Remember when Reagan first came into office and he fired all the striking air traffic controllers? Well, you have to be older than 40 or so to have a chance to remember that. Still, it was a gutsy move. Nobody believed that he could do that — let them all go, but he did. The planes continued to fly, and striking was over, for a long time. That was one of Reagan’s great acts and he got instant respect for it.

Obama needs to bust up and shut down AIG. Sorry for the $170 billion already spent. We could have rebuilt the entire road system in the US for that money, or constructed all new schools. Alas, we exercised bad judgment.

But it’s too late to worry about that. There are people at AIG that should not only not get a bonus now, they should not have a job. Fire them, and do it now. Then deal with the lawsuits later. Drag them out for years so they have to fight for every penny, while they are home watching the soaps and do no more damage. It might cost the same in the long run, but the American public will be satisfied. Make room for  a better insurance company.