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A very disturbing bill is being voted on now in Congress. As many of you know, AIG received a large sum of bailout money from the federal government, and there is now a well publicized criticism against AIG for giving $165 million in retainment bonuses. The government, furious over AIG's actions, has decided to take measures to neutralize what I agree to be a misuse of taxpayer money. However, the way in which the government has decided to go about this is truly unnerving, and sets a dangerous precedent that endangers the most basic liberties upon which the American government was created.

The House of Representatives has already passed this bill, and it is currently being debated in the Senate. Essentially, this bill would levy enormous taxes on bonuses given by AIG to its executives. Now this sounds like a good idea, right? The government is getting back its money that AIG spend on things that the government disapproved of. The fact is, however, that this is none other than a Bill of Attainder.

For those of you who do not know, a bill of attainder basically is a legislative act that sets a punishment against a person or group. Do you see? This bill violates the separation of powers and gives the Legislative Branch Judicial powers.</strong> Not only that, which is a serious breach of the Constitution, but <strong>this bill punishes AIG without giving them a fair trial. No matter what AIG has done, even if they were doing unimaginable evil deeds with that money, they still deserve a trial in which to state their case and defend themselves.

Now here comes the best(or I should say worst) part. The financial bailout bill in which AIG received the money that this scandal is about, was specifically engineered by several Congressmen, in particular Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a Democrat(you know, the guys who were the angriest about the corruption on wall street), who placed a loophole in the bill specifically designed to allow for executive bonuses. Every congressman, and President Obama, saw every part of this bill and knew about, and allowed, this loophole that caused this whole problem to pass.

Because what AIG did was specifically allowed for in the Bailout bill, they did nothing illegal, and are being punished simply because the government does not like what they did. No matter what your politics, no matter how much you dislike AIG(and trust me, I am no fan either), you cannot deny that this tax is unacceptable without the due process of law, which they are being denied by being refused a trial in court.

The major reason why the revolution was fought, and many argue was the cause of all the other reasons, was the use of bills of attainder by the British government. If the King asked Parliament to sign a Bill of Attainder to put you in jail, you were in jail, indefinitely, without trial, with no lawyer and no defense. Are we going to sit back as citizens and let our government violate the most basic principle on which our nation was founded? That liberty and freedom from tyranny must be guaranteed, and that no man may be imprisoned for something that is not a crime?

This precedent is dangerous. If the government can simply legislate punishment to one of the largest insurance companies in the world without any resistance, who is going to stop them from doing the very same thing to you and me. Our nation was never made of people who were willing to sit back and watch oppressive government begin. No matter how harmless it may seem to you now, who knows what will happen a decade down the road.

Americans, stand up for what is right! Pay attention to what the government is doing! Wake up and realize what the truth about government is. No matter who you support or what your political ideology may be, realize the immense dangers that are presented to us. After all, it is in times of crises when those who promise hope and those who promise us the answers rise to unimaginable power, unquestioned, unchallenged, until it is to late. And no matter how noble a person's intentions may be, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Please take heed of this. I hope that this article made you think. If you liked it, vote, comment, subscribe, all that good stuff. I will try to publish more about issues like this in the future.

In the words of Thomas Paine:
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.