Pointless extra-constitutional grandstanding

I agree with every word Tom Maguire says here on federal legislation to pander to Americans' anger grab back the AIG bonuses:

I deplore this confiscatory tax aimed at whoever Congress is mad at today. Right now it's AIG and Fannie Mae; later it will be Merrill and Citibank, and eventually it will be defense contractors, profiteering oil executives, or whomever the Congressional Dems single out as their whipping boy du jour.

Judd Gregg is quickly moving up the charts as the only adult in Washington:

Two of those difficulties, lawyers say, lie in Article I of the U.S. Constitution -- a section stating Congress cannot pass any "Bill of Attainder" or "ex post facto" law.

A Bill of Attainder is an act of the legislature that singles out and punishes a group or individual without trial. An ex post facto law retroactively changes the legal consequences of an act.

"It's a Bill of Attainder. It can't be done," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., told FOX News when asked about proposals in the Senate to tax AIG.

In other words, this whole kabuki theater is has no basis in the Law. It makes you proud to be an American.