Feb 04 Michele Bachmann, The Constitution & The Rule of Law

After reading about the DCCC's latest baseless attack on Michele Bachmann, I'm thinking that their motto is to "Never let the facts get in the way of a good diatribe." Here's the heart of their statement:

"Bachmann voted to protect bonuses paid to AIG executives with American tax dollars," said Ryan Rudominer, the DCCC press secretary in a statement. "This morning, Americans heard that AIG executives are getting $100 million in bonuses despite still owing taxpayers more than $100 billion. While Representative Bachmann protects these outrageous Wall Street bonuses paid for by President Bush's bailout, Bachmann does nothing to help hardworking families. Clearly, Representative Bachmann is more concerned about Wall Street, than Main Street."

Last night, the WSJ's Stephen Moore confirmed that the bonuses being paid by AIG are to traders and that those bonuses are actual contractual obligations. An outside party, say for instance Congress, can't negate terms of existing contracts. Only a bankruptcy court can restructure contracts and then only if a company filed for bankruptcy.

It isn't that Michele is protecting "Wall Street executives." It's that she's voting for the rule of law.

It's worth noting, too, that Michele voted against the bailout because she felt that it was better if a bankruptcy court dealt with the problem rather than putting American taxpayers on the hook to the tune of $100,000,000,000 for bailing AIG out. BTW, had AIG been forced into bankruptcy court, that court could've negated or rewritten the contractual bonuses.

In short, Michele voted to maintain the rule of law while having bankruptcy courts deal with AIG's assets, something that bankruptcy courts specialize in.

Finally, voting against the tax on AIG bonuses is the constitutionally mandated thing to do. That narrow of a tax would be unconstitutional because it'd either violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution or it could be ruled that it represents a bill of attainder, also a constitutional no-no.

I'd suggest that Michele's progressive opponents contemplate JFK's quote:

Only a respect for the law makes it possible for free men to dwell together in peace and progress...Law is the adhesive force in the cement of society, creating order out of chaos and coherence in place of anarchy. John F. Kennedy, 5-18-1963

Without a consistent respect for, and obedience to, the rule of law, there can only be chaos and anarchy. Societies ruled by chaos and anarchy are quickly swept into the dustbin of history.

Not surprisingly, Tarryl's been singing from the DCCC's hymnal or vice versa:

"Small business owners see Wall Street bankers getting big bonuses while they can't even get a loan to expand their business and create jobs. Families are praying that their jobs, or their health care, will still be there when they wake up each morning. Seniors and veterans and families are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments to keep their house, in the midst of the worst foreclosure crisis since the Depression."

There's no doubt that too many people have been hurt during the financial crisis. Still, the crisis that rocked Wall Street is only part of the problem. Irresponsible spending at the state level hasn't helped the economy either. That's because too many states voted to raise spending during an economic downturn, then voted to raise taxes to pay for their irresponsible spending.

Had state legislatures not spent irresponsibly, we wouldn't be in the trouble we're currently in.

As Assistant Majority Leader in the Minnesota Senate, Tarryl voted for huge tax increases for small businesses and for irresponsible spending increases. Now Tarryl wants to blame conservatives rather than accepting responsibility for her inability to say no to the DFL's special interest allies.

There was a time when a politician could get away with that. There was a time when publications could paint a target on a politician's back and there wasn't much that politician could do to fight back. That's ancient history thanks to Al Gore's internet and the information superhighway.

Thank's to the information superhighway, the DCCC's trashtalking can be quickly discredited. Welcome to the new paradigm.

Comments welcome at LFR.