Stan Liebowitz, Research Fellow at The Independent Institute, thinks so. He writes in the March 17 Investors Business Daily (linked from The Independent Institute:)
The U.S. public is outraged at the $165 million in bonuses paid to employees of insurance giant American International Group after AIG received billions in government bailout funds—and Washington is looking for ways to make bonus recipients pay back the money.
But what about bailed-out homeowners? Shouldn’t they also pay back money they receive from taxpayers?
The government can provide stressed homeowners the help they need—and recover much of the cost—simply by taxing most of the capital gains that bailout recipients realize on home sales until the value of the assistance is fully paid back to lenders and taxpayers…
…it would help reduce the participation of speculators in the bailout plan; for another, it would also discourage the participation of homeowners who don’t really need a bailout but are willing to take a giveaway when government offers one…
…Whether you like or dislike the bailout plan for homeowners, we should all be able to agree that any bailout plan should not just give away money without asking for something back.
No-strings-attached gifts are a bad idea for the economy and should not be given to homeowners any more than to corporations.
Read the entire article here at The Independent Institute.
