U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is apparently looking into a way to impose an excise tax on bonuses given to executives at the American International Group who helped contribute to the current financial disaster, according to a CNN Report. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the tax could be ready to go in as soon as 24 hours. It’s clearly a way for political leaders to deflect anger toward AIG, and away from themselves, who are giving hundreds of millions to AIG in an effort to stabilize the financial system. It looks as though Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner may be unable to get the bonus money back, so Congressmen may pull where they have the power: purse strings.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee will pursue a legislative fix in such a way that the “recipients of those bonuses will not be able to keep all their money — and that’s an understatement.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, will propose a special tax within the next 24 hours, Reid said.
“I don’t think those bonuses should be paid,” Baucus said Tuesday.
AIG has received $173 billion in U.S. government bailouts over the past six months. The provision would help the government get back the money in the form of tax revenue.