Which is why I said it was all petty populist fauxrage. Congress knew damn-well what it was allowing when it passed the massive porkulus. Amendments sponsored by Chris Dodd and voted into law don’t simply fly under the radar. Just about anyone could’ve seen the bonuses, whether from AIG or other troubled companies, coming.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Monday night floated the idea of taxing American International Group (AIG: 0.9768, 0.1967, 25.21%) bonus recipients so the government could recoup the $450 million the company is paying to employees in its financial products unit. Within hours, the idea spread to both houses of Congress, with lawmakers proposing an AIG bonus tax.

While the Senate constructed the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd unexpectedly added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009,” which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are seeking to tax. The amendment is in the final version and is law.

Also, Sen. Dodd was AIG’s largest single recipient of campaign donations during the 2008 election cycle with $103,100, according to opensecrets.org.

Now Congress is talking about punishing the very thing it specifically allowed. AIG has contractually-obligated bonuses to give out to the executives and Congress has no authority to punish them for it. Specifically targeting one entity is unconstitutional. So spare me the fauxrage.