So, I just heard on the news that a bll has been introduced in the House to tax the AIG bonuses at a 100% tax rate.
This seems like a good idea to me for a start. Of course, the next step to me is to fire all the AIG execs who approved this and continued with it even though it was a monumentally stupid idea given the current climate.
But then I thought, will the Republicans actually support this idea?
I have been following politics for 25 years, and the times when I have seen Republicans support any kind of tax increase are so few and far between that I could number them on one hand. Maybe not literally, but their actions always seem to reflexively scream NO to any increase of taxes of any type.
I pulled up the House website and started making some calls to my local Texas reps with some interesting results. I first asked if they had heard of it. Several had, several hadn't, but no one knew any details at all. I then asked if they would support such an idea and of course, the staffers don't know but promised to find out. I then asked if they understood that this would appear to put the Republicans on the record as supporting a tax increase, since the "normal" tax rates would apply to bonuses as part of the pay.
At that point, they paused, swallowed hard, and then tried to come back and make a distinction that this was only to recover the money and wasn't the same as a tax increase. I pressed the point and said, "No, this is a TAX INCREASE, no matter how you try to slice it. Once you are on the record as supporting a tax increase, how can you then stick with the position of lower taxes across the board when you are willing to tax someone at a higher rate, especially a 100% rate?"
Crickets.....then they said that they would try to get the Representative's position and let me know.
Please make some calls and try to find out your Rep's position. Let's push them down the slippery slope together.