I’m underwhelmed with the first part of the House GOP’s proposal to deal with the AIG bonuses:

Section 1: Treasury shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law implement a plan within the next two weeks to recoup or stay the payment of AIG bonuses.
Section 2: Any future bonus payments, of any kind, to TARP fund recipients, must be approved in advance by Treasury.
Section 3: Any future contractual obligations entered into by TARP fund recipients to make bonus payments of any kind must be approved in advance by Treasury.

This sounds a bit like telling Treasury, “Do something!”

Some bonus recipients are returning the money; in other cases, the money is gone; even the Democrats’ “tax ‘em until they bleed” strategy won’t affect those who are foreign citizens. I’d prefer if the GOP used this mess as an argument for no additional federal bailouts. Companies that make bad decisions can no longer look to Uncle Sam to save them from the consequences of their actions.

UPDATE: Readers note that various other GOP goals can be advanced using this example — transparency in legislation, etc.