Who's In Charge Here?

Rep. Kanjorski is saying that he thinks the AIG bonus controversy has closed off the opportunity for Congress to pass further bailout funds. I hope not. But if so, doesn't the President bear some responsibility for the climate of outrage, and the insistence that something should be done? Isn't this a moment for someone to say, this is terrible, but we can't do anything without making it worse and let's focus on the real issues? Isn't the President supposed to lead the country through unpleasant choices to a constructive perspective?

Instead, we see Congress talking about confiscation of property via ex post facto law, and the White House signalling "openness" to such talk. Are they really that crazy?

I really think not, which makes me wonder what the real purpose is. The President just took questions and said that one question is, why were these guys making so much money in the first place, and why can't we regulate those compensation arrangements? And that, I think, speaks to the real purpose of this. The Democrats are using the episode to attack excess compensation generally, to embarrass it and to build support for regulating it. They are playing this as a class warfare episode to justify their taxes on wealth and expand government's influence through the economy.