Congressional "super tax" on AIG bonuses is unconstitutional

All this week, the media has been buzzing with news of people who are angry about the bonuses AIG paid out to their employees after receiving $170 billion in federal bailout money. While I agree that bonuses seem distasteful, especially given how tight the market is right now, I object to the class warfare mentality that has erupted over what is essentially AIG fulfilling its contractual obligations. The fact that we don't like it has no merit. Congress is way out of line by suggesting a 100% "super tax" on those bonuses.

"Recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all of their money," declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an unusually strong threat delivered on the Senate floor.

"If you don't return it on your own, we will do it for you," echoed Chuck Schumer of New York.
[...]
At least three Democratic bills and one Republican measure were introduced to crack down on the Treasury Department and stiffen rules for recipients of bailout funds. Two bills in the House aimed to impose a 100 percent tax on the bonuses.

Before our legislators get ahead of themselves, perhaps they need to re-read Article 1, section 9, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution:

"No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

Outlawing something after the fact is illegal. Targeting a person or group of persons with the U.S. tax code is illegal, especially when our legislators are declaring these AIG execs guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. As a supposed Constitutional scholar, President Obama should be the first one calling down this ridiculous rush to judgment.

As someone who's been laid off twice in the past two years (and am still struggling to find a job), I can identify with the frustration against those who are receiving vast sums of money while others have it rough. But things will always be that way. There will always be someone who makes less than someone else, and could make an argument that the government should take from those with more and give to those with less. But that's NOT how our country was founded. We are NOT a socialist nation and we should not be fooled into abandoning our laws and our history by penalizing wealth, no matter how some may feel about it.

If AIG's board of directors wants to contravene their contracts with their executives, that's their decision. Let these execs sue for their bonuses and see how far that gets them. But regardless of how much the U.S. government is now involved with these banks, there are Constitutional limits on Congress. Which is precisely why the government has no business bailing out these businesses to begin with.