Posted on 03/17/2009 9:49:20 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.” Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3
“The $165 million in bonuses set to go to American International Group executives would be taxed at 100 percent under a new bill introduced Tuesday in the House. The sponsor of the new bill, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), said Tuesday that “if we can’t kill the bonuses, we’ll tax the bonuses.” — Newsday, March 17, 2009
Weren’t the Dems the ones always complaining about the supposed trampling of constitutional rights by the Bush administration?
But now that they’re in power, looks like they won’t hesitate to junk the Constitution for purposes of political grandstanding. No politician can go wrong by beating his chest over the AIG bonuses. Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) and some of his colleagues want to take things further: imposing a 100% tax on the bonuses granted to AIG employees.
(Excerpt) Read more at finkelblog.com ...
Bill of attainder ping to Today show list.
The Dim-o-crats trying to repair the AIG mess . . . If the current economical book of errors wasn’t so serious, this particular chapter would be downright funny.
The government is trying to create discrimination against AIG for the “rich” employees who were working there while some of their colleagues screwed up in getting the company way too far into CDS (credit-default swaps) that sunk a once great company. These employees getting bonuses have lost all of their 401k’s (for many this was considerable), stock savings and retirements. The bonuses were paid for retention (continuing to work there to keep the company going) as part of a contract to keep the company afloat while it works out its issues and gets more taxpayer dollars.
Now that they have taken the retention bonuses, many of these employees will leave AIG. I hope the federal government starts developing some insurance expertise as they will need to run AIG to be able to hopefully recoup some of the bailout money that has been lent to AIG.
The federal government has no business sticking its nose in and demonizing retention bonuses. They should stick their nose back somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.
Bill Clinton passed a retroactive tax law. Why can’t The Messiah?
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.”
This is not the case... Tax law very often changes in the middle of the year, and it effects moneys earned for that year, even moneys earned before the change.
Didn't Zero read line by line like he said he was going to do?
We don’t need no steenking constitution.
Ain’t that the truth.
I was wrong.
I’m not focusing on the ex post facto nature but on the bill of attainder—that it singles out a group of individuals for punishment.
“I’m not focusing on the ex post facto nature but on the bill of attainder—that it singles out a group of individuals for punishment.”
This is also done all the time. i.e.; tobacco taxes, fuel taxes, death taxes, tax penalties for early withdraw from IRS’s... The list goes on and on.
He did go line by line through the federal budget but the only thing he could find to cut is the dept. of defense. They get a ten percent cut across the board and more to come.
I don’t agree with the bonuses that people at AIG got, but was it legal? If it was, then Congress is to blame, not the people that got the bonuses.
EX POST FACTO laws are PERFECTLY legal in non-criminal cases, the US Supremes has ALREADY ruled. Historically, Ex Post Facto laws are most often used in tax law and gun control law situations.
I’m focusing on the bill of attainder, not the ex post facto, nature of the law. It would single out a group of individuals for punishment.
TRUE! Just like white Americans were singled out for punishment by the “Affirmative Action” Bills of Attainder!
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