OUTRAGEOUS!

I'm not talking about the AIG bonuses. I'm talking about Congress.

Our humble House of Representatives, public servants all, just passed a 90% tax on bonuses paid by companies that have accepted bailout money from the government. It is not likely that this 90% tax will pass the Senate, and therefore not likely it will become law. But the mere fact that the House passed this bill at all is outrageous: an affront to our Constitution, our commitment to the rule of law, our distinctively American culture, and our fundamental way of life.

The vote was a staggeringly impossible 328 to 93 in favor of the tax. To their credit, 87 House Republicans voted against the bill, versus only 6 Democrats; but to their shame, 85 Republicans voted with the majority in favor of the bill. Who would have supposed that an American political body, the envy of the world for its supposed commitment to liberal (in the classic sense) ideals, would choose so decisively to trash those liberal ideals?

Is the bailout/bonus tax constitutional? The tax is worded as a general tax on all bonuses paid in 2009 and beyond by companies who received Federal bailout money, and as such is probably prima facie constitutional. But the demagoguery accompanying passage of the bill makes it explicitly clear that the Congressional intention was to confiscate the $165 million in bonuses paid by AIG, which is clearly unconstitutional.

I have no doubt that legal scholars, Ivy League law journals and opinion makers in general will be able to parse the question and produce a cacophony of answers in favor of both sides of the issue. Then, ten years down the road the Supreme Court will weigh in on this legal mish-mash, and by a stalwart and uncompromising 5-4 vote end the controversy by deciding either for or against the proposition. I am equally sure that the Court's final judgment will include no less than 7 separate concurring and dissenting opinions, none of which will adduce any consistent principle in common with the others.

So, whether it's constitutional is really not the question. The question is whether the citizens of these United States want to live in the kind of country that would do this sort of thing.

Let's be clear right up front: at no time have our Representatives in Congress voiced anything like a claim that these AIG bonuses were illegal, nor has any Attorney General of the State or Federal governments alleged anything approaching an indictable offense under law.

To be continued ...

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