Today the House voted 328-93 in favor of taxing the bonuses given by companies that received TARP funds. Granted, it’s only for some employees of some of the recipient companies, but it’s still a big deal.
I wrote my Congressman (Phil Gingrey) this morning to encourage him to vote against the bill. I was happy to see that he did, but I was not surprised. Gingrey has a pretty level head on his shoulders when it comes to voting on bad legislation.
(You can see how your representative in the House voted here.)
In my letter to Congressman Gingrey, I outlined 3 reasons for opposing the bill:
First, I oppose any further government involvement in companies in the private sector. If companies handle TARP funds poorly, the members of Congress who voted to give them that money must be held responsible. The solution to this problem is not more government involvement in companies; the solution is for citizens to elect fiscally responsible politicians to represent them.
Second, large companies attract good leaders by offering aggressive bonus structures. If these companies are going to succeed, they need to attract good executive teams. Government regulation of their bonus structures will make it harder for these companies to attract and retain good executive leadership.
Third, I oppose any taxation based on income.
The unfortunate thing that I see (outside of the House-approved additional government involvement in companies) is that the Republicans were almost split 50/50 on this issue. The Party still needs to figure out what it stands for and start portraying unity and direction if it hopes to have any hope of gaining (or even retaining) seats in 2010.
Where’s the direction? Who’s the leader? Does anyone know?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I am in Arkansas and would like to know how my congressman voted today on the AIG bonus tax. Marion Berry is the rep
Thanks
Barry
Berry voted for the bill.