If this is a victory, I sure don't know what a defeat would look like.
A July 29th New York Times headline states, "In victory for Obama, House panel approves Restraints on Executive Pay." First, you should note that an approval by a panel and a token will buy you a ride on the subway. By itself, it is not worth much. The House has to approve it, and -- given the lobbies lined up -- it may not. More fatally for the bill, the Senate is quite unlikely to support such an anti-Wall Street move.
Wait, wait, I am just warming up. The bill does not limit any one's pay by one penny. It merely allows shareholders to vote on the matter. If and when they do -- the vote is not binding! That is, the corporations are free to pay their executives all they want, anyhow.
You may say the corporations will be embarrassed to pay through the nose after their shareholders vote not to grant monumental pay raises. However, so far there have been no signs, no hints, that these Wall Street firms are embarrassed by anything.
Finally, you should know that unless limits are set on the total compensation of executives, all such a bill -- if enacted, if acted upon, if heeded -- will lead to is just more gaming.
Here is one method of gaming that should give you a feel for all the others. I was a guest of a CEO of a very large insurance company. He even gave me a ride on his private jet. I asked him how much he spent last year on the entertainment of customers, fellow workers, and politicians. He responded with a wide smile: "About 300 dollars." When he saw that my jaw dropped down about as low as it goes, he added with a chuckle: "One of my assistants makes all the arrangements and signs on the checks and credit card slips with his name."
The fact that the CEO felt free to tell me all this shows you how impressed he and his friends are by Obama's "victory."
Amitai Etzioni is a University Professor at The George Washington University, and the author of The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics. He can be reached at icps@gwu.edu. www.gwu.edu/~ccps/securityfirst
Yes we con
Yes we con con...
--fredwenn
I agree. And shrill. Could he be more shrill? Americans don't like incremental gains. They don't like a president that spends time getting his policies passed as legislation. We like a guy who stands up for what he believes! It really doesn't matter what he believes as long as he's not takin' no guff. We like signing statements and executive orders. We like recess appointments that stick it to those clowns in congress.
He talks a good game. But experience has shown that he won't actually push for real change that will benefit Americans in general. Experience has shown that he is satisfied so long as people go through the motions and he can smile and take some credit for it. He will do the same thing when it is time for him to sign a meaningless bill for the medical problems.
Over on The Economic Populist is a post, Have a Say on Say on Pay.
Contained within are references to expert testimony to modify executive compensation as well as corporate governance to align compensation not only with the long term interests of a corporation, but also with the national interest.
People, we really need to demand reforms in both of these areas as part of a financial regulatory overhaul (but this is for all corporations) to not only avert future implosions which risk the national economy but also for long term economic growth, the interests of America.
Here is the raw link:
http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/have-say-say-pay
When they tell us his poll numbers are down... it's because those of us who want a REAL REVOLUTION are angry that he hasn't done ENOUGH.
the media makes it look like people are rethinking their support for Obama.
that's not true.
Obama's numbers are suffering because some of us want Wall St reformed, Goldman Sachs out of business... Cheney in jail
and Bush - well, let's not go there - Let's just say he's still breathing ... and that makes me unhappy.
As to Doctors and big Pharma..... I want Obama to gut the profession.
It's not about health... it's about empire building.... and ripping off the public.
so no... I"m mad at Obama too.... but not for the reasons given on the nightly news.
I WANT OBAMA TO
1. Send Goldman execs to prison.
2. Send Cheney and the neocon war machine to prison.
3. Stop bailing out BIG companies.... I want SMALL companies
4. Dump Israel
5. Stop placating the loony right, and start acting like the man who got elected by a landslide.
6. Say MORE about corrupt cops.... not less.
In other words, another Democratic use of a populist-sounding rhetoric to restrain only the "greed" of workers and disfavored individuals in practice, talk aside. Been there done that
Here is another "victory" that the media is claiming for Obama ...
Obama/Congress/Big Pharma/Insurance conspired to KILL the following WITHOUT a Senate vote:
+ govt supported health insurance to 45 million uninsured -- KILLED
+ buying low-cost high-quality generics from Canada -- KILLED
+ govt to negotiate drug prices -- KILLED
And then they are either blaming each other for KILLING these or claiming victory for "Obama's Healthcare Plan".
Stockholders already vote for the board that determines executive compensation at every corporation. If the stockholders believe the CEO is being paid too much they can vote in a new board. Why does Congress need to get involved?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9zqDZkv9eA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edemos%2Eorg%2Finequality%2F
wreckless deregulation, allowing only a few at the top to have all the money doesn't create a healthy economy.
The inequality gap is the highest in the US than any other country in the world.........
in 1975 the difference between the highest paid work and the lowest in a company was 55%
today it's 300%
that's excessive greed and it is taking away from all of us.
The fact that we actually fell for the "too big to fail" drivel is completely and totally Un-American and the antithesis of Capitalism. The whole point of healthy competition is fiscal responsibility. They lost, they should have been allowed to fail. There are plenty of other institutions that would have risen to the challenge of absorbing all of those customers. Instead we rewarded fiscal irresponsibility and screwed over all of the bankers in this country that do follow sound fiscal policy.
We have been had.