Wall Street Insiders Whine Over Obama Executive Pay Limits: ‘$500,000 Is Not A Lot Of Money’
Wall Street Insiders Whine Over Obama Executive Pay Limits: ‘$500,000 Is Not A Lot Of Money’
Today, President Obama announced that top executives’ pay at companies accepting TARP funds would be capped at $500,000, with any additional compensation coming only in the form of stock options that could not be cashed until the government had been repaid.
As news of the plan leaked last night, wealthy Wall Street went into panic mode, insisting that the caps would ruin the financial industry. It’s “a nightmare for any financial institution,” CNBC host Joe Kernen proclaimed this morning, while Fox Business host Alexis Glick said it was evidence of Obama being “a little anti-business.” Others insisted that the “draconian” caps would drive the “best and the brightest” away from Wall Street and that Obama’s anger over executive bonuses was misplaced:
“That is pretty draconian — $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus.” [James F. Reda, founder and managing director of James F. Reda & Associates]
“If I didn’t pay [bonuses], the people were going to go. … These people didn’t choose to cure cancer. These people didn’t choose to do public service work…These people chose to make money.” [Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric]
“The consequences of it are going to be a massive brain drain of senior talent from those companies that have taken TARP money to those companies that have not.” [Donald Straszheim, managing principal at Straszheim Global Advisor]
“Companies that need the most talented people to fix their problems won’t be able to pay them.” [
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive OfficerScott Minerd, CEO and CIO of Guggenheim Partners Asset Management]
Announcing the plan today, Obama emphasized that the key to bolstering the financial system was restoring trust. “And in order to restore trust, we’ve got to make certain that taxpayer funds are not subsidizing excessive compensation packages on Wall Street,” he said. Making it clear that he doesn’t “disparage wealth,” Obama emphasized that outlandish executive pay was both in bad taste and bad strategy:
For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only in bad taste — it’s a bad strategy — and I will not tolerate it as President. We’re going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid — so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won’t find them up to the same old tricks.
Under Obama’s new guidelines, Wall Street salaries will be tied at least nominally to performance, so that, as Obama said, “executives are compensated for sound risk management and rewarded for growth measured over years, not just days or weeks.” By contrast, in 2008, when “the brokerage units of New York financial companies lost more than $35 billion,” their executives were rewarded with nearly $20 billion in bonuses.
What’s more, Wall Street insiders should keep in mind that $500,000 is still ten times the median household income and $100,000 more than President Obama makes.
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“The consequences of it are going to be a massive brain drain of senior talent from those companies that have taken TARP money to those companies that have not.”
Well, the kind of brains that got companies into the position of having to take TARP money maybe should be drained. Ever think of that?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:01 pmIt’s really NOT that much money.
“We” spend that much in about a minute in Iraq…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pmIf they don’t want the job any more, I’ll do it.
Why doesn’t “supply-and-demand” apply to these prix??
There have to be 2 million MBA holders out there – bet most of them don’t work for 500k+.
These are nothing but arrogant prima donnas, who need taken down many notches.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:04 pmGoddamm pigs, F’ing get used to it. My neighbor lost her health insurance, for herself AND her children.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:04 pmGiggle… snork…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:05 pm“If I didn’t pay [bonuses], the people were going to go. … These people didn’t choose to cure cancer. These people didn’t choose to do public service work…These people chose to make money.” [Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric]
This is a phenomenally sick statement. General Electric is one of the largest weapons and weapons systems manufactures uin the world.
“These people chose to make money by killing and maiming for life a lot of people.”
Fixed it for you, Jack.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:05 pmThe people you have been paying had a talent for failing……you paid for that….you should fail.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:08 pmAs none of these people have yet to display any extra-normal capabilities, no matter how much they claim to have them, I am skeptical that they are worth anywhere near as much as they think they are.
But man, they sound scared sh!tless that everybody’s going to find out they aren’t all that brilliant and “talented” after all. If the TARP recipient companies end up doing OK in the long run, it’s going to prove that their whining about not being able to “attract top talent” was a false front the whole time, and that not a one of them are worth more than $500K anyway.
PS: I am available to run a bank, should they have difficulty getting anyone else to do it.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:09 pmI’m still confused about where these fleeing executives are going to land, since it seems like every other corporation is also in trouble, but it’s likewise silly to think that there aren’t hundreds or thousands of eager sharks waiting to move up to those executive positions in a heartbeat.
Not to mention, if the best and the brightest screwed things up this badly, what do we have to lose by bringing in new blood?
“If I didn’t pay [bonuses], the people were going to go. … These people didn’t choose to cure cancer. These people didn’t choose to do public service work…These people chose to make money.” [Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric]
Apparently, they’re supposed to make money rather than to run a successful company; I’m sure the stockholders would be interested to learn this.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:11 pmThis one is easy: If you don’t like the rules, manage your business better so you won’t need corporate welfare to function. Grow up and smell the coffee, already.
Another simple explanation for a very simple question.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:11 pmAnd how much do they think they’re worth? Let ‘em bail and get in the unemployment line with Gonzolez.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:11 pmThese fat cats seem to mistake talent and ability with greed.
Will the greediest people go elsewhere? Fine. Go elsewhere. Don’t like it? Leave. I’m sure there are plenty of others who would be happy for the challenge with a annual salary of half a mil.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:11 pmGO BARACK!!! Kick their Cheney’s and hold their testicles to the flame. Its about time someone had the guts to reel these bastards in. I guess this means they will each be taking two fewer trips to Barbados this year.
Next.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pm“If I didn’t pay [bonuses], the people were going to go…”
Great! Maybe these so called masters of the universe can do something socially useful and productive like teach!
Break out the Whaaaaaaaaaa Burgers and the French cries.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pmgummitch Says:
“it’s likewise silly to think that there aren’t hundreds or thousands of eager sharks waiting to move up to those executive positions in a heartbeat.”
—————————————————————
My thoughts exactly.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pmThey say power corrupts. But I think money beats power any day for sheer corrosive power. Just look how addled these rich guys are.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pmYeah, I’m sure everyone else in America feels awfully bad for them. A lot of people I know work extremely hard for less. $500,000 is nothing to scoff at.
This is especially hilarious when some of these “best and brightest” have essentially ran their companies into the ground and still gotten millions of dollars in bonuses. Boo hoo.
This is clearly temporary. Once you’re done with the bail out money and back in the black you can go back to ridiculous bonuses from the sounds of it. They can’t wait a couple of years after receiving millions every year before?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pmOthers insisted that the “draconian” caps would drive the “best and the brightest” away from Wall Street…
_____________________________________________________________
First, if these overpaid people were REALLY the “best and the brightest”, why are their companies in the toilet?
Second, if they leave Wall Street, where are they gonna go?
This is simply a case of “We’ve got to protect our phony baloney jobs, gentlemen. We must do something about this, immediately, immediately, immediately!” (Mel Brooks, Blazing Saddles)
February 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pmIt’s not that much money…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pmThat’s a pretty hard arguement to make when you got your hand out. Not to mention trying to tell that to the 95% of americans that earn under $100,000 a year. Or the employee that just lost their life savings, thier house, and/or thier job because of these “senior talented” executives.
Throw the bums out.
Tough shit!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:16 pmCut their pay to minimum wage and have them survive with food stamps.
I think progressives should focus on one part of this proposal to rebut all the whiners: There is no proposal to limit stock option payments, only that their value not be realized until after the TARP money is repaid.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:16 pmWhat better way to attract the best and the brightest than by saying “Once you turn this company around and we’re back to business as usual, we’ll compensate you twice the amount (or ten times or whatever) that you would have made otherwise.” For executives who claim to love the risks and rewards of high finance, what could be better?
gummitch @10,
I also totally agree with you.
I imagine that some of them will ‘bail’ if they don’t get to make more than half a million a year, but, I’m not worried about it. How much worse could their replacements do?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:19 pmToday, President Obama announced that top executives’ pay at companies accepting TARP funds would be capped at $500,000, with any additional compensation coming only in the form of stock options that could not be cashed until the government had been repaid.
HAH! I posted the same thing last night, only I concluded that the stock options couldn’t be cashed until the government had been repaid with interest.
PEACE
February 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pmJAMES REDA: “That is pretty draconian — $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus.”
Get bent, you f ucking bonehead. I could live for 20 years on that kind of money AND do your job better than you’re doing it.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:21 pmIf the people were all that talented to begin with, then why exactly are these companies in financial difficulties?
Maybe somebody wasn’t really getting what they were paying for. Better not to throw more good money after bad.
“These people didn’t choose to cure cancer. These people didn’t choose to do public service work…These people chose to make money.”
Greedy, much? It doesn’t seem to me that they have been making much money but losing huge chunks of it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed a bailout.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:21 pmLook on the bright side, executives: you won’t have to pay a lot of taxes on it, even without tax cuts!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:21 pmClaiming that $500K a year is “not a lot of money” is precisely the emotional hook that will turn American voters away from your position. Thanks for the help in promoting our position, Reda. We, the American people, are the new owners so you best get used to the Obama Administration as the new CEO.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pmWell said riconaps. It highlights the fact that they aren’t interested in risks, just the rewards. Risk is for the shareholder’s money.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm1) Maybe this sector needs people in it who want to do a good job as opposed to make a lot of money. If they are so money hungry, perhaps we should take the sharks out of the blood tank and let them be entrepreneurs, start their own business, and pursue their riches that way. Maybe the people in charge should be ones who are interested in sober guardianship of shareholders money.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm2) People love to knock the public sector, but I’ve been getting my mail quickly and on time my entire life. The DMV is a much more efficient place now than it was 20 years ago and my public libraries kick a$$. I’d rather deal with any of those organizations than I would the cable company,my credit card company, or my bank.
3) Watching Fox anchors defend Wall Streets pushback on this means that their balls are so big, they must surely be expanding faster than the universe.
This needs to be front page news: $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus.”
Why don’t you go out and tell that to the unemployed and homeless of our country? My bet is your body would never be found.
500k? I’ll do that job for 400k a year. Hire me, MF’r.
This is just the culture that they became enmeshed in after 8 years of corporate fascist governing. They beleive that they are ENTITLED to mega bucks AND taxpayer welfare just because they are on Wall Street. Your company asked for welfare — your a$$ SHOULD be on food stamps.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:23 pmDidn’t Lee Iaccoca cut his salary to $1 when Chrysler requested federal loan guaranties back in the late 70s? And Ford’s top management’s compensation was cut over a year ago.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:23 pmI have an idea, take back the TARP money back, let the banks fail, and then they can try living on unemployment until that runs out.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:23 pmNevar @ 1:05pm
New slogan for GE?
“General Electric … We bring good thing to death”
February 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pmspencers mom Says:
until the government had been repaid with interest.
Yes mam!! They SHOULD be paying the SAME interest that they charge us working class, and treated in the same manner as they treat their clients.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pmStupid Conservatives demand that school teacher’s meager salaries be directly tied to their student’s test scores. Performance-based pay.
Those same stupid conservatives demand the CEO class get paid billons of dollars in government welfare checks for intentionally driving their company into bankruptcy.
Uh, what?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pmY – it’s surely a meritocracy . no double standards here folks, just move along…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pmI guess none of these companies believe in the free market system anymore. Shouldn’t they be allowed to fail?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pmThese people chose to make money
Then give back that welfare money you took, you greedy SOB. THEN you can give out whatever pay and bonuses you like. Just not on TAXPAYER money. PIG.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:28 pmThey are lots of very talented and smart people who’d be happy to make 500K/year – and they didn’t get us into this mess in the first place.
They sure want to “socialize” the failure though!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pmUm, has anyone verified that the Big Three auto CEO’s took that pay cut to $1? Because if I recall correctly, when asked, one of them said no thanks, he was happy with his current salary.
And how about a restriction on payments to lobbyists for any corporation who is a recipient of bailout money? Now that would get some attention!
PEACE
February 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pmGeneral Electric also runs GE Capital. One of our vendors pushed us into signing up with them acting as our flooring company. (They finance wholesale purchases our retail business makes, and we pay them back over time.)
6 months later the Vendor reduced the line of credit we had with them by the same amount as the line of credit provided to us by GE Capital.
Last October GE Capital cancelled the line of credit completely, without cause, not only for our individual business, but for every company having accounts with them in the same industry our company is.
But that’s incidental information. What I really wanted to say was:
If those people who work for him really want to make money, let them go out, hire some employees, and start manufacturing a good product that people will want to buy?????
How do you make money by trading pieces of paper?
How DO you make money by trading pieces of paper? By skimming the wealth the rest of us possess.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pmAnd take away their stock options, too! Giving them deferred stock options (ie Cheney with his Halliburton stock) causes them to act like speculators and not CEOs.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:30 pmI am crying a river over their terrible situation. Oh my! You are only going to make a frigging 1/2 million dollars a year. So sad for you!
These guys don’t understand that the American people have had it with their greed and incompetence. They contributed substantially to the mess we are in!
I am so disgusted by these people.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:30 pmSome people will not sell their souls. For others the price is higher, but the sale is made.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:31 pmFirst off, why aren’t they in jail. Then they can make the jailhouse minimum.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:32 pmSecond, why aren’t the real crooks, the members of the senate and the congress who allowed this to happen, in jail with them.
If you can’t live well on $500,000 a year, you’re too stupid for the job.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:35 pmsounds like a bunch of spoiled kids…
what, those senior brains didn’t have enough sense to save for a rainy day?
or maybe they’re all worried that this just may have the effect of lowering obscene salaries all ’round…
and, if a guy WANTED to make more money at another place, what’s to say there would be an opening… and who would WANT to hire someone who helped break the bank…?
just some thoughts…
i do believe the “regular folk” will agree this is a good plan…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:35 pmJack Welch:These people didn’t choose to cure cancer. These people didn’t choose to do public service work…These people chose to make money.
Thanks for admitting that money-grubbing people make for crappy Americans. Pay back the lot of money if you want to make a lot of money. You can come up with the money to enrich yourself, but not on the back of the taxpayers. How is this so difficult to understand? Why is this even a discussion among the “right to succeed, right to fail” gawkers?
The good times are over, fellas. Dip into your bonuses from previous years to cover the mansion upkeep.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:35 pmWhere are those movers and shakers going to go Jack Welch??? Brain Drain? Yes they chose to make money. But now it’s our dime not a private corporation anymore. Your getting your handout – deal.
Jack – Your the Fat Cat Pig That Wrote The Book on How To Swindle companies of their Wealth. You invented the Giant Bonus Plan … You Sir have helped create this monster. You sir need to have your head examined.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:35 pmWe need to call their bluff on their threat of “if we don’t pay these big bonuses, everyone will leave.” Eff ‘em — let them all leave and try to find another job, like millions of ordinary Americans are newly doing in the last several weeks.
Better yet, sign them all up to go over to Iraq and Afghanistan for 2-year tours, and bring the real underpaid Americans, our troops, home…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:36 pm… and what’s that bull shyin’ away from?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:36 pm$500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus.”
Wellcome to the planet earth sir!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pmspencers mom Says:
And how about a restriction on payments to lobbyists for any corporation who is a recipient of bailout money? Now that would get some attention!
Well, how about no lobying at all? Lobbying is nothing more than bribing public officials. No matter how it is spun, that is the final ana…. oh…… that is the bottom line.
Fact is, they saw this as free money (Bush probably told them something like that). I would not be surprised to learn that they believed they would not have to pay any of it back. They should be gloriously happy that they are not being charged the insane interest rates that they charge people.
Take back the TARP money from all of the complainers and reinvest that money into useful and productive measures.
Really, can anyone explain HOW the 350 billion they HAVE received has improved the economy or opened the lines of credit that we were told it would do? What have We the People gotten for the 350billion welfare to Wall Street, because I see nothing.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pmThey are taking welfare…. If they don’t like it…..don’t take the money!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pmMore education = fewer excesses. That means more people appreciative of settling in at $150,000 salary and fewer people demanding $10,000,000 bonuses.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pm“…if we don’t pay these big bonuses, everyone will leave.”
Isn’t this what they say to non-executives that don’t belong to unions? If you don’t like the working conditions here, then you are free to leave?
Curious.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:40 pmWhat happened to all the rhetoric about the virtues and necessity of the free market system?
Doesn’t the capitalist ideology of the free market include that if a business fails because of bad management, then it simply fails (and other businesses will step in to fill the void created)?
Where is the financier’s love of free market and capitalism? Oh, right, they wanted welfare money from the government.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:41 pmWhere are the trolls to claim that incompetent CEOs truly need more than a half million in welfare money?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:41 pmCageyC, yes, I was trying to say “no lobbyist” but guess I didn’t state it clearly.
As for the interest rate attached to these “loans” I think it should be quite high. After all, the worst credit risks always receive the highest interest rates, and I can’t envision a worse group of credit risks.
PEACE
February 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pmNot a lot of money? I’ll take it, since it’s such a paltry sum that you can’t be bothered. That would barely pay off my mortgage.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:43 pmI’m reminded of graffiti I used to see on a railroad trestle in Ames, Iowa during the depths of the Reagan recession (a full-fledged depression in Iowa):
“Stay hungry, stay alive.”
Eat the rich.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:43 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
Where are the trolls to claim that incompetent CEOs truly need more than a half million in welfare money?
I was going to offer to fill in for the trolls, but perhaps TRoS or Ralph want to take a shot at typing in bold letters some comment about stupid libs. Or, you know, Daryll claiming that he makes that much at his “IT” gig.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pmTrooooolllllssss……. anyone out there want to defend this? C’mon, these guys need your defense. 500k is not a lot of money, you know. FOX apparently has supplied some talking points on this….
hellooooo……?
(snicker)
February 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pmI’m a mortgage broker (and no, I rarely made a subprime loan)
February 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pmand as the banks that I sell my loans to are fond of saying, “he who has the money makes the rules”……so, fair is fair. You receive gov’t money, you adhere to their guidelines; you don’t want to comply with gov’t restrictions? Go get your bailout somewhere else. Sounds simple to me.
Geez… I’m not feelin’ a lot of love on this thread for our poor embattled Wall Street execs…
And not one single troll here to defend them? What’s up w/ that?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pmtroll-designate: hey, miss molly lib, the suckswessful ceos need to pay lib taxes on their mansions. how can they do this on 50,000,000 pennies a year when the mansions are worth at least $10 mil?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pmwould be capped at $500,000, with any additional compensation coming only in the form of stock options that could not be cashed until the government had been repaid.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the ones doing the most whining are the ones, it appears, that had no intention of paying back the debt.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pmWahhh!
There’s a serious disconnect when someone feels that they can’t live quite well on 500K/year.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:46 pm“If I didn’t pay [bonuses], the people were going to go….Fcuk em all.
And just WHERE are they going to go?
Do these idiots not know that there aren’t a whole lot of those type of jobs out there?
I repeat, FCUK THEM ALL.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pmBut the Big Financial greed-mongers are still getting their bailout money to survive. No more cash for Wall Street, Obama! Give it to the truly destitute in our country and around the world
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/
February 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
Where are the trolls to claim that incompetent CEOs truly need more than a half million in welfare money?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
You libs are insane!!!!! Why do you want to punish success!! Have you even READ the stimulous bill? Its fascist socialism!!!!! Why do you hate America? Do you want the terrorists to get us??? Moooommmmyyyyyyyy!!!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pmThe picture I saw had the bull lying down……great job by the talented people of the financial industry…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pmtroll designate: the bwest guvmint is a small guvmint subsidizing the pay of ceos what they are worth. ceos are darryl’s chosen man. the way they take the elevator to their 100th floor suite. they way the handle that brief case. its sooo murican.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pmWow. Everyone called for trolls at about the same time. Funny.
No one wants to defend these poor, extremely talented individuals who will suffer immensely trying to exists on a measely 500k a year until their company pays off its debt to America (and, apparently, without interest).
Oh, and Mr. President Obama: We the people have your back on this completely — do not waver, do not retreat, and if anyhting push even more. Not only are they completely disconnected form the reality of America, they are defiant in the face of the handouts they received (and without interest or set payment schedules, it IS a handout).
Mr. President, you have the will of the people (and on this one you likely have the will of a GREAT amount of people across the partizan lines).
February 4th, 2009 at 1:49 pmAll I can say is that these Wall Street ceo’s are lucky that they naver unionized. THEN the Repubs and the media would be all over them to take a pay cut.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pmthey can always choose not to take the TARP money.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pmtroll-designate: why do you libs insult corporations. if you look on the cheetos website you find a kalkulator where you can enter how much money you have and the kalkulator tells you how many cheetos bags you can buy.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm$500,000 may not be a lot of money for them, but what about all the bonus money they already have saved from the previous years (especially the money they saved in taxes during the bush years)??? They could not have spent it all.
Besides it should be an incentive for them to bring back the banking industry back to a solid foundation, and pay back the TARP money.
Then they can go back to their world of the big bonuses.
What a bunch of whiners.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:52 pmgummitch Says:
I was going to offer to fill in for the trolls, but perhaps TRoS or Ralph want to take a shot at typing in bold letters some comment about stupid libs
_____________
All right… all right… due to popular demand, we present… “The Troll”.
INT WALL STREET INSIDERS THREAD MORNING
The Troll enters. Greasy, matted hair, snarled, filthy beard, he’s wearing an equally shabby, tattered raincoat. Once a highly-paid GOOPer lobbyist, the Troll has been reduced to hustling nickels as an Internet “pundit”. Muttering to himself, he casts a baleful eye about the thread, looking for a victim.
TROLL
Ya God-damned F-in’ Libs… bunch a dope-smokin’ homo pansies… I just wish I could be there when the Islamofascists come ta cut yer F-in’ heads off in the middle of the night so’s I could drink yer blood!!!!!!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:52 pmIt can’t be more complicated than most difficult jobs.
And if it is too complicated for someone who can do most difficult jobs to figure out, then that means it’s too complicated on purpose, and is set up to fail.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:54 pmectoendomezo, are you in the Bay Area?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:55 pmZooey Says:
You libs are insane!!!!! Why do you want to punish success!! Have you even READ the stimulous bill? Its fascist socialism!!!!! Why do you hate America? Do you want the terrorists to get us??? Moooommmmyyyyyyyy!!!
______________
Heh… good impression of a troll…
February 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pmThe Republic of Stupidity Says:
OMG!!!!! You’re channeling Mighty Aphrodite!!!!!!!!
(I don’t know whether to be scared or amused)
February 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pmshwutup libs!
February 4th, 2009 at 1:58 pmWhere will these greed poop-heads go? Who would hire people who robbed & destroyed the business they were hired to run?
February 4th, 2009 at 1:58 pmeeeeeee. eeeeh. my friends. my friends. i’m john mccain i approve this message.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:59 pmWait! Wait. I got one:
Its not like the north could’ve halted this if they didn’t allow the south to secede.i know it.u know it.care to discuss it?i know u want to.good ol’honest abe was an anarchist,a fascist,probably s’ported early islamofacials,too.hey,lookatme.please?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:00 pmLast time I checked a person on welfare has a cap on how much they can receive from the government.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pmLet’s not forget how George W. Bush got his start before he turned to politics.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:02 pmAlright, now… EVERYBODY TOGETHER…. troll faces on….. intoxicate enough to be brain dead…. good…. now let’s all troll:
Libs are all poor welfare cheats and drugees who cant do rehab. Stop yer wining. thE terRoriStS will get yu. we cant afferd to loose all are hi payed exec…ecxe..efdc…. hy payed peple in the bisnes area becuz u hippy libs are two scert to let them make tey’re mony.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:03 pmNettles Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Very poor effort.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:03 pmNo but it’s starting to look like being a criminal is a crime once again…..heh. Stealing is not a legitimate business, even in America post bush.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:04 pmIf they do go, perhaps they can move to the Cayman Islands to keep all their money company.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:05 pmI’m not saying nettles is an idiot but there is a danger of going down that road.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:06 pmNettles Says:
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
_________
Geez, Nettles. At least try to make a point. This is just silly.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:06 pmCagey; are we playing what troll am I?
ruptured rectum…no,no,no.this thread is not about gays.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pmmore like….Tracy_5, right? I guessed it, didn’t I?
#11, I agree. . . this one is easy. If you don’t like the cap, don’t accept our money. If you want to keep your job, you play by our rules. Get used to it.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pmNettles Says: blah, blah, blah …
OFF WITH HIS HEAD
February 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pmNettles Says:
Hi, nettles. :)
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
Oh, you’re going to HAVE to qualify that statement. Too broad. Without qualification, it is meaningless.
Dimon and Welch have done more for the poor in this country than all the union leaders in our nation combined.
Start with examples? Another broad statement that makes an assumption.
This country rides on the back of its rich people for their tax revenue,
Umm.. no, it does not. The rich pay less in taxes than everyone else. Large corporations are the best at avoiding taxes, and thus do NOT pay their fair share. They sail through loopholes, most of which were crafted JUST FOR THEM.
so lets hold off on the “power to the people” French Revolution rhetoric.
Actually, all the “power to the people” type comments here have nothing to do with France: try the American Revolution. And, yes, in America “We the People” ARE more important than ANY company — period.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pmHey Nettles,
Didn’t you get the memo? The rich actually have more loopholes in their tax brackets than the middle class. That’s what my rich friends tell me….
We just want the corporations to pay their fair share of their taxes so the middle class isn’t crunched so much.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pmI’m sure someone else came up with this in a previous post, but, if these robber barons think that $500K is not that much money, then how do they rationalize fighting against a minimum wage hike?
$500K isn’t that much money, but if they have to pay people $10-$15 an hour, our whole economic system will collapse?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pmNettles Says:
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
Dimon and Welch have done more for the poor in this country than all the union leaders in our nation combined.
This country rides on the back of its rich people for their tax revenue, so lets hold off on the “power to the people” French Revolution rhetoric.
Actually, nettles, the country rides on the back of millions of hard-working Americans, under a progressive tax structure, and a few money manipulators and heir(esse)s.
Union leaders fought and died for a forty-hour work week and increased wages and benefits. Leeches like you and McConnell would like to see that progress reversed.
Wealth is not a crime. Being poor, however, you wingnuts would love to criminalize.
Did you know that even Sen. Richard Shelby agrees with temporary pay caps? It’s the taxpayer, stupid.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:11 pmThat was J.Davis
What do I win?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pmWhen did “best and the brightest” become a euphemism for people whose daddies knew somebody?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pmCorporate titans, “masters of the universe”, you are now welfare queens. And just like those fat, cadillac driving (black) welfare queens (having babies to stay on the dole) that Raygun hypothesized and railed against, Y’all need to shut yer mouths and take what’s given you. When you’re off the federal teat and you’ve paid it all back with interest, then maybe you can resume your snivelling about how a small fortune just doesn’t cut it for such superior beings as your royal eminences.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:13 pm“$500,000 is not a lot of money”
In America we kill for less money.
Think I’m lying?
check out what the grunts in Iraq are being paid.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:13 pmMy god, it’s always a point of opposition of these people. Tit for tat. You idiots officially lost power just 15 days ago and I already shudder to relive Jan. 19th, 2009. I still cannot belief you wingnuts, as breathtakingly stupid as you are, managed to circumvent the intent of our founders for eight whole years.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pmI love how they’re worried about all the talent leaving. Is the same talent that drove the companies to bankruptcy in the first place?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pmUncle Ho Says:
Cagey; are we playing what troll am I?
ruptured rectum…no,no,no.this thread is not about gays.
more like….Tracy_5, right? I guessed it, didn’t I?
That might be an intersting game…. maybe…..
Tracy_5 : YOU WIN!!!!!! (cue happy music and balloons and confetti… laughing children running amuck while 243 trained shitzu puppies re-enact the Battle of New Orleans).
You may have a cookie.
ONE cookie, damnit!
February 4th, 2009 at 2:15 pmHmmmm, a person who’s only desire is to make squillions of $
is more valuable than someone working on a cure for cancer.
Glad he cleared that up.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:17 pmNettles says yadda, yadda, yadda
contemplate this;
If a free society can not help the many who are poor, it can not save the rich- John F. Kennedy
also, see: French Revolution, 1789-hint; Marie Antoinette said of the poor asking for bread, Let them eat cake
October Revolution, Russia, 1917. This is how they got the Tsar.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:18 pmcitizen_pain Says:
$500K isn’t that much money, but if they have to pay people $10-$15 an hour, our whole economic system will collapse?
Damn good point, sir!!!!!!!
February 4th, 2009 at 2:18 pmMathazar Says:
Hmmmm, a person who’s only desire is to make squillions of $
is more valuable than someone working on a cure for cancer.
Glad he cleared that up.
A hit, sir! A palpable hit!
And, on that point, aren’t these the same type of people who don’t want any federal money going to research, although they are perfectly comfortable with the Wall Street Bailout money?
Thought so.
Bunch of intestinal hookworms on society.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:21 pmSquiilions of $.
Love that.
….squillions….
February 4th, 2009 at 2:22 pmSo what you’re saying Proud is that only conservatives should write books?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:23 pmmmm cookies, my favorite.
cookie monster
February 4th, 2009 at 2:24 pmcookie monster
cookie monster
Nettles Says:
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
Dimon and Welch have done more for the poor in this country than all the union leaders in our nation combined.
This country rides on the back of its rich people for their tax revenue, so lets hold off on the “power to the people” French Revolution rhetoric.
To “nettle” someone is to annoy them. Well done. Too bad your annoyance is simply that – annoying. It isn’t troubling or disconcerting Nettles, because your assertions aren’t based in fact.
Can we see the links showing the tremendous work Dimon and Welch have done in aid of this country? Didn’t think so.
The rich people of this country have been riding on the backs of the working class for some time now Nettles. Don’t get so confused.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:24 pmDavid Brooks’ latest column is worth reading, as he leaps (like Nettles the troll) to the defense of poor persecuted rich people.
Needless to say, the people from Ward Three are motivated solely by envy and resentment of the “successful” wealthy (who mostly inherited that wealth, but never mind that).
I’d love to think this was meant to be ironic, but I really doubt it.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pmAnd let me be the first… only?… to offer my sincere “thanks” to Nettles for having heard and then heeded the call. Brave, stepping in here with the atmosphere as it was. Well, “brave” as it can get really on the internet.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pmProud Says:
——————————————————————————–
David Plouffe just signed a 7 figure book deal writing a book about the 2008 campaign and he is giving all of the money to charity. Just kidding he is of course a moonbat Lib who has no problem cashing in without any limits for personal gain, but wants to take money from other successful people.
His advance is not being paid by the taxpayer, dim wit.
Really, wingnuts, you are all renowned for your industrial-strength stupidity, but is this some kind of joke? This is just being intentionally obtuse in hopes of 2012, right?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pmProud says: bs, bs, bs
Plouffe is forcing successful people to buy his book?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pmYet these same type of people are against wages that keep people out of poverty
The love of money is the root of all evil
February 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pmIt’s the WRONG approach…Nice try, Obama, but you know damn well what needs to be done. A forensic investigation, subpoenas of top executives, prosecution and lengthy jail terms for these criminal activities on their part. Let alone 100% clawback going over the past 10 years of all bonuses, wages and ill-gotten gains. See
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-01-28/news/what-cooked-the-world-s-economy/
February 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pmGood! Let these people go and get real jobs. I’m sure we can find some “masters of the universe” who are willing to work for paltry hundreds of thousands.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:29 pmThe trolls must be fuming in rage by now…Just think they were hoping they can screw things up and earn 7 figures…now they can only make $500,000! Poor babies…
Wealth is a crime? Way to distort Obama’s insistence that screw-ups are not rewarded…
May I presume that since you are against unions, then you are for child-labor, the 7-day week, the 60 hour day, no workplace protections? Union leaders have done more for this country than some lousy Wall Street CEO who thinks driving his company down to the ground is success that should be rewarded.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:29 pmUncle Ho Says:
mmm cookies, my favorite.
cookie monster
cookie monster
cookie monster
ONE!!! ONE, I SAID!!!!! get.. your… hands… away…..
damn. You ate them all.
CURSE YOU, COOKIE MONSTER!!!!!
(sorry, i think I’m getting sleepy)
February 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pmhi Ecto, cool. I thought we might ne neighbors! SF is still a swell place, although not as much fun as the 70s, granted.
I smell fear on these overpqaid execs. And they should be afraid.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pmYeah those geniuses sure have done a good job managing these companies that now must suckle at the federal tit.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pmProud Says: Blah blah blah…but wants to take money from other successful people.
By selling books? Come on, Madoff took money from successful people. These CEOs are taking money from YOU. Why would you want your employee making extravagant amounts? What are you a socialist?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pmDriving our economy off the cliff. Yeah, some talent. We need more people like this patriotic bunch.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:31 pmNettles Says:
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
It isn’t wealth, it’s how they get it.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pmThese A$sholes know that the economy is not coming back and want one last big money grab.
And I repeat, FCUK THEM ALL.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:34 pmThese people who mastered the art of greed at W.Street,will not accept $500,000.00 for a pay.
I think it is a good decision to reduce their pay and limit their greed.
It is time for these people to think of others for change,and not only themselves.
How dare they refuse this ,way above average, pay when they are bailed out by US taxpayers money?
Hundreds of small businesses close every month in America,and nobody there to bail them out.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pmThese greedy people should also be investigated for playing with investors money to begin with..and now with US government’s money.
Nettles Says:
It looks like wealth is slowly becoming a crime in this country.
And how is legalized poverty [min wage] not a crime?
Why do you want to support these peoples gambling habits?
Do you get to go to a casino gamble away all your money then get reimbursed as you head out the door?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pmgummitch Says:
Strange artice. Do you really believe that these people believe this sh%t they’re shoveling? Poor people on welfare have restrictions that they have to live by (e.g. foodstamps and EBT cards can only be used for certain purchases, they have to continually re-apply, and all the fun that goes with applying — which is a LOT more hoops than the 2-page questionairre for the wall street welfare money), and these types are the top of them who say that the welfare shouldn’t even exist, and if it must exist than it should be seriously regulated. But THEY receive welfare… well THEY are SPECIAL, and therefore ENTITLED.
I mean, we know these wingnuts are hypocrites, and when they say good they mean bad (when they say democracy they mean fascism, etc.), and here is another instance. Talk about someone having a displaced sense of entitlement.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pmGotta go.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:40 pmBURP!
Thanx for the chocolate chip cookies :-)
February 4th, 2009 at 2:40 pmBye Cagey, have fun :-)
February 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pmbye, Cagey.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pm500k is not alot of money but union wages are way too much!!
The hypocrisy of greed is infinite
February 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pmHear, frickin’ hear.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:46 pmRandomChaos Says:
That was J.Davis
What do I win?
J. Pardo, tell him what he’s won!
A confederate flag signed by David Duke, a lifetime supply of pointy white hoods, a hang noose, and a limited copy of Disney’s Song of the South on DVD.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:46 pmLMAO! So the talented people, the very ones that created this massive failure, will go elsewhere. WHERE? Would any successful bank want this “talent”?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:47 pmFrom Gummitch:
The essence of the problem is this: Rich people used to set their own norms. For example, if one rich person wanted to use the company helicopter to aerate the ponds on his properties, and the other rich people on his board of directors thought this a sensible thing to do, then he could go ahead and do it without any serious repercussions.
Brooks did nail the essence of the problem here: Rich people used to set their own norms.
I’ll elaborate: Oftentimes, the “norms” set by rich people cross ethical and legal boundaries. Their over-consumption of resources and overwhelming greed project a callousness that most people find offensive. While wealthy isn’t a crime, it is a crime to act above the law simply because one is wealthy.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:49 pmMan, you have got to love the responses from the trolls on this one. Was that stammering or sputtering, Proud? Nettles, good luck selling that argument! It seems to me you two(or one) are just a we bit wobbly here.
You see, here is your problem… you are trying to defend people who are making millions in bonuses and at the same time taking money from… guess who? Here’s the kicker… they suck at their jobs! They screwed up so badly people-regular working Joes, many Republicans by the way-lost their savings and some their homes!
Good luck selling that to the public..
Ha Ha! Republicans… man, this is going to get interesting watching the Nettles and Prouds of the GOP explain this one away.
Once again.. Ha! Ha! you dolts deserve it. Ha! Ha!
February 4th, 2009 at 2:50 pmAwesome news. More Change I CAN Believe in.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:51 pm“The consequences of it are going to be a massive brain drain of senior talent from those companies that have taken TARP money to those companies that have not.”
Wow, a brain drain of the people who caused this mess in the first place. How awful. I know lots of talented people who would jump at the chance for a job paying $500,000 a year.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:54 pmproud, isn’t that what you call rotting flesh?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:55 pmOh come on! Everyone knows that these “brains” that they’re trying to retain aren’t really the ones keeping the companies afloat! I’m sure at each of these institutions there is one mid-level guy who would KILL to run the place for $500,000 and who is already running the place for a lot less.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:59 pmproud, edi amen was proud, hitler was proud, stalin was proud, pol pot was proud, etc…..
February 4th, 2009 at 2:59 pmDrxJ,
Cool, thanx . I was worried it might clash with my Doublewide Decor ;_)
February 4th, 2009 at 3:06 pmRandomChaos Says:
DrxJ,
Cool, thanx . I was worried it might clash with my Doublewide Decor ;_)
Oh no, you will still look slim!
February 4th, 2009 at 3:09 pmI usually stand outside on the corner of Wall St. and Broad and ask passersby, “Hey buddy, got $500,000? Hey, it’s not much. Help a brother out.”
Not too many takers. One time it took me a week to build up to $2.5 million.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pmI see where under Bush, 400 people had their income double. 400 ultra rich people. That means Bush was the president of 400 people. Now its time for those 400 people to start trickling down whatever it is they trickle down so millions of people can have a job. I’ve got my umbrella open…
February 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pmFontsdeleon; I hope you have your umbrella opened properly, if not, all you are going to collect is a lot of piss.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:43 pmROTFL! Shyte and I’ve spent the last 7 years making less than 50k – give me the MF job that these so called ‘brains’ are going to leave behind! This is tooooooooo funny! Way to go President Obama – finally – a president that’s really for the people!
February 4th, 2009 at 3:49 pmGood. Then you should think really hard and wonder if it’s worth it before you take MY tax money, someone who made under 25k this year, to pay their salary. Apparently, 20 times the amount I made this year “isn’t a lot of money”. Think hard about it. Real hard. And this time, try to keep your books together.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:52 pmrepukies have been SCREAMING for accountibility and meritorious pay for people receiving federal funds for year. for example, teachers. HHHmmmm, now why would this be any different? I know because repukies don’t want an educated populice, they want the public school system to fail.
guess it’s different when it’s their scumbag friends.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:54 pmAs the rest of us work for next to nothing $500,000 is not enough…what a joke
February 4th, 2009 at 4:17 pmWe now have a President that makes 400K and that is a huge raise for him Listen folks he has a clue 1 car 1 house and proud to have it. He will be looking out for us unless the repigs bring him down
February 4th, 2009 at 4:43 pmI will gladly drive a bank into a ditch for half that. Reward me when I have guided my bank to solid footing, using ehtical standards and good business prctices.
On the other hand, if you see John Thane heading your way with his stellar resume, my advice would be to bar the door.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:48 pmJust saw on HuffPost, Goldman-Sach’s is trying to figure out how to repay TARP. It would seem that President Obama’s program is working already! Now That’s effective government!
February 4th, 2009 at 5:23 pmTry the other welfare line. See if that’s enough.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:44 pmBrain drain to where? The whole planet economy is going down the tubes because of THEM! If they chose to make money instead of curing cancer, they don’t have to change their objective,! just where they make it! It shows just how out of touch these greedy cretins are when “$500,000.00″ isn’t a lot of money. It is more than a person in middle class earns in 5 years or more.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:54 pmWhy don’t we pay people who are trying to cure cancer this kind of money? At least they are doing something to HELP humanity. Come to think of it why don’t we pay public service employees this outrageous sum too. At least the public would see some benefit.
Just what good did they do for this country to earn that money and now get taxpayer subsidized bonuses? As many on here have said–these are the SAME people that lost billions of dollars that we (the taxpayers) now have to foot the bill for.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:56 pmOh, cry me a freaking river, you moronic greedhead freaks.
BOO-FRICKETY-HOO.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pmI read people are spending less, saving more these days. Investment houses are losing customers to cookie jars and mattresses. Anyone with a lick of sense is closing out their big bank accounts and going over to local banks and credit unions.
Used to be folks trusted investment types with their hard earned money because they promised a return on the investment. Instead they feathered their own nests. It is all about trust and Wall Street has pissed it away.
Someone had better tell the folks complaining about taking a cut in pay to $500k they should probably be careful where they travel.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:22 pmObama is really making me nervous. We need the best and brightest to take over these banks and get them straightened out. you want to pay that guy $500,000 whiloe the puker who rode it into the ditch has already disappeared with his multi-million dollar golden parachute. If we have brilliant men and women that can fix the banks, I say pay them whatever the market will bear. It’s unnerving that Obama doesn’t realize how silly this idea is.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:31 pmThat’s a fine post hoodathunk. I like the way you think. However, the people that clean up this mess deserve whatever they are worth in the free market.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:33 pmI say pay them whatever the market will bear.
After they repay the loans, and if the market will bear it.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:02 pmI don’t see anything unreasonable about putting a cap on the executive pay of executives that tanked the institutions being bailed out. If 500,000$ isn’t enough for them, aren’t they free to go make more money screwing something else up?
February 4th, 2009 at 7:33 pmThe people that clean up this mess deserve whatever they are worth in the free market.
The “free market” no longer exists. The world is now governed by multinational corporations. All elected officials are merely pawns.
The United States of America is history. We now live in the Corporate States of America. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 wealthiest mutltinational corporations.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:38 pmIf we have brilliant men and women that can fix the banks, I say pay them whatever the market will bear.
Right now, the market will only bear $500 K.
February 4th, 2009 at 8:37 pmNettles Says:
What a brainwashed fool you are. Unions HELP workers. Morons like you are just programmed by the propagandists who do your thinking for you to have a Pavlovian response to them. Not one that would help YOU, no one that would help privelege. YOu are a moron. You carry water for people who have nothing but contempt for you while brazenly attacking those like you. What a putz. Go rent a braincell. It will surely die of lonliness but at least you will know what it was like to have had one. You know what I havent seen? Anyone attacking Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The two Richest men in the world. You know what else they have in common? They arent begging US TO BAIL THEM OUT. What an ignorant propaganda parrot you are. Grow up
February 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pmdrew3rd Says:
No drew it ISNT a silly idea. IF these are new guys this is a great opportunity for them. THEY can save the banks pay back the loans and THEN they will be seen as geniuses. THEN once they have SHOWN real performance they will be able to command the highest salaries and bonuses the market will bear. AFTER the performance. Until THEN they can work on spec and pretending that more than 10 times the median wage of the US worker is chicken feed is insulting. Until THEN while they are playing with OUR money they can play by OUR rules. If they dont like it there are lots of smart people out there that can do the job and THEY can take the chance and get the big payout AFTER they prove they are worth it with their performance
February 4th, 2009 at 8:58 pmdrew3rd Says:
That’s a fine post hoodathunk. I like the way you think. However, the people that clean up this mess deserve whatever they are worth in the free market.
These companies requested t a x p a y e r – f u n d e d money.
John Thain, for example received millions up front to come in and be the savior of Merrill Lynch. He failed.
Talent first, money second. The person who comes in and saves the company will be motivated first by their know-how, and a reward will follow and the government restrictions will be lifted. The taxpayer will have received their money back with interest.
The “free market determining what they are worth” at the largest companies is the complacent board of directors.
Say, why do you guys oppose giving the shareholder a say in matters regarding compensation, hiring and firing, and organization within a company?
February 4th, 2009 at 9:17 pmI think brilliant execs like Steve Jobs are less concerned about money as their achievements pile. To my knowledge, even with the rise of the i-phone, the stock at Apple reached a high of $200 but Jobs has not cashed in on any of his options.
Execs like Ken Lewis and John Thain, on the other hand, need obscene pay to compensate for their lack of competence. It has served the purpose until now of making them look good in the press.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:24 pmHussein, are you really this daft or are you playing a left wing loony ideologue? The best and brightest weren’t running these banks. The most irresponsible were. There are good people who can succeed at turning these banks around. You aren’t going to get them for $500,000 per year unless there is some major backloading. It ain’t rocket science. I earn $500,000 dollars a year and I’m a jackoff insurance salesman. My uncle makes more than that, he’s a plumber and my brother-in-law earns that as a mid level executive for a travel company. You want to tell banks they can only pay insurance agent, plumber, mid executive pay to save our economy? If I were some genius financial guru I would say, forget that! As far as the American people paying these people’s salaries, where were you with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd? The REAL masterminds of this meltdown!!!! Save your indignation for the retarded GOVERNMENT officials that drove our country off a cliff. You still haven’t answered what it is President Obama is doing. He’s as simple as YOU!
February 4th, 2009 at 10:12 pmI earn $500,000 dollars a year and I’m a jackoff insurance salesman. My uncle makes more than that, he’s a plumber and my brother-in-law earns that as a mid level executive for a travel company.
____________
So all of you are earning roughly $10K/week, or MORE. Gee… that only works out to about $250/hr. Whatever ‘cred’ you thought you had here just disappeared in a puff of smoke. Thanks for playing, though.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:16 pmWhy do we think the best and the brightest that educate and shape our kids can do it for less than 500,000. And that the law enforcement officers and firefighters can protect us and our property for far less than 500,000 and that the very service people who defend a great nation can do it best on far less? Yet somehow drew3rd and other think that you have to pay big dough to get the best results from these folks…
February 4th, 2009 at 10:20 pmIf we have brilliant men and women that can fix the banks, I say pay them whatever the market will bear.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:28 pm—
What if the most brillant and best able to fix the banks are citizens of foreign nations? Should not the magic of the market have no problem with such a scenario?
huh?
damn son, you’re dumb… good luck in the near future, me thinks you’re going to have to pull up those shirt sleeves and get down to business.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:45 pmboo-ffn-hoo
These people think they are the only capable people in the world? There are lots of extremely smart, capable people who would be happy to take these jobs for $500,000.
They top job folks have a little club. They take care of each other. Sit on each others boards and think of ways to enrich everyone in the club.
It isn’t a very large club. As we all know. But these bozos actually believe they are the only people capable of running these companies.
The fact that they have failed badly seems to have escaped their notice.
Let them all leave. They can be replaced. And they are apparently very blind to that fact.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:48 pmdrew3rd Says:
Are you a moron? Are you really justifying an open ended taxpayer funded salary for the NEW boss, just like the OLD boss by defining the old guys as bad and the new ones as the best and brightest? When they PROVE that with performance and start making thier OWN money instead of sucking the taxpayer teat THEN they can get paid whatever they can demand until THEN if they dont like it they can go into the dry cleaning bussiness. Why is there never a short supply of working class people who snivel and throw a fit that the rich have to live like kings instead of being allowed WITH OUR MONEY to live like Roman Emporers?
February 4th, 2009 at 11:04 pmBy the way Drew the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES makes LESS than that
February 4th, 2009 at 11:04 pmI hate to say it but the $500,000.00 executive pay cap on corporations is b.s. according to Brad Sherwood dem rep from California. Supposedly the Treasury Dept added nonbinding language to what President Obama wrote. I saw Sherwood say this earlier today on C-SPAN.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:12 pmSo just WHO would HIRE any of these “high powered talents” based on their performance record? Kinda like trying to sell a return trip ticket on the Titanic . . . .
They hired each other and sat on each others boards making up the salaries and bonuses for each others benefit – seems the circle jerk may have run outa KY . . .
February 4th, 2009 at 11:19 pmUncle Fester, where can I read up on this? I’m not bustin’ chops, but I’d like to check it out.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:28 pmAfter what has transpired over the last six months, it’s time for a reality check. We are the punch-drunk fighter who Don King talks into getting into the ring one more time for the big payday yet our eyes are so swollen we can’t read the fine print that appears after the real ink has dried. We’re the alcoholic who can handle it this time around. See I’ve gone a month…. I’ll celebrate with just one drink……..
We’re the overweight person who drops 10 pounds and celebrates with a case of Jennie Craig brownies—low fat of course.
We are the guy who just got out of prison and, having learned more tricks of the trade while there, tries to rob a bank and gets caught. So much for the expert advice from the guys who have also gotten caught. Oh well, more time to plan the perfect heist.
The experts are all saying that now is the time to invest in the market with values so low—their income depends on you listening to them so that they can make a buck so, what’s not to trust?
I’m looking forward to seeing how all of these civilian and military “volunteer” plans are to be inserted into the rectum of mass unemployment. If you can bend over and even come close to touching your toes you’re hired–well, kinda’ hired–you OWE it to the fatherland..Oops, I mean your country to serve in indentured servitude.
The world is playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded Uzi and it’s just a matter of time before there is a round with your name on it. That’s where the smart money is placing their bets, how can they lose?
They can lose because there is no such thing as smart money. No sure thing when you screw with people that much and they wake up or subliminally hear the floorboards creaking in the middle of the night.
Those who lurk in the shadows and pull the strings will wake up one morning and find they are Gulliver, and the Lilliputians are pissed off….
Really pissed off……..lot’s of them………
February 4th, 2009 at 11:40 pmAlpuz3, I just happened to catch it on C-SPAN earlier today. Brad Sherwood was at the podium. If this is true and I don’t know why Sherwood, a democrat, would say this if it were not, why the ‘liberal’ media hasn’t been all over this. I will try to find more info, so far I haven’t had any luck though.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:48 pmA “massive brain drain” of talent from Wall Street? Don’t show me the money; show me the where you’ve been hiding the brains!
http://jackrabbitcafe.blogspot.com/2009/02/from-los-angeles-times_04.html
February 4th, 2009 at 11:59 pmI agree with Jack Welsh, but not in the way he intended.
Indeed, these people chose to make money rather than to serve the stockholder owners. In doing that they ran the companies into the ditch, or worse, bankrupcy. Jack Welch needs to explain why bonuses were paid for such lousy and misguided “performance”. I’m waiting Jack.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:04 amScrew these pricks. I’m an E-6, active duty AF, and 500K sounds like a HUGE amount of money to me! Hell, I’ll do a few more tours in the desert for that kind of loot!
Let those punks walk a year in my sand filled boots, then tell me if 500K is a good amount or not.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:20 amCraig Mack@ 12:20am
God Bless You!
February 5th, 2009 at 1:00 amdid anyone point out to these clowns (yes, drew3rd this includes you) once the private sector accepts public funds all bets are off in terms of how things used to be run. there’s a new boss in town and it’s the american taxpayer, most of whom make under 50 grand a year
February 5th, 2009 at 6:04 amNettles — Welch & Dimon Don’t compare a Iota to Bill Gates or Warren Buffett in the world of Philanthropy.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:10 amUnfortunately, this comes a little too late – there are a lot of caveats. Only applies to NEW requests for funds, not prior ones, etc. When you read the fine print, there will not be very many, if any, folks restricted under the plan, so 1. the “smart” folks who are worried about their salaries going down didn’t read the announcement very clearly, and 2. it is mostly just a PR giveaway. Sadly, even Obama’s team is falling for the “they won’t ask for money if they can’t get big bucks” garbage. Fine – let them go out of business. I think a few of them should have been thrown to the wolves early on – it might have put a little fear into them. As it is, they know they just got the last of the Bush megabuck giveaways, and they are keeping up those lobbyists and donations to the Republicans so it stays that way. We need a few stockholder revolts against the guys who continue to “just want to make money.” Let’s pay them what the cancer curing folks make. Pennies. BTW, if they had distributed the TARP funds to each American adult citizen, we would have each ended up with about $295,000 after taxes. Would have replenished the treasury, solved the mortgage crisis and most folks would have had cash left over to save in a real bank on Main Street. Of course, most of us do not have lobbyists, so too bad, huh?
February 5th, 2009 at 9:48 amFolks, the “taxpayer money” is gone! We don’t give another freaking dime to any of these companies or banks. Once we stop that, good people will swoop in and clean up. Now, if you want to derail a natural phase of business, destruction, be my guest. It isn’t the rich that are going to get hurt. BTW, the president makes less money? I thought we were all grownups here. Clinton, and now Obama, enriched himself from being president of the United States. Reagan, Bush 41 and the Shrub were wealthier in the private sector but don’t act like you can’t make serious coin as president and ex president.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:45 pmWould any of you do the job for free? Could you do the job?
February 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pmCraig Mack, thank you for your service. Being a soldier is no longer lucrative. If you want to make 500K a year you’ll have to change careers. There are many that pay that much money but none of them are for running billion dollar multinationals. If you were offered 12 Mil to run an international bank or 500K to run an international bank, which job would you take? Thought so. We need good corporate leaders, and they are the vast majority of CEO’s, to take over these banks and companies to buy them up or sell them off. The taxpayer shouldn’t be a part of this process. Financial Titans will clean this up if government will stop interfering. Suppressing financial reward is a tremendous brake on this process.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pmOne other thought. Why doesn’t A-Rod play for 500K? Everyone talks about paying teachers cops and soldiers but no one will pay them 500K because so many will do it for 50K. There really are people who are smarter and better than everyone else. It’s also true that NONE of them reside in Washington. It’s often said that politics is Hollywood for ugly people. I say Washington is Harvard for stupid people. The reason A-Rod plays for 25 Mil per season is because that is what he’s WORTH! The A-Rods of the business world are just waiting for the government to get out of the way. Once they do, these Titans will solve these problems for the same reasons you flip burgers for a living. To get paid.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pmA-Rod who ever that is is worth 0. Isn’t he a dude that plays a boring game I could care less about?
Now about those banking gurus, Is it cool to give big dough to them if they are foreign nationals but because they are better at their “game” than the local boys should they not receive the highest pays?
February 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pmIt’s also true that NONE of them reside in Washington
February 5th, 2009 at 1:08 pm—
This is a bizarre and clearly unsupportable statement presented as if it was a fact.
yeah, that’s it… that will work. I mean it has been working, right… drew? “Titans” you say?
drew, that’s quite a paragraph you posted up there with all the “A-Rods” and “Titan” talk. What say you just step away from the keyboard, go rent Gladiator, and call it a day.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pmThe Government has no business telling people what they can earn. It also has no business giving a private company bail out money. If you don’t do one then you don’t have to complain about the other.
This comment was made by Obama to give his liberal Media friends something to talk about. He has no power to enforce this nonsense and he’s all mouth.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:36 pmprofessorj I sure hope you are right. I’m with you, stop giving these fools money. As for the other posts, I don’t care if the Titan is a one eyed, pigeon toed, buddhist from Sumatra. If they are interested in joining the economic fight, why would the government want to discourage them with crap pay. whether or not you like baseball, being a hater doesn’t change the fact that A-Rod is the most coveted player in the world right now. If he deserves fair market value, doesn’t my one eyed, pigeon toed, buddhist from Sumatra? Truthfully, I like them MORE than A-Rod. They will create economic stability where as A-Rod is just an entertainer.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:54 pmdrew3rd Says:
The A-Rods of the business world are just waiting for the government to get out of the way. Once they do, these Titans will solve these problems for the same reasons you flip burgers for a living. To get paid.
_______
If I’m not mistaken, the “A-Rods of the business world” have had their chance to solve the these problems, and their batting average is just about as good as the Real A-Rod’s… in the post-season. O for what, 30?
February 5th, 2009 at 1:56 pmTaking a cheap shot at a deserving Hispanic/Ladino/Hombre like Mr. A-Rod is just what conservative A-Holes do. You should be ashamed, albino racist pig-dogs!
February 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm500K is greater than the President’s Salary and it is a limit imposed only on the publicly funded banks and only for as long as the banks are publicly funded.
All that are complaining are the same no-touch-with-reality airheads that found nothing wrong in doling out $18.4B of taxpayers money as bonus.
Also, the provision that common stocks can be given as compensation but cannot be sold till the government loan is paid off is “exactly” what the executives want! They can get truckloads of these stocks at dirt cheap price and offload when the company announces it has paid off government loans — an announcement that will surely send the price of the stock rocketing up.
Check out my blog at http://tinkerthethinkers.wordpress.com to read why I believe Jack Welch and Rudy Giuliani and others like them have always been living in a bubble and only know putting their foot in their mouth to expose the fakes they are.
February 5th, 2009 at 3:21 pmalbino racist pig-dogs!
February 5th, 2009 at 5:25 pm—
That is a super rare genotype… Is there a punnett square that might help explain this?
Drew you are just making the same old excuses why there is no alternative to giving the Rich everything they want. They took the bailout money they take the restrictions. YOU are just another shill saying we HAVE to give the rich all the money and hope for some crumbs down the road. Its ludicrous. The president DOES make less money than 500 grand what YOU are talking about is money they CAN make afterwards which is the same thing I said about the executives it is the same opportunity. IF they can show their genius and turn their institutions around paying off the loans THEN they can also make serious coin getting paid vast sums of money based on THEIR PERFORMANCE. That isnt too much to ask and I get sick of the claims we CANT expect them to live on such a paltry sum as more than ten times and median wage. If they DONT want to take the job and opportunity there are lots of smart people who can and will. We arent going to have to get people from McDonalds to take this deal.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:29 pmThink Truth Says:
Would any of you do the job for free? Could you do the job?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You really are exceptionally stupid. Since when is HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR FREE????? What a braindead moron you are.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pmI am a moderate conservative and sincerely applaud Obama for doing this. The Wall St. quacks and bank CEO’s have been making obsene amounts of money by extorting the working man in any clever way they can conjure up.
People before profit! Kudos President Obama!
February 6th, 2009 at 9:38 amKRMS Says:
I am a moderate conservative and sincerely applaud Obama for doing this. The Wall St. quacks and bank CEO’s have been making obsene amounts of money by extorting the working man in any clever way they can conjure up.
People before profit! Kudos President Obama!
No profit no company. No Company no jobs. Obama has no power to enforce this move but no one seems to bring up that simple fact. It’s for the Cameras and gullible people like you.
All the while the Congress voted themselves a raise and their job hasn’t been quite stellar either. Now that is your money.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:08 pmDo something about that.
When a Company can’t make a profit they lay off people. What is the biggest problem today? Unemployment.
No profit, no company. No company, no jobs.
It’s a bit larger and more complex than that but judging from the comment that was made I doubt that you would understand it even if it was posted here.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:12 pmEugeneDebs Says:
Think Truth Says:
Would any of you do the job for free? Could you do the job?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You really are exceptionally stupid. Since when is HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR FREE????? What a braindead moron you are.
A company that deals with tens of thousands of employees, union, advertising, and Governments have the right to pay the people who have the expertise to handle those things what ever they want.
I really tried to find something in the Constitution that allows the Executive branch the power to regulate private pay. Honestly, I couldn’t find it. Not even if the Government gives that company money when they are in distress.
It’s not that it hasn’t been done before. Nixon froze wages and prices. Carter also froze wages.(WIN) remember. But I just couldn’t find it in the Constitution.
Please would any of you Liberals find it for me. It’s bugging the hell out of me.
Also would one of you geniuses post just what an Executive Order is and what are the requirements for issuing one.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:20 pm