Bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and laws impairing the obligations of contracts, are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation. ... The sober people of America are weary of the fluctuating policy which has directed the public councils. They have seen with regret and indignation that sudden changes and legislative interferences, in cases affecting personal rights, become jobs in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the more-industrious and less-informed part of the community.
James Madison, Federalist Number 44, 1788.
While this statement certainly applies to this increasingly sickening spectacle, what Congress did just a few hours ago is not unconstitutional for being a bill of attainder. Whether its actions are unconstitutional under general principles of federalism is another story for another diary (and another diarist).
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