Mar 23 2009
President Obama is against massive tax on bonuses
President Obama, on 60 Minutes last night, signaled that he was against putting a 90% tax on the bonuses that the financial executives in companies that were bailed out by the government recieved.
This is a move where he is going against the majority of America. He did this when he signed the first bailout bill, and now he is going against the will of America again. There has been a public outcry against these bonuses. Afterall, the banks are being run so badly that they needed federal taxpayer money to bail them out - - - so what do the executives need bonuses for? Certainly not good management.
But Congress, and the President, knew that these bonuses would be paid. They were told so by the lawyers involved in crafting the bill. In the bailout bill, there was originally language that restricted the mnoey to not be used for bonuses. However, that language was taken out of the bill somewhere along the way.
It is absurd that we are spending so much taxpayer money to bail out banks, and even more absurd that they get to spend it on the bonuses. Trying to get the money back through taxes won’t work. That is simply being retroactive - there was already an option to prevent this from occuring, no one took it, and so now Congress is upset because of the public backlash.
The right time to be concerned is before you give the money, not afterwards.
