While the American International Group comes under fire from Congress over executive bonuses, it is quietly fighting the federal government for the return of $306 million in tax payments, some related to deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens.

Relying on a unappetizing mix of tax loopholes, offshore tax shelters, and foreign tax credits (with a creamy employee compensation center!) to make the case that we owe them $306 mil, AIG is fast becoming the poster child for what is most definitely wrong with today’s brand of Capitalism – it is decidedly unchecked.

It’s also another example of why the “you’re either with us or you’re against us” crowd gets it wrong when they label anyone who sees the need for regulated Capitalism as “Socialists.”

In a perfect world, one without avarice, deceit, and other human frailties, unfettered Capitalism and absolute free market principles might work. In the real world – you know, the one where our government is trying desperately to manage bailout programs funded by tax dollars at the same time a bailed out company is suing the government for the return of hundreds of millions in tax payments – a nice, steady, and fair regulatory hand is desperately needed.

Finally, as an exclamation point, last week, the Nashville Public Library, a participant in the ITVS Community Cinema project, screened I.O.U.S.A, a documentary about America’s problem with debt. The movie provides a stark reminder that we’re facing a fiscal crisis in addition to our current financial crisis. It prominently features David Walker, until recently the Comptroller General of the United States, who engaged in a Fiscal Wakeup Tour with The Concord Coalition. (See Liberadio(!) coverage from their Nashville stop, which was hosted by Congressman Jim Cooper.) The documentary provides an excellent visual reiteration of the finer points of the presentations given during that tour, and the issue, unsurprisingly, has not gone away. Incidentally, Mr. Walker left his job as a bureaucrat to focus full-time on America’s fiscal crisis. He’s now CEO at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which shares his personal mission. His work will bear watching, for once the financial crisis is behind us, we have a fiscal crisis to tackle.

I highly recommend the movie, and there’s a substantial trailer available:

For those living in the reality-based community, Marketplace has complete coverage of the financial crisis, which, by any measure of the coverage from the financial news industry and economists, does, in fact, exist.