Governing by Anger

Yesterday, President Obama indicated he would not support a bill forcing AIG executives to pay a special tax on their bonuses that was being spirited through Congress. His reason was that he did not want to govern by anger. Senators and representatives, having been embarassed by AIG's actions, were trying to "right the wrong" by doing an end run around ethics. Regardless of where you come down on whether AIG execs should have accepted bonuses, the legislature's attempt to take them back is an abuse of power and authority.

I hope that President Obama's stance will send a strong message for discussing the ethics of decision making in government.