It's kind of hard to overstate just how unpopular A.I.G. is at the moment, so it's not so suprising that it's providing an opportunity for supporters of the millionaires tax to reshape their message, slightly.
From a press release by the Working Families Party:
The Working Families Party called today for a 100% state tax on the $165 million in announced bonuses at insurance giant AIG.
"If Washington can't find a way to get this money back, Albany should," said Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director. "The same people who helped wreck the economy are taking home millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses while classrooms, hospitals and homeless shelters here in New York face billions in cuts. It's disgusting in the extreme. AIG got its bailout. When will working families see theirs?"
Cantor continued: "Opponents of Fair Share Tax Reform like to talk about how much the rich have suffered from the economic downturn. But the real pain of this recession is being felt by millions of hardworking New Yorkers who bear no responsibility for the financial shenanigans that got us into this mess."
"The Governor proposes to balance the New York's budget through devastating cuts that would place the burden almost entirely on the backs of working families. Taxing AIG bonuses and asking those who can afford it to pay a little more in taxes is a far better solution."
