While a number of senators have begun proposing bills to express their outrage at so-called thievery in AIG’s behaviour towards bonuses, some expressions of outrage have found themselves offensive across the political spectrum.

In an interview with Iowa City radio, Senator Charles Earnest “Chuck” Grassley (75, R-IA), senior member of the Republican party and former chairman of the Finance Committee suggested Tuesday that executives from the now mostly tax-payer owned 90-year-old insurance giant AIG who were involved in the company’s collapse should take a Japanese approach to responsibility.

Public opinion about Grassley’s suggestion has been mixed, with many falling in the category of “outraged enough to think this is acceptable,” says one anonymous contributor.

“Obviously, maybe they ought to be removed,” said the Senator. “But I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they’d follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide. And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.”

The controversy over these bonuses broke wider when Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), member of the Banking Committee, said that Timothy Geithner, Obama’s Treasury Secretary, either knew, or should have known about the bonus payments before Friday’s payout and made no effort to stop them until public outcry was obvious.

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