Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Will Obama, McCain, Dodd Return Contributions From AIG Employees?

UPDATE below.
Since there seem to be loopholes in Article I, Section 9, Clause III of the U.S. Constitution:
"No Bill of Attainder or Ex Post Facto Law shall be passed"
(i.e. a 100% tax on the bonuses) let's get those campaign contributions while we're at it.
Showing no fear or favor.
From ABC News:
AIG employees kept doling out donations to politicians, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, after getting bailed out with federal funds last year, raising the question of whether those politicians will now return the money....

...Here's the list of top AIG recipients for the 2008 campaign:

1. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., $103,100
2. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., $101,332
3. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., $59,499
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., $35,965
5. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., $24,750
6. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, (R) Pres $20,850
7. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., $19,975
8. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn, $19,750
9. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., $18,500
10. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) Pres $13,200
11. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., $12,000
12. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., $11,000

Return them, hell! Tax them, or worse:

"If I could tax them 1000 percent, I would tax them 1000 percent."
-REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D), NEW YORK

"Do one of two things, resign or go commit suicide."
-SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA

"Dance as if no one is watching"
-REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER
Source
Of course the esteemed legislators were talking about the AIG employees.
Except the Speaker, I'm not sure what she was referring to.

UPDATE: Here's OpenSecrets story, "Before the Fall, AIG Payouts Went to Washington". They count $9 million over the last twenty years and name names.