Violation of the US Constitution
March 20, 2009 – 10:55 PM | by Michael P. JohnsonCan any more blatant violation of the United States Constitution have occurred in it’s history as the passing of the 90% tax against bonuses? I’m no expert on the law but in my opinion the answer is no. It’s an outrageous act! I can only wonder where the Constitution will be ignored next or who will be targeted next.
I’m not defending AIG. The bonuses should not go out. In fact, I don’t really understand why some of those people are even still employed. But AIG is not the only one culpable in this fiasco. And I fear this will not be the last case of impropriety we will learn of. Either by a company receiving government funds or by the government wasting tax payer money.
According to the US Constitution’s Article 1, Section 9, line 3:
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.”
A Bill of Attainder is defined as a legislative act declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. It is clear in my mind that a law was passed to punish the executives who received bonuses. Although I agree that they do not deserve the money their contracts promise, I fear the slippery slope and wonder when a law will be passed to punish a group that I fall into. I also wonder when an act or event will take place and the government will take a shot at ignoring my right to keep and bear arms.
“It won’t happen”, you say. But I’m no longer so sure.
The thought that has me very afraid is the idea of the class warfare that the Obama administration seems to be inciting. The strange chain of events as to how this bill was passed through without safe guards in place to stop the issuing of bonuses could be interpreted as collusion. That they are attempting to incite anger and fear between the haves and the have-nots. No one will win this struggle. No one.
One of the great and often repeated qualities of growing up and living in The United States has always been the idea that anyone can grow up and do or become anything they want. It’s just a matter of how much effort and hard work someone puts into their dream. But what is going on now is a destruction of the incentive to achieve great things. I am not rich. But would like to be someday. How is that ever to be possible with people hating the rich?
The sole fact of being rich did not bring us to our current calamity. The evil greed and unscrupulous practices of many at the top brought us here. Many at the bottom allowed themselves to be saddled with too much debt and tricked into believing they could live beyond their means. Or that they could get something for nothing. Creating circumstances that brought us to where we are today. We are all at fault! We are at fault for electing the people in power. For allowing them, over many generations, to morph the political system into something that I don’t recognize as a respectable way of life.
Yes, the Bush administration was a failure on many counts. But so far the Obama administration is showing no sign of altering that course. I am only left to wonder where it will all end? And if I will be ready when it goes horribly wrong?
Tags: AIG, Constitution, law, Obama
3 Responses to “Violation of the US Constitution”
By Bishop on Mar 21, 2009 | Reply
Not to mention that this seems very “ex post facto” to me. They are passing a retroactive tax on money that was already contracted to be paid, and has been paid in accordance with that contract. That just seems fundamentally wrong.
By Michael P. Johnson on Mar 21, 2009 | Reply
True. I’m so angry with the way our government has handled the whole economy since last summer. The bailouts and stimulus packages are such a joke. It’s a reaction based upon fear and has very little planning or thought behind it. The Enron-like mindset that has brought us to this point and the fact that these so-called business people are allowed to continue working after losing billions and trillions of dollars is outrageous.
I would lose my job for a lot less irresponsibility and mistaken planning than these so-called financial geniuses.
By delbertino on Mar 21, 2009 | Reply
The Bonus issue is distracting us from focussing on the fact that the fed needs to be shut down. Business is being blamed while the government adopts business tactics upon its citizens. Interest deductions from mortgages is being eliminated for some. The government is the bad guy and they are trying to lay it on business. Private property is their target. As long as democrats control the Judiciary, with their “Change the Constitution” agenda, there is no hope. Our congress is “Hoes” to the fed. The fed finances their campaigns. It’s hopeless. Our congress is cowards and whores. Thanx…