Give Them Enough Power And They *Will* Abuse It

This is just beautiful.  Because they are so outraged at the AIG bonuses, members of the US Congress are seeking ways to “get the money back.”

Still, lawmakers are moving quickly to take the initiative in responding to the public outcry. Montana Democrat Max Baucus and Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, proposed taxes totaling 70 percent on companies and individuals getting bonuses at firms that receive federal aid.

The tax would apply to bonuses over $50,000 paid out beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, and to the full amount of any retention bonuses, the two senators said.

Pelosi directed House committees to draft several alternatives and said her chamber may consider a bill as early as this week. Other lawmakers introduced their own plans.

Using the power it has to manipulate the tax code, and to make changes to tax law retroactive, the government is going after a very small set of citizens for political reasons.  That’s not supposed to happen.  What about “equal protection under the law” (i.e., not targeting specific citizens) and due process (meaningless, in light of retroactive laws)?

This demonstrates exactly why we should be very wary of transferring ever more power to the government.  Once they have it, regardless under what pretense they request and are granted it, it is inevitable that they will use it in ways that were never intended.  In the heat of a political moment, they will twist their power to advance their current agenda.  In this case, they’re not taxing specific citizens by name — a power they do not have — but they are using the power they do have to manipulate the tax code to achieve the same effect — exacting retribution on law-abiding citizens to placate the angry hoard.

UPDATE (3/19): I’m happy to see people with more knowledge of constitutional law than I have, pointing out the issues with this approach:

Two of those difficulties, lawyers say, lie in Article I of the U.S. Constitution — a section stating Congress cannot pass any “Bill of Attainder” or “ex post facto” law.

A Bill of Attainder is an act of the legislature that singles out and punishes a group or individual without trial. An ex post facto law retroactively changes the legal consequences of an act.

But hey, we’re talking about Congress, here. Why would they let a little thing like the US Constitution get in the way of political opportunism?