P3 author Dean Baker has a Truthout article today on the AIG bonuses, and if you ask me, it’s one of the few that moves beyond the huffing and puffing we’ve been treated to so far.

Dean frames this issue as the elite vs. the masses–that is, class war in its full glory. He looks at three related debates over the AIG bonuses and scores it Masses 3, Elites 0.  But the really interesting thing is his take on what’s really bugging the Elites: namely, the prospect that ordinary people and their feelings might actually affect policy.

It’s one thing for banks, drug companies or insurance companies to use their money to influence legislation. The elites all know and understand that. This is their game. However, when angry people try to affect Congress, then the elites get concerned. And, clearly, that is what is going on with the bonus tax.

Tell it, Dean.