Comments on: A.I.G. Witch Hunt Could Ruin New York City Real Estate http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/03/22/aig-witch-hunt-could-ruin-new-york-city-real-estate/ Real Estate Blog, Mortgage, and Development News Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:48:48 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Arizona agent http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/03/22/aig-witch-hunt-could-ruin-new-york-city-real-estate/comment-page-1/#comment-361016 Arizona agent Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:16:40 +0000 http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/03/22/aig-witch-hunt-could-ruin-new-york-city-real-estate/#comment-361016 Congress may indeed pass a retroactive law like that, but it is illegal under Article 1 of the Constitution. It is called a Bill of Attainder and is specifically prohibited, mainly due to it's abuse by the British authorities. Think about it. If it was not for the prohibition against passing laws that penalize past activity that was legal when it occurred, then Congress could go back in time and change the tax rates for the 2005 tax year, for instance, forcing all of us to cough up more money for the Feds. They may posture, and they may pass the stupid law, but any attorney can get it thrown out of court easily. Congress may indeed pass a retroactive law like that, but it is illegal under Article 1 of the Constitution. It is called a Bill of Attainder and is specifically prohibited, mainly due to it’s abuse by the British authorities.

Think about it. If it was not for the prohibition against passing laws that penalize past activity that was legal when it occurred, then Congress could go back in time and change the tax rates for the 2005 tax year, for instance, forcing all of us to cough up more money for the Feds.

They may posture, and they may pass the stupid law, but any attorney can get it thrown out of court easily.

]]> By: Mark Madsen http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/03/22/aig-witch-hunt-could-ruin-new-york-city-real-estate/comment-page-1/#comment-359992 Mark Madsen Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:22:57 +0000 http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/03/22/aig-witch-hunt-could-ruin-new-york-city-real-estate/#comment-359992 The thing that kills me about this whole AIG bonus / Congress tax mess is that Congress approved their bonuses in the first place. And for Congress to have a "Revenge" tax on greedy Wall Street executives doesn't make sense either. According to a recent article in the Rolling Stone Mag online, Wall Street gave around $1.7 Billion to Democrats over the past 10 years. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover I guess we'll see what happens. The thing that kills me about this whole AIG bonus / Congress tax mess is that Congress approved their bonuses in the first place. And for Congress to have a “Revenge” tax on greedy Wall Street executives doesn’t make sense either. According to a recent article in the Rolling Stone Mag online, Wall Street gave around $1.7 Billion to Democrats over the past 10 years. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover

I guess we’ll see what happens.

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