Does populist rhetoric equal populist action?

The anger outside the Beltway has forced the House of Representatives to act. But the question is just how much our federal representatives understand the depths of this simmering anger and what it really means.

The House today — by a wide and bipartisan margin — approved a 90 percent tax on bonuses for executives that received at least $5 billion in federal bailout money. The tax would be retroactive so that it applies to AIG, which has sparked the latest outrage because of the $160 million in bonuses the company has handed out.

The question is whether this is anything more than a symbolic action or whether the federal government will actually recoup the bonus money. Critics say the tax is unconstitutional, while some Republicans were pushing an alternative plan they say would recoup all the cash. There also are questions about whether the plan will make it through the Senate.

And while everyone in the lower chamber wore their populist armbands on their sleeves, I doubt that more than a few truly understand the anger and where it stems from. Both parties have spent the better part of the last three decades cozying up to Wall Street, even as they talked up their connections to workers and small business. And now, as the economic crisis continues to rage — and not just in the financial sector — we are witnessing the beginnings of a revolt.

At the moment, Barack Obama has some political capital, but he needs to turn hard left in his policy proposals, focusing all of his attention on efforts to aid working people, homeowners and the dispossessed. To be fair, he has put a number of these efforts on the table, but they are nowhere near what is needed and should be expanded.

I mentioned the bipartisan support — nearly as many Republicans voted for the bill (85) as voted against it (87) — because Republican leaders on cable are attempting to may politican hay from it. But four of five New Jersey Republicans — including Central Jersey Reps. Chris Smith and Leonard Lance — joined all eight New Jersey Democrats in voting yes.