It's become pretty obvious to anyone following the AIG (AIG) bonus drama that one way or another, those financial products executives are not going to keep their big fat bonuses. Whether its taxes or public ridicule, the government is determined to stop those bonuses from being paid.
In fact, the mess needs a name: BonusGate!
We're walking on dangerous ground when the government arbitrarily interferes with private contracts as it sees fit. Making new laws to heavily tax those bonuses is obviously discriminatory when they haven't similarly punished other bailout-money recipients. The government also wants to name names, which would be disastrous for the personal safety of anyone that received a bonus. It would simply be criminal to put any of those names in the public record - somebody would die.
This mess will be an effective test of just how far the Obama administration and other government officials will go in trying to appease an angry public. But when you take $1 million from a guy who probably made $20 million between 2003 and 2007, you're not really punishing him. You're just taking away a new ski house or Ferrari. It's an inconvenience.
I'm left with no emotion on BonusGate. It's just a sideshow for politicians pretending they give a damn. They took tons of money from the companies that they're crucifying and all of a sudden they want to get tough and regulate. Please.
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
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