Posted on 03/26/2009 4:27:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
The enraged mob came to the doors of Congress in the dead of night with their torches glowing, their pitchforks raised, and their voices screaming for the blood of anyone from A.I.G. In response, 85 alleged Republicans from the House of Representatives threw them the rule of law, bits of our Constitution, and the legally binding contracts of fellow Americans as a way to not only appease the unbalanced anger, but as a cowardly way to ensure their self-preservation.
These Republicans, along with the predictable Democrats, voted to slap an un-American 90% punitive tax on the bonuses paid to any employee of a bailed-out institution with a household income higher that $250,000. It is for this reason and many others, that I now refer to myself as an “Independent Conservative” rather than a Republican.
Not only should the Republicans and Democrats who voted for this socialist inspired tax be ashamed of themselves, but for the good of our nation, every Member of Congress and the Administration should consider resignation so the American people can have a chance to put some adults in place before it’s too late. Has there ever been a point in our nation’s history when our government has been so leaderless, so spineless, or so clueless?
No one wants bonuses going to people who did not earn them or put us in peril. Beyond that obvious conclusion, it’s important to note that not everyone getting bonuses at these bailed-out companies were involved in cooking the books. Just as not every Member of Congress, this Administration and the past Administration, was involved in enabling the greatest economic crisis of our lifetimes. Only certain individuals. Should the salaries of those individuals also be federally taxed at ninety percent? Why stop there? Who else can we slap a socialist tax on?
Leaving aside the selfish, embarrassing, and transparent reasons for the House of Representatives pushed for this tax, there is a much greater reason to condemn the act. That being the personal safety of some of these financial employees. When you have Members of Congress themselves fanning the flames of hate that fuel the angry and uninformed mob, is it any wonder that these targeted American citizens are starting to wonder which country they live in or who they can to turn for protection?
Make no mistake. Employees of these companies -- labeled “Guilty by association” in the court of public and Congressional opinion -- are getting death threats. To the point where a spokesperson for A.I.G. said, “However someone may feel about the appropriateness of the retention payments, there is nothing appropriate about the threats that people have made to and about employees.”
When is enough, enough for certain Members of Congress and the media? Do some of these employees -- again, the vast majority innocent of the vile acts perpetrated by a few -- have to be burned out of their homes, injured, or even killed before they feel they’ve gotten their pound of flesh?
As this surreal process played out, one banker is quoted as saying, “It’s like a McCarthy witch-hunt. This is the most profoundly anti-American thing I’ve ever seen.”
Agreed. Who can rescue us from those pretending to rescue us?
When are our pathetic “representatives” going to go after George Soros, who has made over a BILLION dollars bringing down the dollar and wiping out trillions of dollars of American wealth in the past year, just as he did the British pound earlier in his checkered past.
Yesterday, he was bragging about how much money he made in his hedge fund by manipulating our currency...but BO, the Democrats, and these despicable Republicans are silent as this malignant international pariah loots our economy. Instead, they terrorize the AIG small fish who got legal bonuses. Shame on our government.
To do what they did after the fact to deflect blame is downright disgusting.
The country cannot survive the shallow childish “leadership” that is currently in charge. If the adults don't step in soon we headed for a very dark future.
Put the their phone numbers in your cell phone and call and call often use the USPS to send letters to their local office.
There are many, many dozens of better reasons to get exercized over than the tax on the egregious AIG bonuses.
Speaking personally I wouldn’t lose one wink of sleep if the AIG bonuses were taxed at 120% and their recipients clapped in irons and thrown in the Stockade along with Madoff.
Yes, it is a punitive tax, yes it is overly selective, and no it is not a nice thing to do — in fact it is bad tax policy. Do I care? Not one whit. In the grand scale of the Antichrist’s first 100 days in office, this one is a minor outrage — an inconveniece that affects only a few greedy and incompetent executives. Cry me a river: my heart is hardened and I am unmoved by calls for sympathy.
It is a side-show and a smokescreen: there are larger, more evil games afoot, andthis is designed to take our eyes off the ball. Don’t fall for it!
Republicans voting Aye:
Aderholt
Alexander
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Blunt
Bono Mack
Boozman
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Buchanan
Calvert
Camp
Cantor
Cao
Capito
Cassidy
Castle
Crenshaw
Davis (KY)
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
Fleming
Forbes
Fortenberry
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gerlach
Goodlatte
Guthrie
Heller
Herger
Hoekstra
Johnson (IL)
Jones
Kirk
Lance
Latham
Lee (NY)
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Manzullo
McCaul
McClintock
McHugh
McMorris Rodgers
Mica
Miller (MI)
Moran (KS)
Petri
Platts
Putnam
Rehberg
Reichert
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Schmidt
Schock
Shimkus
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stearns
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden
Wamp
Whitfield
Wittman
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
“an inconveniece that affects only a few greedy and incompetent executives”
Would it were that easy. It’s going to hurt a lot of people who were, in fact, busting their rears to re-earn the funds required to pay back the bailouts.
The failure was congress not setting the terms of providing taxpayer money beforehand.
You may find this enlightening:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?_r=2
Tom McClintock voted to selectively tax individuals at a 90% rate???
My Congressman voted aye on this un-American, un-Constitutional bill.
He just earned himself opposition in 2010.
I have supported him, and would have continued to support him. But no longer.
Welcome to the club. There are a lot of us out here. Have been for many years.
I agree with both your points. But I maintain that in the grand scheme of things, this tax is a side-issue designed to divert attention from bigger problems. And the dam’nable thing about it is that it is working beautifully!
Yes it is wrong. Abortion is wronger — if that’s a word. Gutting the military is even more wronger. Establishing his Brown Shirts is even wronger still. His foreign policy shifts are beyond astonishing — they are outrageous!
And evrybody has been successfully diverted with a minor tax policy that will wrongfully victimize a few greedy men.
I’m sorry but I just cannot work up a sweat over that, given the other more important things to worry about.
Thanks for posting. I am happy to see my Rep voted no.
Post# 15 is also for you
The reason to be outraged has nothing to do with anyones opinion of if the AIG bonuses were proper. The outrage must be because the whole episode is a lie on top of a lie on top of a lie. To condone the “targeted tax confiscation” of a select group of people by passing a retroactive law is blatantly unconstitutional and despicable in and of itself. To not be outraged over the actions of attorneys general of N.Y. and N.J., which threatened to “name names” of private citizens, is setting the stage for allowing an out of control government to engage in personal destruction. Finally, to allow lawmakers that passed a bill without reading it, as well as the administration, which put the language into the bill in the first place to whip the public into outrage at the wrong target is just plane stupid. We need to take back the government, impeach Obama and recall ALL the Congress Critters now, while we still have the freedom to do so.
It starts with the little things.
When you are willing to through a small minority to the wolves sooner or later it ends up being your family...
I don’t disagree that it is a distraction and that there are far worse things happening.
But it is another data point of where congresses ethos is - and it isn’t pretty.
Most of the bonuses were entirely legal and proper. These are people, some hired specifically to fix the problem after the meltdown, with expertise. They were being paid at a market level. As in the case of the SVP resigning in the NYT, some accepted $1 salaries and a “retention” bonus conditioned on completion of specified tasks. The head of AIGFP was hired in November!
Your comments about taxing them at 120% and throwing them in irons relies on ignorance of the actual circumstances. It is as much a manifestation of mob hysteria as the Congressional hearings and legislation.
And this is not a sideshow. This is part of the main event. It is the obvious vanguard action of the class war which will shortly destroy this country.
Mr. Stalin, go ahead and kill all those Kulaks but we reserve the right to disagree with your economic philosophy.
GIVE ME A BREAK!
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