Half a million dollars. That is the current salary cap being proposed by the Obama Administration for executives of any bailout recipient companies. And while the class warfare heads more and more into the open for all to see, the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street also becomes more readily apparent as the Bank Bailout saga continues apace, for the title of this diary is a quote from the NYTimes article just out tonight:
"... $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus,” said James F. Reda, founder and managing director of James F. Reda & Associates, a compensation consulting firm.
Anyone want to launch into a rant over that one? Well, immediately following the above, Reda has the extremely impressive obliviousness to utter the following:
“And you know these companies that are in trouble are not going to pay much of an annual dividend.”
Uh yeah right- call me crazy but I think compensation should somehow be tied to performance. No?
Well Obama seems to think so too. Because....
one very important and commendable requirement is also being worked out in the current plan, and that is allowing the executives unlimited pay beyond the $500,000 cap through...[drum roll] stock dividends.
Great idea. Make these fat cats actually WORK for their pay.
Bravo Obama and Geithner. Go get 'em!
U.S. Plans to Curb Executive Pay for Bailout Recipient