The Height of Hypocrisy
Well, the U.S. House of Representatives is at it again. They just passed a bill to tax the AIG bonuses at 90%…….that’s right 90%! The U.S. House of Representatives just inserted themselves into the contractual business between AIG and its employees; a place the Federal Government has no place being.
I wish that was the worst of it, but it is not. Consider this; the bill that was just passed is a VIOLATION of the CONSTITUTION. You know, the Constitution of the United States of America. For those who to have forgotten, is the LAW OF THE LAND and it is the job of the Congress to uphold it. Instead of upholding it, they put it through the shredder today in yet one more piece of “panic legislation” that they rushed through the Congress without consider the ramifications of their actions. This piece of legislation is a retroactive law passed against a company that made them mad. This company did not break the law; they made people mad. Think about that. Do we really want a precedent in this country where reactive legislation is passed because someone got ANGRY? What are the ramifications of that? And what happened to Article I section 9 of the Constitution that states “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”? For those who do not know, a Bill of Attainder is a bill or act of legislation that singles out a PARTICULAR group of people for punishment without the BENEFIT OF A TRIAL. Now, think about THAT for a minute. Is that a precedent you want in this country?
Let us take a minute and look at how all of this actually began. Back in the fall, we started this mess with TARP one, then we bailed out the Auto companies, we had TARP two, the Stimulus package, the Omnibus Spending Bill, and suddenly the elected officials realized that the public was TIRED of it. So now, they need a scapegoat. In order to take the attention off of those who actually VOTED to spend 3.4 trillion…let me repeat that…TRILLION dollars, they are going to pass a Bill of Attainder to recoup 165 million. Let me show you that with the zeros: 3,500,000,000,000 (3.5 trillion) to 165,000,000 (165 million). The amount of TARP that AIG received was 150 billion. So, the issue of these bonuses is outrage over the equivalent of one measly dime being pulled out of a pile of money valued at $1,000. This was a classic CYA (cover your own ass) on the part of the House of Representatives. Turn the focus away from what THEY voted on, find a scapegoat, pass an unconstitutional piece of legislation, and feign so much “outrage” as to fool the American public once again. Well, American Public, if your fooled once again, shame on you.
Keep in mind that this is coming from a group of people who IGNORED the public sentiment when it came to the numerous bailouts in the first place. This is coming from a group of people who chose to vote a pay raise for themselves in the middle of what THEY have called the “worst economic crisis since the Great Depression”. This comes from a group of people who make on average $174,000 JUST for serving in the Senate or Congress http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_go_co/congress_pay Maybe these guys should volunteer to work for $1 a year until this mess is cleaned up. To me, their protestations concerning the AIG bonuses are falling flat.
To my elected officials: I am capable of seeing the bigger picture. Cut it out! Stop the blame game (unless you are looking in the mirror). Stop the spending. Start the cutting. Oh, and one more thing…….READ THE CONSTITUTION!
Oh….and while they were crying foul over 165 million, the Fed pumped ONE TRILLION into the treasury. That means they made up ONE TRILLIONS dollars yesterday that we….do….not…have.
ESTHER
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