Are bonuses evil?

So, what is it with all of the rage against AIG and bonuses? Let's put this into perspective. The people who were at AIG were probably looking to jump ship, since they were not doing well and the government was going to bail them out. Management / board got wind of this, and offered quite a few a retention bonus to stay on.

If they don't stay on, the AIG cannot possibly get back on its feet. So, win-win. Or so they think.

Now the government (democrats) jump in with their fake rage (who gave themselves raises while the rest of the country is at high unemployment, and many companies (mine included) cancelled any raises this year) about taking money from the bailout. What, is it evil to get paid what you were promised? They worked hard to get the company turned around.

Maybe a better option for AIG would have been to offer "performance bonuses" -- you get this much in sales, or meet these goals, and you get $x bonus. You wonder if the democrats could have generated as much ill-will.

What I don't like is the message that it sends. If you have an opportunity to get paid more for a particular job, whether it involves more travel (I've done that) or in a bad environment (oil wells in Iraq), then you should not have to wonder if the government will then turn around and take it away from you.

Bad, bad congress.