Eighty-one percent (81%) of U.S. voters say Congress does not have the right to raise taxes on all Americans retroactively, even as the legislators are considering such legislation to punish those who got bonuses from American International Group (AIG).

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 91% of Republicans hold that view along with 71% of Democrats and 83% of those not affiliated with either major political party.

Overall, just nine percent (9%) believe Congress does have the power to raise taxes on Americans after the fact.

Despite that general view, most are willing to make an exception for the bonuses paid by AIG and other firms that receive government bailout money.
The U.S. Constitution prohibits retroactive, or ex post facto, laws, but the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994 approved retroactive taxation in certain clearly defined instances.

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The House has already approved the tax as a punishment in response to public anger over $165 million in executive bonuses given out by AIG after the major insurance company received a $170 billion bailout to keep it in business. The Senate appears to be in no rush to take action on the bill and President Obama has failed to express enthusiasm for the proposal.

Some are already suggesting that private participation in the Obama administration’s latest effort to bail out the banking system, announced on Monday, may be hurt by fears of retroactive taxation or punishment of some kind for anyone who takes federal monies.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of investors and 79% of non-investors agree that Congress does not have the right to raise taxes retroactively on all Americans.

The Rasmussen Investor Index fell for the fourth day in a row on Monday.

While 86% of conservatives and 83% of moderates say Congress does not have the power to tax after the fact, only 66% of liberals agree.
It probably doesn’t help that when it comes to the nation’s economic issues, 67% of voters have more confidence in their own judgment than they do in the average member of Congress.

It also appears that AIG was given the go-ahead on the previously negotiated bonuses when Senator Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, removed an amendment to the $787-billion economic stimulus plan that forbade such bonuses. Dodd acted at the request of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other Obama administration officials. Now Congress is scrambling to deal with public anger over the bonuses.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters predicted at the time that Congress would pass the stimulus measure without knowing all that was in it.

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