Haiku 031809

new dawn
melting snow and ice
seeking the pond

***************

Washington Post: "Congress moves to impose hefty tax on AIG execs' $165M bonuses"

"Senior White House officials said last night that President Obama did not learn that bonuses worth $165 million were to be paid to executives of American International Group until Thursday, one day before they were issued and two days after his Treasury secretary was informed that the payments were going forward….

"As Geithner and other Obama aides continued to scramble to pull back the bonuses and calm the public furor they sparked, Congress was preparing its own remedies. In what they acknowledged would be an extraordinary move, leading Democrats proposed using the tax code to punish executives at the firm, in which the federal government controls an 80 percent stake, unless those payouts are surrendered voluntarily.

"Action on the legislation could begin as early as today in the Senate. A proposal from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel's ranking Republican, Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), would levy an excise tax on AIG and the executives who received the payments, adding up to more than 90 percent of the total of the bonuses. That tax would also apply to future bonuses awarded, either by AIG or by other firms receiving federal aid…."

***************

.... Isn't the U.S. at war? In Iraq and Afghanistan? Isn't there probable cause to simply charge these executives with economic sabotage and treason? They did help bring the country's financial system to the brink of collapse -- in the midst of a war! That should send a stern message....