Be mad at AIG (AIG).
Be madder still at what Congress is considering under the guise of punishing AIG....ideas the president is certainly open to, according to his press secretary.
Here's the deal:
Go ahead, hate AIG.
Hate the rescue.
Hate the snakes there trying to profit from the rescue.
Hate their bonuses.
Hate their greed.
Hate all that.
But hate what I’m about to tell you more than any of that.
A lot more.
Hate it more than any greed AIG executives are showing.
Because it doesn't hold a candle to the gall some in Congress are showing.
Senator Chris Dodd wants to take that bonus money and tax it at 98%.
That'll show 'em.
Maybe so, Senator.
But what exactly will it show?
That you didn't catch these guys before, when that massage weekend might have been a tip-off?
Or you just want to stick it to anyone with money now to claim the rich are the rip-off?
Frankly, I suspect it's both.
And frankly, I’m worried. Very worried.
Here's why:
This AIG thing is an excuse.
A golden opportunity to go for the gold.
To stick it to the rich.
To vilify folks whose greed you should have seen coming and use it as a Trojan horse to make a larger case against capitalism i know is coming.
But this isn't a Trojan horse.
This is a Trojan horse's ass.
And, my friends, what makes you think it stops at sticking it to today's villains de jour?
Or today's company execs' on the taxpayer dole?
What makes you think it stops with AIG?
Or with pay packages in general at Citigroup (C)?
What makes you think a clever Congressman intent on soaking the rich can start, first by soaking the bad rich.
Before extending that soaking to the kind-of-bad rich?
Then maybe the not bad at all rich?
Where does one draw the line in a fit of rage when no one's watching?
Until they wake up the next morning and discover everyone -- and I mean, everyone -- is paying
Cavuto: White House Wants to Take Stimulus Global
Win Over Main Street, Win Over Wall Street
