Someone got me sick

I was thinking about list format for this post but decided to try and be a little less vague.

Actually, the #1 thing that annoys me about getting sick is messing up my workout schedule. I'd say it's a point of pride for me to be there every 12 hours. Things happen though when you're on an open desk and people feel compelled to come in unless they're missing limbs. I left at 5:45 PM and still got some glares from co-workers.

The other thing kind of bothering me lately (OK really bothering me) is this whole AIG / TARP bonus fiasco. In terms of basic justice I don't think there's any question that traders or firms who lose money and file chapter 11 shouldn't get /give out big bonuses. It's not quite that simple though.

You set a terrible precedent when you use the national legislative system to take away people's compensation after it has been received in accordance with legal and contractual guarantees (and with the original bailout plans). I would much rather see someone walk away with money they don't deserve then fall down that slippery slope head first. Firms have to pay their employees competitively or those employees pick up and leave. Spending large amounts of valuable congressional time and effort to hunt down a few people and take their legally obtained money, however seemingly undeserved, reeks of the most base form of populism (actually, more like a witch hunt) and belies a startling lack of vision. You can't even argue that it's for the greater good because the amount of money that might be recovered even if everything were given back isn't even a drop in the bucket when you consider our economic woes. There's guys on the CNN.com message boards calling on companies to willfully ignore contracts with their employees and "let them sue if they want to." Others are a less subtle, calling for revolution right now if these bonuses are paid. Speaking of revolution, there's definitely a tinge of class warfare to this whole dilemma, with bill proposals calling for 100% tax on bonuses for anyone at a firm that received TARP money and who made over 250k. Does anyone else see a problem with this?

I don't believe for a minute that the tax money I obligingly push towards the government each year won't be at least partially wasted, and my guess is that anyone who really thought this in the first place is either lying are willfully ignorant. I receive various forms of help from the government, as do most people and companies in this country. That help is funded by my fellow taxpayers. If I squander money should the government be able to come in and retroactively garnish my paycheck? Sounds scary to me.