Big Three CEOs To Take $1 A Year Salaries If Their Companies Get Bailed Out (POLL)

Now that Americans have footed the bill for more than a trillion dollars in bailouts, Congress is finally starting to clamp down on executive pay as a condition for a bailout.

AP reports, "Some members of Congress have urged the Big Three executives to take major pay cuts as part of the deal. Chrysler Chief Executive Robert Nardelli said he would work for $1 a year, and a similar commitment is expected from GM CEO Rick Wagoner. Ford plans to include a pay cut for Ford CEO Alan Mulally, although the size of the cut was not immediately available."

Just this morning, Ford's CEO said he would take $1 a year in pay if Ford got bailed out. Chrysler and GM's CEOs joined the salary-reduction pledge as well.

Ford Motor Co. will tell Congress that it plans to return to a pretax profit or break even in 2011 when its CEO appears before two legislative committees this week.

Also, CEO Alan Mulally said he'll work for $1 per year if the automaker has to take any government loan money.

The plan Ford is presenting to Congress this week also says it will cancel all management employees' 2009 bonuses and will not pay any merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year.

Other cost-cutting actions include a plan to sell Ford's five corporate aircraft, the company said.

Take our poll and tell us if you think this a good policy for all bailed out companies:

Quick Poll

Should CEOs Who Are Getting Bailed Out Forfeit A Salary?

YES

NO

Comments

[BuckeyeGal]

"Over 110 smaller banks have asked for $170 billion from the Treasury while Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and five other large banks received $125 billion in tax dollars last month. Another $40 billion will go to troubled insurer AIG (AIG).

The feeding frenzy is just getting started, as many struggling companies are now becoming banks just to have access to bailout dollars. On Friday, four insurance firms announced plans to buy thrifts, for no other reason than they could qualify to receive federal money."
http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/stocks/firms-line-up-like-pigs-to-tarp-trough/

The auto industry is visible, understandable, and far fewer in number than banks, insurers and finance companies. Is that why the public outrage is singling the American auto industry out? And why are Toyota's sales down more than Ford's?

[MoeJava]

Problem isnt the $1 salary - it's all the perks and retirement funds, that makes most of us little insignificant taxpayers so upset.

[peppermint]

Those $1 salaries and selling all their private jets won't help one bit with getting bailed out. Tell those almighty unions to give up some serious entitlements while they're at it. Maybe if they began making cars (minus ethanol and cafe standards) that normal folks want to buy would help too. I'd like to know just how much Pelosi, Dodd, Frank and the rest of the morons in Congress know about making cars.

[mattyohe]

Steve Jobs has been taking $1 for years, nothing will change for these CEOs.

[iburl]

They should forfeit their jobs for driving these companies into the grave with their mismanagement.

[EverAfter]

HERE WE GO AGAIN AMERICANS!!! ANOTHER RAPE OVER THE BARREL. No Kiss no lube. The amount of hoopla the media has been making over this I'm beginning to think THEY think (obviously ALONG with the CEO scuzballs) that the public is mostly retards unable of accurate and critical thinking. Com'on. Give us a break for having some brains... their little bogus stunt is nothing more than political grandstanding and their trumpeting of $1. salary is REALLY an insult to every American with more than a 6th grade education.

WE ALL KNOW they'll still be pulling bonuses and perks to probably triple the tune of whatever their already inflated salary would have been. It's just one more issue on the scales tipping us toward a revolution. Hopefully Americans will wake up and together decide to FIRE the entire LOT of chumps in Washington. I pray I am around to watch when they feel the wrath their ways have wrought.

[super8pictures]

GM has a major problem in admitting failure and accepting responsibility. GM has been in a turnaround since the current GM Board of Directors put Rick Wagner in charge of North American Operations in 1994. The stock was selling at a high of $60 a share that year. GM was trading less than $3 a week ago and now is up to almost $5 on bailout news.

So GM delivers yet a another turnaround strategy - how many 'turnarounds' do these executives expect - and how many have they had - a dozen? The GM Board bought Ross Perot's silence for a few billion when he ruffled the Detroit executives.

Quite simply, GM needs to go into Chapter 11 reorg - the current leadership team has created way too much debt - it simply costs them too much per car versus better run companies like Toyota. The current GM management could never beat Toyota on an even field - how can they do it spending 3k more per car (of potentially taxpayer money)? Chapter 11 Reorg will allow the company to re-emerge with new leadership and cutting lose of 100 billion dollars of debt - and the only losers are the ones that bought the high-risk junk bonds.

No way would I give the keys to these executives again.

[amyeom]

Who cares about a rinkydink "salary" when everyone knows the BONUSES are where the bucks are. Sure they'll take a $1 salary -- along with twice whatever their usual bonus is on top of it.

[iburl]

Yep, Steve Jobs, the most highly compensated executive on the planet makes $1 a year in salary. Salary don't mean squat to the Megarich.

[smoothdogie]

What these yahoos need is not a pay cut or raise or anything of the sort. What we need is to boot their collective butts out the door and bring in all new management who are paid commensurate with their ability to turn this thing around. Why are we going to listen to this bunch who led us to where we are now?

[Abby1]

These CEOs will not miss their salary. They make the bulk of their money from bonuses and other perks.

[prsist]

If they want to impress me they can bring back the electric car (EV-1). PERIOD

[lynjs]

If I got paid $22 million a year, say last year, why would I need a salary this year? I wouldn't These guys are just plain greedy. They need to get rid of their several homes and fancy cars and learn the term downsize.

Downsize means that you live in a $50,000 to $100,000 home, driving one of the company cars that you sell to see why people don't buy them. They're salaries should be nothing, but I'd give them $20,000 a year with no beneftis. Let them see how the other half lives and how hard it is to pay $400 a month on a car that drives like trash and costs an arm and a leg to fix. They may would get the reason why folk are driving Kias, Toyotas, Nissans and every other foreign made car under the sun.

[ratcity]

They have to start making cars and trucks that get better mileage. They have a diesel in Europe made by Mercedes that gets 50 miles to the gallon and has more power and less pollutions then our car companies have ever thought of. Also they make to many different models. They do not need 8 different models of one car line. And they live in the 50's and 60's when no one cared about the environment. Its time to start living in 2008.

[Clayton139]

MORE (MPG's) is the bottom line !

[jimisuma]

WHY SHOLUD THEY GET PAID ANYTHING?
THEY SHOULD BE FIRED!! THE FAILED AT THEIR JOBS.
SEEMS PRETTY SIMPLE TO ME.

[vmonter]

Ditto!

Stupid fvcking huffpost, did a robot write this webpage? Who are the DC cheerleaders that care nothing about America and everything about politics? Congress should not have the power to give billions upon billions of dollars to ANYONE! How about a fvcking poll for that???

[Purobi]

They should all pay back last 15 years worth of salaries and bonus and then quit. They do not qualify to mop the floor of my bathrooms and these incompetents are going to keep on managing the car companies with our money?

[Pegi]

THEY SHOULD THROW THAT DOLLAR AND ALL THEY HAVE HIDDEN INTO A SALVATION ARMY BUCKET TO HELP OTHERS!!!!

[didntromefall]

No managerial bonuses or merit increases for North American salaried employees in 2009.......What's the qualifier for N. A. employee status? Does a 4 week junket overseas qualify as a foreign employee? Sounds like Clark Griswold (middle management) will be screwed again this Christmas.