Taxation as a Weapon. Now I'm Scared.

Chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Charles Rangel (D-NY) have both gone on record as saying that if AIG executives that were paid the "deferred retention bonuses" this month (March 2009) do not voluntarily return those bonuses then the federal government will write a specific tax to recollect those monies.

I am entirely sympathetic with the majority of Americans who think that it's hard for a company to justify paying any kind of discretionary compensation to it's executives if the company itself is not profitable. That shows an arrogance and disconnect with reality that is just impossible for the common citizen to wrap their head around. AIG should never have written those contractual obligations to be enforceable in such a horrid economic climate.

On the other hand, for the United States federal government to use taxation as a weapon is a far more unjustifiable and frightening concept. I feel that this could be the precedent in a whole series of punitive taxes that can be used against anybody who does not 'toe the line' with the current administration. Remember that while tax law is enacted by Congress, it is enforced by the executive branch (ie: the President through the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department).

While I have been uncomfortable in the current economic crisis, it was only until this moment that I became truly frightened for what our country is becoming: A Police State.