Americans cheer pay curb, fret over big gov't role

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

PHOENIX, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Many Americans applauded President Barack Obama's move on Wednesday to rein in pay at companies getting taxpayer aid but some felt uncomfortable about the government wading into the private sector.

"Thank you Mr. President. It is definitely time," said flight attendant Dawn Berry of Obama's plans to cap pay at $500,000 for executives of struggling Wall Street firms receiving bailout funds.

Berry, standing outside a coffee shop in Scottsdale, Arizona, said Obama's move might send a message to other senior executives: "Don't go around living high on the hog when you have employees who are wondering each day if they come in to work if it's going to be their last day."

<snip>

Chicago realtor Cathy Ivcich agreed.

"If you come begging for money and you're broke, you don't get a prize," she said, questioning whether executives deserved even $500,000 "after playing loose and free with the company's money."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0431323920090204?sp=true

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screw the whiners on squal-street

[underpants]

1. Ha! MSM is going to have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another approach

because the "where will we get that TALENT?" meme ain't working


Solomon nailed it here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8168149

[Journeyman]

2. Hey, tell the "Private Sector" to not get in such a bind where they need "Public Money". . .

and the government will have no reason to "wade" into the issue of executive pay.

But if they take the money, they must abide by the lender's rules. What would they rather have: public bail out funds and reasonable pay restrictions, or private bankruptcy and a cessation to all pay.

Seem pretty self-explanatory to me.

[bemildred]

3. Well, I for one welcome a big government role.

At least I can vote them out.

[ohio2007]

4. sheeple cheer pay curb, fret over big gov't role

hmmmm

[Politicalboi]

5. A lot of people

Would work for $500,000 a year. They're just scared that the young talent is going to push them out. Well your time has come. I bet they could break it down to half that if the salary included travel. First class only, not your own personal jet. Who knows the job market for CEO's just might be huge in a few months.

[ljm2002]

6. People are so brainwashed it makes me literally ill...

...who the hell do they think is propping up these wizards of private enterprise (big government, courtesy of the tax dollars of all of us Little People)? Who the hell's money and jobs were stolen by the high-flyers of the private sector (the Little People's -- their jobs, their retirement funds, their IRAs, etc.)? Who the hell would be in a position to curb these excesses, if not "big government"? And who the hell should be calling the shots, the hallowed Private Sector that has essentially crashed the world economy, or Big Government -- especially when Big Government is the one providing the bailout?

So everyone is mad at the profligate CEOs, but they just can't make the connection that those were PRIVATE SECTOR CEOs who RAN THEIR COMPANIES INTO THE GROUND, along with the ENTIRE WORLD ECONOMY, due to their GREED AND FRAUDULENT, CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES. And now that they've come a-begging to the government to save them from total collapse, now that they've got their hands in our pockets, we should be worried about "big government's role"??? Is that about it?

Who are these idiots??????????????? And what, exactly, do they think Big Government is going to do that is worse than what this criminal band of self-enrichers has done already?

Hey. You don't want "Big Government"? Let's start by scaling down the military. Let's scale it back to something that costs us only twice what the next biggest military spender spends, instead of more than the next 45 combined. You don't want "Big Government"? Let's get rid of the War On (Some) Drugs (i.e. war on the hapless). You don't want "Big Government"? Let's review our prison system, which incarcerates the most in raw numbers, as well as the most as a percentage of population -- than any other nation on earth.

But no. These people are fine with all of that -- but dayum, just try and limit the bloated paychecks of inept CEOs and all of a sudden it's class warfare and big government.

Okay I'll stop now. Sorry, just having a hard time containing my outrage these days.

[zeos3]

9. Amen

[MisterP]

10. the thing is, they identify with the rich: they see money--not labor--as the basis of the economy

and get snookered by Ayn Rand and Heinlein types on the Greatness of America and how it's a land of small entrepreneurs who are Free to try and become rich. They identify capitalism with freedom and democracy, and see the world as a vicious, meritocratic competition (with themselves as the Elect, of course). It's the "Liberalism" of the 18th century, which drew on Calvinism to justify the rising middle class's officeholding, developed into proto-Fascist Social Darwinism, and was propped up by the Cold War against liberation and justice.
Feh.

[treestar]

14. How old do they have to get before they realize that they

aren't among the rich and might never become rich. And how do they square that with the "fact" that all they had to do was have a good idea and work hard?

[4lbs]

7. Maybe corporate exec salaries should be determined by a formula

that takes into account a portion of corporate profit that year minus the salaries of people laid off from the company, multiplied by 1.25.

For example, Widgets, Inc. makes $100 million profit.

However, it laid off 1,000 workers. The average salary was $40,000.

So, that's $40 million of salaried workers removed to make up that $100 million profit.

Multiply $40 million by 1.25, giving you $50 million.

$100 million minus $50 million is $50 million.

The "executive salary portion" will be say half of this amount. Thus, that's $25 million split amongs the executives however they want. If there are 50 executives, they get an average of $500K in salary. Some will get more, others less.

If the executives want to significantly increase their salary, find ways to increase profits without laying off a bunch of workers.

[rpannier]

8. Kevin Washington, a moron in San Francisco...

For Kevin Washington, 41, a clothing store worker in San Francisco, the measure was meddling in corporate affairs.

"A company has a right to pay what they want to pay. Some of these CEOs do a damn good job and they deserve to get appreciation shown," he said. "If you do a great job, you deserve to be rewarded for it."


This guy needs to pay better attention

[MetaTrope]

11. This means the CEO of my firm will be taking a $66 million pay cut

Hope nobody around the office asks me why I'm grinning.

[ChazII]

12. Scottsdale=Snobsdale

at least that is one of the nick names for the city.

[Coventina]

15. Just FYI - There are poor & working-class areas of Scottsdale.

Not everybody is rich. In fact, Scottsdale is really two communities - North Scottsdale, where all the rich people live (and give the city its stereotype) and South Scottsdale, where all the "regular" people live.

[ChazII]

17. Yes, I know

as a 50 year resident and a Coronado Don. (for those not familiar with the area, that is South Scottsdale.)

[DoctorMyEyes]

13. Anybody want to make a bet?

I'd bet that the "concerned" Americans in this article who see this as the government overstepping its boundaries are the same Americans who didn't see any problem with warrantless wiretapping and no-fly lists.

[natrat]

16. they should not worry as there will be loopholes big enough to drive a brinks truck through