Iowa Senator Charles Grassley suggested Monday that AIG executives should accept responsibility for the company’s collapse by resigning or killing themselves.  During an interview with radio station WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Republican lawmaker said:  “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.”

Grassley spokesman Casey Mills quickly responded with damage control:  “Senator Grassley has said for some time now that generally speaking, executives who make a mess of their companies should apologize, as Japanese executives do,” Mills said.  “He says the Japanese might even go so far as to commit suicide, but he doesn’t want U.S. executives to do that.”

The senator’s remarks added to the public outrage over the disclosure that AIG intends to pay its executives $165 million in bonuses after causing the company to fail and accepting billions in federal bailout money.  President Barack Obama criticized AIG for “recklessness and greed” and pledged to try to stop payment of the bonuses.

Story at FoxNews