The AIG 73

As I said before, of all the outrages over the constitution being used as a table napkin over the past decade, taxing these assholes doesn't even register a blip. Worrying about taxing these guys ex post facto, with all the other shit going on, is the equivalent of fiddling while Rome burns.

Grab the pitchforks if this one sends you over the edge.

 

False choice, false choice, false choice.

What on earth does past Constitutional problems have to do with whether or not this law is Constitutional? Wait, I'll answer that: Nothing.

 

Besides, I thought this administration was about Change.

 

It appears that Obama became aware of these AIG bonuses last Wednesday. At that point he would have had the opportunity to stop them but for whatever reason chose not to. It seems like he only changed his mind when it hit the fan on Monday - post bonus.

 

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways." [/crossthreading]

 

When do we get to be upset about all the BS at Fannie Mae? They've just announced that bone-us payments will be coming to their folks, too.

Oh, that's right. Obama and Dodd and Frank are wholly owned subsidiaries of Fannie Mae. That makes it alright.

 

I kind of agree with Rick. Not only is it ex post facto, but it can also be considered a bill of attainder, which essentially declares the people getting the bonuses guilty of a crime and punishes them without benefit of a trial.

Last time I looked up Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the Constitution, that was expressly forbidden as well.

 

But...But...People are MAD!!!!!

If they can do it to AIG they can do it to any of us.

 

There's quite a bit of truth to this. The outrage over the bonuses is odd when you consider the greater issues out there still broken. These bonuses are a literal drop in the bucket compared to the bigger picture.

 

I'd rather have the right amount of outrage come way too late and be directed at a subset of the people responsible than have no outrage at all.

 

There's no doubt the outrage is good in that it forced everyone involved to take a closer look at this particular situation. Does anyone believe ANY of the bonuses would have been returned if not for the outrage?

However, let's remember this situation is only a microcosm of a much uglier picture.

 

And the fact remains that every grandstanding fuck on the Hill had a chance to get that clause removed or raise holy hell about its inclusion before the bill was passed and not one of them uttered a peep of protest until it was too late to do anything about it legally.