03/23/09

“We are a country of laws”, so sayeth Larence Summers the director of the Presidents Economic council. President Obama told Steve Croft of 60 Minutes “that we cannot govern out of anger”. Timothy Geitner signed off on the ridiculous bonuses paid to AIG executives. After discovering these atrosities to common sense, Congress proposed a 90% tax on these bonuses. Obama is not sure he is in favor of this approach; he said it might be akin to “cuttting off our nose to spite our face”. That’s a unique take on saving face, a face that has already been beaten to a pulp by the same arrogant thugs on Wall Street who got us into this mess in the first place. The income tax on the wealthy was 91% during the 1940s and well into the 1950s and this taxation level was kept in place under both Democratic and Republican Presidents.

Since we now have a major stake in these firms perhaps a few levelheaded citizens should be place on the boards of directors to represent the American people to add some common sense, something that is lacking in the Federal response.