A clawback, as you probably know but many of your fellow Americans do not, is the repossession of a reward that should never have been bestowed in the first place. It’s something of buzzword these days since the financial wizards who gutted the world economy by selling lots of phony paper and taking on absurd risk are still very rich even while their firms are living on taxpayer money.

In televisionland, pundits tend to shake their head sadly and say it’s too late to do anything about the exorbitant bonuses paid out to Dick Fuld and his ilk. But if America is going to be the sort of country that can look itself in the mirror (so to speak) in coming years, that money needs to be clawed back. It’s arguably well within Congress’s power to do so, and it would probably be their most popular action in years. In the best of all worlds the seized loot would go into a special coffer and be spent on something optimistic and socially productive–something with symbolic value.

We’d like to suggest streetcars. They’re just fantastic–an aesthetically brilliant 19th century technology poised for a 21st century comeback. They reduce congestion and pollution and are potent investments in local revitalization. Portland, Oregon, spent $100 million on it’s streetcar network and reaped massive local economic benefits–more than $2.5 billion, according to some calculations. Little Rock has enjoyed similarly robust results. Under the shadow of the reckless newfangled “financial innovation” that laid our economy low, the streetcar speaks to a rather more sensible way of doing things. Not surprisingly, dozens of American cities want in on the action.

To kick the process off then, here are some suggested pairings of fallen financial titans and proposed streetcar projects they could fund with what’s left of their ill-gotten gains. So, come on, Congress – clawbacks for street cars. Ding, ding, ding!

CASE #1

Joe Cassano - While taking in at least $280 million in personal income since 2000 as the head of the AIG division that sunk the parent company, Cassano and friends have cost the taxpayer $120 billion and counting.

and

Robert Rubin - The mastermind behind Citibank’s risk strategy (as well as a key player in the Clinton administration decision to loosen essentially drop all regulation of financial derivatives) certainly has at least a $100 million he can kick in, even after his millions of shares in Citi have fallen into the low single digits.

Can buy streetcars for:

Tuscon - estimated cost of $70 million  (see artist’s rendition of this proposed line in the video below the jump)

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