Annoyed at Stupid People

So why exactly do you pay people for work they haven't done yet?
This is the question I choose to explore in my first blog. This question is of course a direct result of the current scandal involving AIG and their bonuses totaling about $165 million. These bonuses were lined up for these people from before the financial crisis and before they did any of the work they were supposedly getting paid for. And it comes as no small surprise that the previous administration (the Bushies) approved the bonuses after AIG received a taxpayer funded bailout. Why did the previous president see it fit to approve such extravagant "private funding" when the American people (and China) were funding the same institution very, very publicly?
To me the most amusing part of this whole mess is the fact that Republicans are blaming President Obama and his administration for both AIG and general economic crisis. Ummm, news flash boys and girls...this is a direct result of the deregulation encouraged and introduced while you were in power. Your buddies are the ones that left the current government to deal with the mess that they created. And while some may say that I am spouting the leftist propaganda, I must say I AGREE because the so-called "propaganda" of the Democratic party happens to be the truth.Do not blame someone else for the problems you created.Do not point out the speck in another's eye while you have a log sticking out of your own (sound familiar?).
So I return to my original question, why are we paying people for work they had, at the time, not yet completed? Even past this point, there remains the fact that the work was absolutely terrible and responsible for the downfall of a company and the economy. If someone can answer this question I would be grateful.