Did Congress Just Pass a Bill of Attainder?

Michelle Malkin has the roll call vote of the 85 House Republicans who supported Rangel’s 90 percent bonus tax on AIG employees.

You know which vote I’m talking about — the ex post facto law and Bill of Attainder under the guise of a targeted tax bill?

In a decade where I’ve seen more corruption, greed, and dishonesty from Congress than I thought imaginable, this theft of tax dollars is perhaps the most alarming and disturbing act yet. This piece of legislation is outright confiscation. It has nothing to do with Congress’ powers to raise revenue, and in fact, is probably well beyond their powers under the Constitution.

Sen. Chriss Dodd added an amendment to the stimulus bill that specifically allowed these bonuses. Because the bonuses were contractual and legal payments. President Barack Obama, after assuring us all that he read the entire 1000 page stimulus bill over night, signed the stimulus bill into law. To include Dodd’s bonus permitting amendment.

And now, President Obama and Congress want us to believe that they are stunned — STUNNED! I tell you — to find out about the bonuses?

Liars.

Anyway…after reading the roll call vote, I was dismayed and exceptionally dissapointed to see that my Congressman, Mike McCaul (R-TX10) voted for this abuse of power.

Here is the letter I just fired off to his office. I’ll follow it up with a phone call on Monday morning:

Congressman McCaul,

I want to ask you a couple of direct questions about your vote for HR 1586. Even though, as my experience with you office has been in the past, I don’t expect you or your staff to respond honestly and directly to this letter. In fact, I don’t expect you to respond at all.

Which is unfortunate. Not only am I the most influential Conservative blogger in Austin, but I am also a resident of your district that has twice voted to elect you to Congress. Sadly, I don’t think you care who I am, that I am a voter in your district, or that I am someone who has supported you in the past, but am now someone who is wavering in my support.

First, did you read the the $787 billion stimulus last month?

If so, then surely you read the amendment added by your Congressional colleague, Sen. Chris Dodd, that specified that the AIG bonuses were specifically allowed and that these bonuses were provided to retain knowledgeable employees to help unravel the damage in the financial markets.

If you were unaware of this amendment and unaware that Congress had specifically allowed these bonuses to be paid, then you have failed to do your job as my representative by not reading and understanding the legislation on which you are voting.

Secondly, Congressman McCaul, how do you justify your vote FOR HR 1586, a targeted tax bill that was legally and contractually paid to American citizens?

This targeted tax bill has the intent of being an ex post facto law and of being a Bill of Attainder, both of which violate the Constitution of the United States of America.

Congressman McCaul, with this vote, you have shown your populist tendencies. And if it passes, then Congress will have set a dangerous and unacceptable precedent that would allow it to seize the rightfully earned pay of honest American citizens — on nothing more than a whim by our own Congress.

Who is next, Congressman? Oil executives? Defense contractors?

I eagerly await your explanation as to how you justify stealing money from a targeted group of Us Citizens.