NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Representative Elijah Cummings said American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the government, shouldn't be giving executives as much as $4 million in retention pay.

"Why are we trying to retain folks by giving them $4 million bonuses when they are already making $1 million?" the Maryland Democrat said yesterday on Bloomberg Television. "Something is wrong with this picture." AIG has shown a "pattern of deception" in its disclosures on employee compensation, Cummings said. The insurer, based in New York, agreed in September to turn over majority control to the government in exchange for a federal rescue.