AIG bonuses as unreasonable compensation

Most people are pretty pissed off at the $165 million in bonuses that AIG is handing out, and Congress and the President are making all the right noises. But will they take action, or is their outrage calculated, knowing that our attention span is short? It seems the latter because while expressing outrage, at the same time they are coming up with excuses why they can’t actually do anything about the bonuses. Well, think again. Aaron Zelinsky has a brilliant idea. Money quote:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner should direct the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to challenge the AIG bonuses as unreasonable compensation under the Internal Revenue Code. Finding the AIG bonuses to be unreasonable compensation would render them nondeductible for federal tax purposes, and would strengthen potential shareholder derivative suits to recapture The Great AIG Giveaway.