Taxing AIG Bonuses

I am all for the outrage on AIG paying out millions of dollars in bonuses. I will even suspend my usual arguments about free market economies because this is a special case where if the government hadn't stepped in the company would have gone bankrupt and I would be slightly poorer than I am now as I would lose the $500 or so my AIG shares are worth.

If we don't want AIG to spend our money on bonuses that is fine, as shareholders we have a say as to how the company is run. The government could even just mandate that firms that get bailout dollars not pay exorbitant bonuses - I actually thought that had already been done, I guess it was not done retroactively.

Trying to recoup that money via taxes is a terrible idea. Absolutely terrible and stupid. In my opinion this is one of the biggest misuses of legislative power I have ever seen. The tax code is a tax code, not a method for implementing policy, and especially not a method for addressing people being pissed off.

By modifying the tax code Congress is able to implement a retroactive law, which is usually specifically prohibited by the Constitution. I am way more pissed off at Congressional Democrats for pandering to the pissed off people by using a completely ridiculous, unethical and illogical method to get back money than I am at AIG for paying that money in the first place.

For once in my life I hope the Republicans who are opposing this law succeed. This is a gross violating of the Constitution, and I am appalled that people actually support this subversion of the intent of the law.