'The Battle Over the A.I.G. Bonuses: Class War in the Media
Monday 23 March 2009
by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t Perspective
The debate over the A.I.G. bonuses is class war in its full naked glory. On the surface, everyone agreed that paying multi-million bonuses to the folks who bankrupted their company and handed the taxpayers a bill for $170 billion ($2,300 for a family of four) was outrageous. The difference is between the angry masses, who actually want to take back the bonuses, and the elites who insist that there is nothing that can be done.
In spite of the superior education of the elites, the masses have the much better argument. As a result, the elites have been desperately cooking up excuse after excuse as to why their well-heeled friends at A.I.G. and the bankrupt banks shouldn't lose their bonuses.
The first line of defense against measures to retake the bonuses, such as the tax passed by the House, was that retroactive taxes that apply to income already "earned," are unfair. This one carries little weight to those who can remember back to 1993 when President Clinton signed a tax bill in August 1993 that increased taxes on income earned since January: Masses 1, Elites 0.
The second line was a moral plea that the A.I.G. crew and other Wall Street bonus babies had worked for their money. While most did show up at the office, the value of their "work" is questionable. More substantively, the elites have been perfectly happy in other circumstances to take away money that people have worked for. For example, Congress changed the rules on Social Security so that beneficiaries cannot get the benefits they paid for while they are in prison: Masses 2, Elites 0.'
Monday 23 March 2009
by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t Perspective
The debate over the A.I.G. bonuses is class war in its full naked glory. On the surface, everyone agreed that paying multi-million bonuses to the folks who bankrupted their company and handed the taxpayers a bill for $170 billion ($2,300 for a family of four) was outrageous. The difference is between the angry masses, who actually want to take back the bonuses, and the elites who insist that there is nothing that can be done.
In spite of the superior education of the elites, the masses have the much better argument. As a result, the elites have been desperately cooking up excuse after excuse as to why their well-heeled friends at A.I.G. and the bankrupt banks shouldn't lose their bonuses.
The first line of defense against measures to retake the bonuses, such as the tax passed by the House, was that retroactive taxes that apply to income already "earned," are unfair. This one carries little weight to those who can remember back to 1993 when President Clinton signed a tax bill in August 1993 that increased taxes on income earned since January: Masses 1, Elites 0.
The second line was a moral plea that the A.I.G. crew and other Wall Street bonus babies had worked for their money. While most did show up at the office, the value of their "work" is questionable. More substantively, the elites have been perfectly happy in other circumstances to take away money that people have worked for. For example, Congress changed the rules on Social Security so that beneficiaries cannot get the benefits they paid for while they are in prison: Masses 2, Elites 0.'
Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/032309J
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