rssSocialism, the New Capitalism
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 12:10 pm
- 4 Comments
Among the myriad absurdities surrounding the current negotiations over the Bush administration’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan, perhaps none rises to the level of the conflict over CEO pay.
Briefly, the Democrats’ strategy, unveiled yesterday, would place unspecified limits on the pay packages for heads of failed companies. By contrast, Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson wants no government hand in what companies — even those who benefit from an eventual bailout — pay their executives. Paulson went on the record numerous times over the weekend to say as much.
“If we design it so it’s punitive and so institutions aren’t going to participate,” Paulson told Fox News on Sunday, “this won’t work the way we need it to work.”
Which begs the very relevant question: Huh?
What company on the verge of collapse would refuse rescue for the sake of a few million dollars in executive pay? What CEO would turn down billions from Washington to preserve his or her golden parachute? (Answer: None. Or at least none deserving that golden parachute.)
Which brings up the issue of merit-based pay — a very American ideal, but not one evidently shared by Wall Street companies. Take, for example, Richard Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers since 1994. He took home roughly $354 million over the past five years, according to Forbes. His talent? All he had to do was run the company into the ground by betting a bit overzealously on mortgage-backed investments (Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy last week.)
As Nicholas D. Kristof asked in his New York Times column last week: “Perhaps it’s understandable that C.E.O.’s are paid heroically when they succeed, but why pay prodigious sums when they fail?”
That’s the same question many members of Congress are asking this week. Among them is Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who revealed little patience yesterday for Paulson’s plan to let taxpayers, in effect, cover enormous CEO compensation packages.
“It’s inconceivable,” Frank told reporters, “that people would say the taxpayer should put some money at risk because of bad decisions made by people who would then continue to be rewarded without any restriction and, in fact, would be rewarded for their mistakes.”
Ridiculous? Yes. But inconceivable? Maybe not coming from a Treasury secretary who once headed Goldman Sachs (which, to prevent its own collapse, went from investment bank to holding company status this week) and a C-student president who once ran several oil companies into the ground.
Meritocracy, indeed.
4 Comments
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 9:44 am
If we design it so it’s punitive and so institutions aren’t going to participate
So who's forcing them to participate? If they don't like the terms., then go find another SWF with terms more to their liking.
Comment posted October 4, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
SENATOR OBAMA,DOES GOD NEED TO LOBBY OUR US CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD FOR POORER AMERICAN'S,OR ARE YOU WATCHING OUT FOR THEM ??
SURELY OUR US CONGRESS & US SUPREME COURT BOTH KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE MURDER & A POSSIBLE EXECUTION IN GEORGIA NEXT WEEK ???
OUR US CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD CONTINUE TO DENY MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION EVEN THOUGH WRONGFUL EXECUTIONS & FALSE INCARCERATIONS CONTINUE ALL ACROSS AMERICA ???
*** 700 BILLION $$$ AVAILABLE FOR US BAILOUT, & NO $$$ FOR ALL POORER AMERICANS PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION ???????
WHERE ARE AMERICA 'S RELIGIOUS LEADERS ??
SENATOR OBAMA, THIS JUDICIAL INJUSTICE HAS BECOME AN AMERICAN ART FORM, AND NO LONGER CAN BE KEPT HIDDEN OR SECRET FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE EVEN IF CERTAIN (501c3) U$ RELIGIOU$ LEADER$ HAVE BEEN $ILENCED ??
LETS ALL HOPE OUR MEDIA FRIENDS CONTINUE TO SHOW AN INTEREST IN REPORTING ON THIS AMERICAN HORROR FACING THESE (TENS OF THOUSANDS) FORGOTTEN AND TRAPPED POORER AMERICANS, AND HOW THIS PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER HANDLES THIS VERY SERIOUS ISSUE FACING AMERICA'S LATINO AND BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ????
WITH 80% OF THE BLACK AMERICAN VOTERS SAYING THEY SUPPORT SENATOR OBAMA IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, IT IS ONLY FAIR FOR EVERYONE TO KNOW PRIOR BEING ELECTED OUR NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HOW THIS DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TRULY FEELS ABOUT THIS AMERICAN JUDICIAL INJUSTICE CONTINUING TO INFLICT GRAVE HARM ON THE BLACK & LATINO AMERICAN FAMILIES AND THEIR COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE ??????
*** WHEN GOD'S FACE BECAME VERY RED ***
THE US SUPREME COURT GAVE ENEMY COMBATANTS FEDERAL APPEAL HC RIGHTS LAWYERS AND PROPER ACCESS TO US FEDERAL COURTS,AND POORER AMERICANS (MANY EVEN ON DEATH ROW) ARE DENIED PROPER FEDERAL APPEAL LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO OUR US FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL, AND ROTTING IN AMERICAN PRISONS NATIONWIDE ?????????
**** INNOCENT AMERICANS ARE DENIED REAL HC RIGHTS WITH THEIR FEDERAL APPEALS !
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE $LOWLY FINDING OUT HOW EA$Y IT I$ FOR MIDDLE CLA$$ AND WORKING POOR AMERICAN$ TO FALL VICTIM TO OUR U$ MONETARY JUDICIAL $Y$TEM.
****WHEN THE US INNOCENT WERE ABANDONED BY THE GUILTY ****
The prison experts have reported that there are 100,000 innocent Americans currently being falsely imprisoned along with the 2,300,000 total US prison population nationwide.
Since our US Congress has never afforded poor prison inmates federal appeal legal counsel for their federal retrials,they have effectively closed the doors on these tens of thousands of innocent citizens ever being capable of possibly exonerating themselves to regain their freedom through being granted new retrials.
This same exact unjust situation was happening in our Southern States when poor and mostly uneducated Black Americans were being falsely imprisoned for endless decades without the needed educational skills to properly submit their own written federal trial appeals.
This devious and deceptive judicial process of making our poor and innocent prison inmates formulate and write their own federal appeal legal cases for possible retrials on their state criminal cases,is still in effect today even though everyone in our US judicial system knows that without proper legal representation, these tens of thousands of innocent prison inmates will be denied their rightful opportunities of ever being granted new trials from our federal appeal judges!!
Sadly, the true US *legal* Federal Appeal situation that occurs when any of our uneducated American prison inmates are forced to attempt to submit their own written Federal Appeals (from our prisons nationwide) without the assistance of proper legal counsel, is that they all are in reality being denied their legitimate rights for Habeas Corpus with our US FEDERAL COURTS and will win any future Supreme Court Case concerning this injustice!
For our judicial system and our US Congressional Leaders Of The Free World to continue to pretend that this is a real and fair opportunity for our American Middle Class and Working Poor Citizens, only delays the very needed future change of Federal Financing of all these Federal appeals becoming a normal formula of Our American judicial system.
It was not so very long ago that Public Defenders became a Reality in this country.Prior that legal reality taking place, their were also some who thought giving anyone charged with a crime a free lawyer was a waste of taxpayers $$.
This FACADE and HORROR of our Federal Appeal proce$$ is not worthy of the Greatest Country In The World!
***GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT EVEN THEIR INNOCENT, BECOME THE GUILTY!
A MUST READ ABOUT AMERICAN INJUSTICE:
1) YAHOO AND 2) GOOGLE
MANNY GONZALES THE KID THAT EVERYONE FORGOT IN THE CA PRISON SYSTEM.
** A JUDICIAL RIDE OF ONES LIFE !
lawyersforpooramericans@yahoo.com
(424-247-2013)
Comment posted December 20, 2008 @ 12:34 am
It's not socialism and it is not new. It is called Supply Side economics.
Comment posted December 20, 2008 @ 8:34 am
It's not socialism and it is not new. It is called Supply Side economics.
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