The news media are all aflutter these days about the horrid bonus money being paid out to the AIG executives. Seems that Congress passed a law (one that no one read - but I don't think that is too unusual for them) that allowed bonus dollars to be paid out even if that company was in the tank and needed my tax dollars to keep it going.
Now, oh my! Such hand-wringing by Congress and the Administration about that money and passing the blame from Congress to Treasury to Congress, makes Washington look like stooges. What is even worse is the new law Congress hopes to pass that would TAX those bonuses upwards of 100%.
I don't like the fact that executives get big bonuses anyway. I once worked for a company that would split their earnings with all of the employees. The amount was based on seniority in the company and on the level of the employee. In other words, a Principle got less that the Senior Principle. Then, the CEO of the company felt he could earn a bundle by selling the company to a competitor. He did well by losing his job but getting around $5 million in severance. He had another job in less than 6 months but about 1,800 of our employees lost their job in this merger. And the remaining employees no longer shared in company profits.
With that sour taste in my mouth, I understand why folks are upset with these AIG weenies. But I think they should be even more upset at the way Congress is trying to 'GET EVEN' with AIG. I truly believe that taxing 100% of anything is bad and especially when the taxation is 'targeted' to a certain group.
What would happen if, one day, some Congressman got a letter from a constituent that he didn't like. Would he be able to generate a rider on an important bill that would tax 100% of that individuals income for a year? That is the slippery slope I see if Congress actually gets away with this. I truly believe that this form of taxation is unconstitutional.
I don't like income tax at all. I believe a better way is the Fair Tax. That way, you know exactly how much the government is taking from you each day!
Now, oh my! Such hand-wringing by Congress and the Administration about that money and passing the blame from Congress to Treasury to Congress, makes Washington look like stooges. What is even worse is the new law Congress hopes to pass that would TAX those bonuses upwards of 100%.
I don't like the fact that executives get big bonuses anyway. I once worked for a company that would split their earnings with all of the employees. The amount was based on seniority in the company and on the level of the employee. In other words, a Principle got less that the Senior Principle. Then, the CEO of the company felt he could earn a bundle by selling the company to a competitor. He did well by losing his job but getting around $5 million in severance. He had another job in less than 6 months but about 1,800 of our employees lost their job in this merger. And the remaining employees no longer shared in company profits.
With that sour taste in my mouth, I understand why folks are upset with these AIG weenies. But I think they should be even more upset at the way Congress is trying to 'GET EVEN' with AIG. I truly believe that taxing 100% of anything is bad and especially when the taxation is 'targeted' to a certain group.
What would happen if, one day, some Congressman got a letter from a constituent that he didn't like. Would he be able to generate a rider on an important bill that would tax 100% of that individuals income for a year? That is the slippery slope I see if Congress actually gets away with this. I truly believe that this form of taxation is unconstitutional.
I don't like income tax at all. I believe a better way is the Fair Tax. That way, you know exactly how much the government is taking from you each day!
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