Capito demands answers on lavish AIG conference
Charleston Daily Mail
October 21, 2008
U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in demanding answers from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about a $440,000 conference paid for by American International Group.
"We have a right to know whether any taxpayer dollars went to fund this luxury vacation, and if they did, we want it back," Capito said. "West Virginians must know that their tax dollars are being put to good use, and the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department must exercise their oversight to make sure that is the case."
Insurance giant AIG received an $85 billion loan from the government on Sept. 16. Days later, the company spent more than $440,000 on a conference at the luxurious St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif.
Of the $440,000, $200,000 went for rooms, $150,000 for meals, $23,000 for spa charges and almost $7,000 for golf greens fees. Rooms cost between $425 and $1,200 per night.
"The prospect of a $700 billion bailout left many West Virginians concerned about the federal debt and wasted taxpayer dollars. And unfortunately it took little time for those concerns to become reality," she said. "News of this AIG junket to California just days after their firm was bailed out by taxpayers is just the kind of nonsense that leaves most of us incensed.
"This sort of excess was central to my concerns about the bailout legislation when it first came before the House." Capito, who voted against the bailout, and other congressional representatives signed a letter to Paulson and Bernanke on Friday.
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