Frank: U.S. ‘rewarding incompetence’ at AIG (Video)

The U.S. government is rewarding incompetence by allowing its bailout money for AIG to go for executives’ bonuses, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Monday.

Piling on the insurance giant’s disclosed bonuses over the weekend, the top Democrat in charge of overseeing the bailouts in the House said AIG executives should choose between their bonuses or their jobs.

“These people may have a right to their bonuses, but they don’t have a right to their jobs forever. The federal government is the 80 percent owner,” Frank said during a Monday morning appearance on the “Today” show.

“It does appear to me we’re rewarding incompetence,” he said. “Forget about the legal matter here for a second: these bonuses are going to people who screwed this thing up enormously.”

Frank joins the ranks of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have blasted the company for its corporate practices while having been one of the largest recipients of federal assistance in the past eight months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the bonuses “unconscionable,” while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he was “angered” by AIG.

“Maybe some of these people should choose between keeping their bonus and keeping their job,” Frank added.

The Financial Services chairman also called on Congress to revisit the 1932 law giving the Federal Reserve unilateral discretion to make loans without conditions to any recipient.

Watch a video of Frank’s comments below: