Mister Sean Hannity Explains It All for You
Talk radio rallies to defend those poor, persecuted AIG chiefs and their tax-funded riches:
GOP Congressional leaders have roundly condemned AIG and its executives, as part of a strategy to position themselves as heroic defenders of the taxpayers and to paint the Obama administration as weak and ineffectual….But increasingly, leading conservative media figures are moving in a different direction: Defending AIG.
Rush Limbaugh recently said: "I am all for the AIG bonuses" and attacked the Obama administration for trying to undo them. He also blasted Dem efforts to get the names of the AIG bonus recipients as "McCarthyism."
Fox News followed suit, also comparing Dems to "Joe McCarthy." And Sean Hannity has now derided efforts to tax the execs by saying: "In other words, we're going to just steal their money."
The money was stolen long ago, Hannity. Now the thieves are arguing about how a fraction of the loot gets spent.
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The money was stolen long ago, Hannity. Now the thieves are arguing about how a fraction of the loot gets spent.
Exactly. It's not their goddamn money!
How can these assholes go from hating the bailout on the grounds that it was theft from the American people to supporting the very people, in any capacity whatsoever, who are reaping the benefits of that theft?!
What the hell?!
Now the thieves are arguing about how a fraction of the loot gets spent.
Alternatively, the money was legally allocated to AIG, for good or for ill, with the full knowledge where it would go from both the White House and the supporters of the bill. Now, in the interest of grandstanding, Congress is threatening de facto bills of attainder and ex post facto penalties against a popular scapegoat to cover their asses.
How can you make satire when we're already there?
My blood runs cold when I hear the likes of Bawney Fwank demanding the names of the AIGers who received retention bonuses.
Are any of these congresscum familiar with the concepts of a "Bill of Attainder" or "ex post facto" laws, both of which are supposed to be unconstitutional?
Just watch. In order that any anti-AIG law pass constitutional muster, its provisions will be wide enough that other folks who received similar bonuses will get smashed by the same Visible Foot.
Kevin
As long as AIG appeared to be healthy, "Countrywide" Chris Dodd was willing to prop them up. But once they become a liability (or could be made to look like a liability), under the bus they go. What a douchebag.
Alternatively, the money was legally allocated to AIG, for good or for ill, with the full knowledge where it would go from both the White House and the supporters of the bill.
What are your criteria for legal? (Seriously, I'm curious how you're defining the word here)
I think it would be great if one of them would donate the money to charity. Certainly better than sending it back to the rathole.
@ten-seven
When AIG was healthy, they could still finance Dodd's reelection campaign.
It passed both houses of Congress with a majority and was signed into law by the President, and has not yet been challenged as unconstitutional, and probably is (unfortunately due to Depression-era jurisprudence) "constitutional".
guys, this isn't Dodd's fault. It was Geithner and Larry Summers who insisted that the bill only restrain future bonus payouts, not retroactive ones. It's the Obama Administration throwing Dodd under the bus while using AIG as a scapegoat even though Obama signed the bill and the Treasury Dept. knew what was in there.
"I think it would be great if one of them would donate the money to charity. Certainly better than sending it back to the rathole."
Of course under Obama's new income tax plan, the donation won't be fully deductable.
I have to agree with The Angry Optimist here. The bailout was a big no-no in the first place, but it's too late to go back on it now. Unless AIG is violating a specific condition made clear at the outset, there is nothing the government can do but sit back and watch their own shit storm unfold.
AIG should have learned by failure and did not; now the government should have to learn the same lesson.
I'm fine with charity, as long as it goes to support the perverted arts. That's what I was going to do with my money anyway.
TAO --
You're missing the point. The point is not whether the democrats are being hypocritical scum here. The point is whether the GOP and their pet chatterers can possibly usher the death of their party even more quickly than everyone thought possible.
Seriously, you have to have been *dropped on your head* at a tender developmental age to go on the radio or TV and defend AIG execs getting bonuses right now.
Hello arbitrary government...
@SugarFree
Perverted art is great, what better way to hide money from the IRS.
Either they get them or Congress uses despotic means to take them back. I'd rather defend them getting the bonuses, El.
What other option do you have? You could say something like "Yes, AIG getting these kinds of bonuses isn't a desirable outcome here, but it's better than the alternative, which is retroactive 100% outrage-tax rates."
Perverted art is great, what better way to hide money from the IRS.
Well, depends on where you hide it.
Never been audited, but from what i hear about the IRS a body-cavity search is not out of the question...
Here we go again. Trying to blame the inherited Bush administration problems on Obama.
This is really getting tired.
X,
You can hide it for a few days.
Since when is art perverted? Prudes! As long as it is not exploiting women or minorities it should be fine for the government to promote it.
Exactly. It's not their goddamn money!
Seems pretty clear. AIG had a contract, the govt gave AIG money knowing that contract was legally enforceable, and later try to create some special tax. Erego, it most certainly is their goddamn money, legally (via a valid contract) given to them.
Now if you want to debate the legality of the govt giving money to AIG, that might be a point of discussion. However, that would result in fining AIG, not the individuals.
What you're saying is the equivalent of me, as a contractor, building a new road for the DOT, and after the fact you decide to tax my earnings as a result at a 90% rate simply because you didn't like what your contract said. It's ridiculous.
Of course, if we apply that same logic and tax all congressional earnings at 90%, as well as all executive branch earnings for, say, GM's and above, then we might be getting somewhere.
I have to agree with The Angry Optimist here.
Me, too. This whole spectacle is a combination diversion/CYA exercise.
Those bonuses were earned under contracts entered into long before AIG took a single federal dollar. That should be the end of the discussion.
If you must feel outrage, I suggest apportioning your outrage more appropriately. 99.9% should be directed at the AIG bailout, and only 0.1% to the bonuses, because that's the ratio of the AIG bailout dollars to bonus dollars.
throwing Dodd under the bus
They always threaten it but nobody ever follows through. In the case of Dodd, I'd be happy to provide the bus, the driver and a gallon of diesel.
Again, TAO is right here. The bailout in the first place was a fuck-up. Trying to backtrack like this would be just another fuck-up on top of that.
Isn't there a saying somewhere about two wrongs making a right?
Either they get them or Congress uses despotic means to take them back. I'd rather defend them getting the bonuses, El.
I'd rather use them to illustrate the much broader problems with the bailout. I certainly wouldn't break out the "steal their money" rhetoric a la Hannity.
Isn't there a saying somewhere about two wrongs making a right?
Just when people with bad logic are trying to get away with something.
Rectifying errors is always right.
What are your criteria for legal? (Seriously, I'm curious how you're defining the word here)
When agents of government can void legal contracts for politically expedient purposes that is a huge problem for everyone. I got my annual Social Security statement the other day; it tells me exactly what my benefit will be when I hit 68. I have no faith whatsoever that the government will honor its end of the bargain.
SugarFree, storing cash in your dog might work, but wouldn't that pretty quickly lead to IRS auditors shooting dogs all willy-nilly like they was the po-leece? I don't want to go down that road.
Xeones,
If we ban dogs you will not be able to hide your money in them.
The only pets anybody needs are cats, fish and birds.
Since when is art perverted? Prudes! As long as it is not exploiting women or minorities it should be fine for the government to promote it.
I like exploitative art. Who's the prude now, bitch?
If you must feel outrage, I suggest apportioning your outrage more appropriately. 99.9% should be directed at the AIG bailout, and only 0.1% to the bonuses, because that's the ratio of the AIG bailout dollars to bonus dollars.
I agree with this. My point is, for those who are watching this spectacle on TV without their Libertarian decoder pin (which would roughly be 98% of Americans), defending AIG's bonuses is a disgusting exercise in sophistry.
Tofu,
I love cats.
But i can't eat a whole one.
X,
Damn you, Law of Unintended Consequences!
Why is it that Congresspeople are the only ones who can avoid your steely grasp?
@Xeones
How about on the wall of my living room. It also keeps the mother-in-law away.
It's so much fun to watch him spin defending BO.
But i can't eat a whole one.
Then stay away from the sea kittens too.
Dodd originally put in an amendment forbidding the use of the bailout money for bonuses. It was the Treasury dept that insisted the bonuses be allowed.
Be careful whose money you pick up.
Sorry, Jerry, i thought we were talking about the money itself, not the art. Personally, i like my perverted art painted on the hood of an El Camino.
I certainly wouldn't break out the "steal their money" rhetoric a la Hannity.
Well, Other Matt does have a point. As much as we hate bailouts, isn't this AIG's money?
I readily grant that the thin line that is between Minarchist/Anarchist TAO recognizes that this is all ill-gotten loot. At the same time, I would rather ill-gotten loot be disbursed the way the original contract spelled out, rather than allowing Congress to gin up outrage to void that part of the deal, knowing full well that it was in the original K in the first place.
Jesse,
There is a point of principle involved. Ex post facto laws that single out a few individuals should frighten thinking people when used at all, and even more when used by a huge, powerful government against scape-goated individuals.
I'm not defending these people, AIG, or the stupid government. They all can burn in my book. Anyone who gets into bed with the government deserves a venereal disease.
*ahem* K = contract. Don't ask me why I wrote it that way, because you don't want to know.
TAO,
Isn't that the Federal abbreviation for Contracts and Contracting?
And you all laughed when Sarah Palin said Obama was a socialist.
Well look at where we are now.
@TofuSushi: Rectifying errors is always right.
Even when the methods used to rectify those errors are in themselves illegal?
My anger will be directed solely at the government for fucking us over. AIG was just a company that should have been allowed to fail. I don't care what they did or what they do. None of it matters to me unless the government sends men with guns after my money.
Even when the methods used to rectify those errors are in themselves illegal?
You can't make an omlet without breaking some eggs.
@Tofu: You can't make an omlet without breaking some eggs.
That's a pretty lighthearted way to view this situation. I would say that unconstitutional government interference is a little more severe than breaking an egg. It sets a precedent.
They already screwed up once. They shouldn't screw up again to fix the first screw-up.
Ah, gah. The joy of it! The deliciousness!
Hyper-liberals complaining about high taxes.
Ex post facto laws that single out a few individuals should frighten thinking people when used at all, and even more when used by a huge, powerful government against scape-goated individuals.
Sure. I'm not defending the tax proposal. The last sentence of my post was aimed at the congressmen as much as the executives.
But Hannity didn't make that argument. He didn't talk about unintended consequences or constitutional questions or scapegoating. He pulled out the old "taxation is theft" rhetoric, and deployed it on behalf of a bunch of people who just got a ton of money from the government.
The public anger over this is perfectly legitimate. It makes much more sense to argue You're right to be mad about the bonuses, but they aren't even half of the problem than Looters want to take money from these poor embattled executives.
So is the solution to throw out contract law to improve the bailout mess? I'm not getting the point of this other than to paint Hannity and Rush as somehow cheerleading this thing.
They were not fans of it from the start. Whatever.
I just wrote:
He didn't talk about unintended consequences or constitutional questions or scapegoating.
In fairness to Hannity, I should say that he didn't talk about those topics in the clip I heard. It's conceivable that he raised one or more of them at another time.
Got it now, thanks Jesse. I do see your point.
Jesse, here is the full clip:
http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200903180015?show=1
The preceding line from Hannity goes something like "whether you like the bonuses or not...". Despite being grammatically incorrect, I think that he is closer to your view.
Rectifying errors is always right.
We had to burn the village in order to save it?
Anyway, conservative media is much more admirable in this mess than either Party, who are acting in a way that has outraged normally phlegmatic ol' me.
Ha.
Not receiving a bonus you've been promised? Unheard of!
Sounds to me like a lot of people aren't very familiar with actual private industry. Ownership means the right to do whatever the fuck you want. We, the people, own AIG. We can say no we will not give bonuses, they can sue for their bonuses, and maybe they'll win, maybe they won't. Oh my the humanity, it's another day in American industry. This stuff happens all the time.
Also: weren't a lot of people here in favor of renegotiating the union contracts in the auto industry?
max hats - don't sprain your mind; the mental gymnastics it takes to equate "renegotiation" with "100% tax rates unless you fork that shit over voluntarily" must have strained you more than a 12-year-old Chinese Olympian.
@max hats: Where in the bailout provisions does it say that the government owns AIG, and is granted with all of the powers entailed in said ownership?
Look, I get your point: they're using taxpayer money here, and the taxpayers should have a say. Unfortunately for us, our dickhole government was in such a rush that problems like this weren't considered. To go back now and demand performance that wasn't required in the agreed-upon bailout provisions would only serve to exacerbate the issue.
"and deployed it on behalf of a bunch of people who just got a ton of money from the government."
Well I would say that is arguable as well.
Cash is fungible.
100% of the cash that AIG had or has didn't come from the government.
Who is to say that the bonuses DIDN'T come from the portion of cash that AIG already had beforehand?
Libs like Max Hats are never going to understand the Constitution.
Hey, why don't you quit your BO worshipping and google "ex post facto" and "bill of attainder", max?
I agree the tax is just bad damage control, but it doesn't strike me as particularly unjust considering they shouldn't have gotten the bonuses anyway, contract or no. As de facto owner of AIG with something like an 80% stake, the government had all the authority and power it needed to say "no bonuses" and make those who feel so owed sue for it or take their lumps and move on.
Once again, the Congress has passed a law which was ill-conceived; now that the actual terms of the thing are becoming obvious, they have to distract the rubes, somehow.
And, of course, every one of those worthless fuckers will be re-elected next time around.
And we'll still be getting the government we deserve.
Good and Hard.
You deal, if you agree to google "civil law" and "criminal law" and learn the difference.
What's really silly is all the focus on these stupid bonuses. It's what, like $150 million? That's a mere 50 cents for every American.
How much mony did the government just give to AIG? $30 billion. Now, this might not seem like a lot compared to the trillions that are being thrown around. But seriously, let's have some sense of scale here. That's $100 per American, and everyone's upset about this piddly bonuses thing that amounts to 50 damn cents per American? Sure, there's a moral dilemna BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EXPECT FROM A COMPANY THAT JUST RAN ITSELF INTO THE GROUND?
And now, the federal government is $11 trillion in debt, excluding unfunded liabilities. Soon to be over $12 trillion this year, and that's if things go well. That's over $36,000 per American.
Look, I'm young and in college. I'm already in dept. Other countries aren't going to lend us money for our idiotic spending spree for much longer. What the fuck is going to happen when my parent's generation tries to collect their Social Security checks?
And the news just goes on and on about this bullshit AIG bonuses story. It's all our President talks about. Meanwhile, my generation is getting the worst damn raping in history, while most of my peers go along with it, applauding the Change!
It's a fucking circus. Freakshows and ringleaders, cheering audiences. But it's guys like me that are going to get shot out of the cannon when it's all over, and there's no net to catch us.
Ok, rant over. At least if the dollar fails, maybe I won't have to pay back my student loans. Always try to be optimistic, right?
Gilbert: If it weren't for the bailout, the company would have gone bankrupt and there wouldn't have been any bonuses.
TAO: I understood Hannity's argument to be, in essence, "Maybe you don't like the bonuses, but if the government can take these guy's property it can take anyone's property." Whereas to me, this is the last place you want to be deploying a property rights argument.
As de facto owner of AIG with something like an 80% stake, the government had all the authority and power it needed to say "no bonuses"
If the government had received shares of common (voting) stock, you could say that. But that's not how it happened.
@max hats: But that's just you saying they have de facto ownership. I'm not so sure that, given the provisions in place, that is actually the case.
That's what this whole thing hinges on. If there is a legitimate, legal grounds for the government to pursue getting these bonuses back, then they should. If it's perverting the agreed-upon terms for the purpose of political grandstanding (which, as far as I understand, is the case), then they have absolutely no right to do anything but sit back and realize how fucking stupid they are.
Mr. Walker - I concede your point.
Well, no. The government did not acquire 80% of AIG shares until September of 2008. The compensation contract started December 1st, 2007 and goes to November 30th, 2008.
The government acquired AIG with full knowledge of its outstanding obligations. Voiding those obligations would just give those who had the contract reason to sue. If that's what the government wanted to do, fine, but to acquire AIG, then reaffirm the bonus structure in the February 11th bill, THEN CLAIM you had NO IDEA this was coming is a lie, lie, lie.
It takes some pillage.
"And the news just goes on and on about this bullshit AIG bonuses story. It's all our President talks about."
No. He also talks about his college hoops picks.
And instituting a college football playoff system for 1-A. What leadership!
Remember just a few weeks ago when the liberal spin around here was that the government wasn't nationalizing industries with the bailout money? (To deny Omaba as socialist.) Now the liberal spin is that because the government owns AIG it's just fine to dictate compensation policy.
Don't you guys ever get dizzy?
Hi. I'm not a real president, but I play one on TV.
If we had just let AIG fail (which is OK in my book), you also have to brace yourself for a potential failure of Goldman, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Etc...
Lehman Brothers failure, which is about 1/4 the size of AIG in terms of counterparty credit risk took the DOW down from 12,000 to 6,500.
What would an event 4 times as large do?
The real lesson of the great depression, was not the Keynesian stimulus solves the problem. It is that allowing huge numbers of private banks to fail, will excerbate a severe 1-3 year recession, into a 10 year period of hugely negative economic performance. That is why they saved AIG in its private form.
I mean shareholders were basically wiped out anyway, we are saving the counterparties and as a result the financial system as a whole.
The bonuses were a small payment to accomplish that goal and the populist outrage is a deeply disturbing sideshow.
"Lehman Brothers failure, which is about 1/4 the size of AIG in terms of counterparty credit risk took the DOW down from 12,000 to 6,500."
Bullshit.
I should have been more clear, I am OK letting AIG fail. I.E. I couldn't care less if the executives get paid, or the shareholders lose everything. I do think it is important to save the private financial system.
"Gilbert: If it weren't for the bailout, the company would have gone bankrupt and there wouldn't have been any bonuses."
Yes it's true that AIG would have gone bankrupt and there wouldn't have been any bonuses. There also wouldn't have been full payoffs to counterparties such as Goldman Sachs, foreign banks and hedge funds on credit default swaps for far greater sums than is involved with these bonues. Both are contractual relationships entered into by AIG.
But none of that negates my point. Bankruptcy doesn't mean a company has zero cash on hand at the time it is declared to be bankrupt. It means it does not have enough assets to meet it's contractual obligations. The cash and other assets are then liquidated and allocated to creditors in order to satisfy part of the debts owed for some and most likely none for others not high up in the capital structure.
As I said, cash is fungible. Who is to say that 100% of the government money received by AIG didn't go to pay off those credit default swaps and that the bonuses are therefore coming out of the pre-exiting cash that AIG had on hand?
If it were not for the government we would not have any money or anything else. So stop trying to destroy Obama while he tries to save your ungrateful hides.
Not really, no. But these things do happen when you have different people with different ideas posting on the same message board.
I love watching Max Hats defend his miserable failure TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States).
Spin boy, spin!
lmnop,
You're missing the point. The point is not whether the democrats are being hypocritical scum here. The point is whether the GOP and their pet chatterers can possibly usher the death of their party even more quickly than everyone thought possible.
You got it backwards. We had an election in Nov. We voted to bash democrats for the next 4 to 8 years.
This is all about the dems being hypocritical scum.
Hey, why don't you quit your BO worshipping and google "ex post facto" and "bill of attainder", max?
From the wikipedia article on ex post facto:
@, all money belongs to the government, we just hold it at their whim.
How does it feel to find out your messiah was just a Jimmy Carter redux, max hats? Must suck.
Stuartl, the Supreme Court is wrong about a lot of things thanks to far-left judges.
@: Carlton was 9-0. Try again.
@,
Jimmy Carter is the god that Obama could be and surpass.
Jimmy Carter is the god that Obama could be and surpass.
Trolling is an art sir. You have to be somewhat believable.
Stagman,
Blaming every failure in the US on Carter is getting pretty old. He had great successes and we would have ben better off with him than Ronnie Ray-gun.
"Jimmy Carter is the god that Obama could be and surpass."
Obama already IS a god - in his own mind.
You're missing the point. The successful troll must make himself believable, even if what he actually believes sounds too crazy to be believable. Otherwise you get ignored. Notice how I haven't even talked about any of your points.
Stuartl, the Supreme Court is wrong about a lot of things thanks to far-left judges.
From the same wiki article:
@ I agree that these punitive tax laws are horrid, but your constitutional argument is weak.
Stagman, I believe You're missing the point. Tofusushi is by far and away the funniest and least irritating troll HnR has had. Nobody could say:
except in jest. The only thing close is the Jaunita spoofs.
Looks like I missed a tag.
Stagman, I believe You're missing the point.
Fair enough. I am nothing if not hypocritical.
But I also like a good argument. To have a good argument you can't begin with stuff like "Blaming every failure in the US on Carter is getting pretty old. He had great successes and we would have ben better off with him than Ronnie Ray-gun." It's a non-starter.
Tofusushi is by far and away the funniest and least irritating troll HnR has had.
You have very low standards.
This whole story is pretty enraging, but I have to say, the 90% tax being proposed today really chills my blood. Do we REALLY want to set the precedent of punitive taxation?
You have very low standards.
No, we have very dim trolls. Tofu and Juanita are at least trying to be funny. C'mon, calling Carter a God and having people take you seriously! What's not to like?
.. for the win.
stuartl,
Tofu is annoying, not funny. I prefer real liberals to his idiocy.
You have very low standards.
No, we have very dim trolls.
As I said, you must have very low standards to appreciate anything that bean curd boy postst.
Tofusushi is by far and away the funniest and least irritating troll HnR has had.
I think I'd call him more of an "art troll".
I don't think you guys "get" TofuSushi. He's a very subtle spoofer/performance-artist.
HM,
Duh. He just isnt amusing.
He's a very subtle spoofer/performance-artist.
I disagree. He merely posts random inflammatory comments. He has no consistent, discernable personality from which peformance art must come.
He is a waste of electons, nothing more.
electons
Is that the fundamental particle in elections?
How many electons make up a chad?
electons
I was thinking electrons, but your way works too . . .
If TofuSushi is "subtle," what exactly does it take to be overt?
"Jimmy Carter is the god that Obama could be and surpass."
STFU BufuTushie
"But I also like a good argument. To have a good argument you can't begin with stuff like "Blaming every failure in the US on Carter is getting pretty old. He had great successes and we would have ben better off with him than Ronnie Ray-gun." It's a non-starter."
I agree. Crabs can be considered something that are stimulating to one's genitals, but you know, they're not really stimulating in the good way.
Guys, come on, you need to have better taste. The standard for trolling was set by Cesar dba "Neil". TS comes nowhere close to that.
damn joke names.
LET THEM FAIL! Jeebus H Cripes, let them fail! None of this would have been a problem if we had flushed those turds!
Don't squash the bonuses, STOP THE F*CKING CHECK! Call the bank and tell the stop the check you wrote them! Call up MasterCard and reverse the charges!
THEN LET THEM FAIL!
Yuck, I hate it when Rush and I agree on something.
Copied from elsewhere:
"Senator Dodd, who personally benefitted from AIG largesse (top recipient--Obama #2), personally iserts language which allows these bonuses but you are following Rahm's lead by focusing on Rush Limbaugh (or Sean Hannity).
Representative Frank, who has a boyfriend at Fannie and Freddie, encourages unsafe lending practices, but is in charge of acting outraged at their unsafe lending practices. But, he says we should be mad about deregulation, so we are.
Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelik get huge bonuses from Fannie and Freddie, but Obama says we should be mad about AIG smaller bonuses, so we are.
Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle, and other top Dems don't pay their taxes, but say we should give them a pass and be outraged that the Bush tax cuts favor the wealthy instead, so we are.
Chuck Schumer on a public servant's salary has cushy lending deals on all sorts of properties both domestic and international, but says we should be outraged about Sarah Palin's wardrobe, so we are.
Do you ever feel like you're being played for a fool???"
Psst. Hey Jessie, that's you.
Psst. Hey Jessie, that's you.
Who's "Jessie"? Did she write something somewhere that supported Congress' CYA routine?
Does a little alarm sound when you backpedal? I always wondered.
Does a little alarm sound when you backpedal? I always wondered.
Please point to the alleged backpedaling, using before-and-after quotes.
"The sentiment that ex post facto laws are against natural right is so strong in the United States, that few, if any, of the State constitutions have failed to proscribe them. The federal constitution indeed interdicts them in criminal cases only;..."
So, in Jefferson's time, ex post facto laws were so obviously unjust that few people saw a need to actually prohibit them as no responsible government official would consider such a thing. Too bad the founding generation did not realize what type of goons would eventually succeed them.
"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide."
John Adams
it was the democrates that put the bonus in the stimulus plan under the dod amendment! and the constitution says that the government can not go after one person or a group of people (businesses). thats what hannity and rush are following. whats in the constitution...why dont you idiots learn a thing or two