企业承担风险的体制。这一体制导致了目前的金融危机。
The Federal Reserve this week announced a new trillion-dollar plan to fight the recession. The aim is to help lower interest rates on housing and other loans and improve credit conditions.
美国联邦储备委员会本周宣布了一项新的万亿美元的计划，以对抗经济衰退。这样做的目的是帮助降低房地产利率和其他贷款利率改善信贷状况。
The central bank said it would buy up to an additional seven hundred fifty billion dollars in mortgage-related securities. The Fed will also buy up to three hundred billion dollars of longterm Treasury bonds. The Fed has not tried to influence long-term rates this way since the nineteen sixties.
中央银行表示他们将会买进另外7500亿美元的抵押贷款相关的证券。美联储也将买进3000亿美元的长期财政债券。自19世纪60年代以来，他们从未尝试通过此种方法影响长期利率。
On March 16，2009，New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to A.I.G, demanding “the list of individuals who are to receive payments” and “a description of each individu-al，s job description and performance at A.I.G. Financial Products” in order to determine “whether any of the individuals receiving such payments were involved in the conduct that led to AIG，s demise and subsequent bailout”.
2009年3月16日，纽约州首席检察官安德鲁·科莫给AIG寄了一封信，要求他们提供“获得奖金的人员名单”和“每个人的职位描述及在AIG的表现情况”以便决定“获得奖金中的人中是否有人与导致AIG破产和最终接受援助有关”。
