The Obamanation

[lookout123]

We NEED pay reform in this country.

Pay reform? Is that code for we need to not let people more successful than me have what I can't get?

The companies that took the government money are pretty screwed and will have to play by the rules but well run companies who are able to stand and succeed on their own should not have any input at all from the government on pay beyond the legal minimum wage guidelines.

Originally Posted by lookout123

Pay reform? Is that code for we need to not let people more successful than me have what I can't get?

The companies that took the government money are pretty screwed and will have to play by the rules but well run companies who are able to stand and succeed on their own should not have any input at all from the government on pay beyond the legal minimum wage guidelines.

Agreed. Pay reform through government regulation is a stretch.

However, I do think publicly traded companies should be required by regulation to fully disclose executive compensation (salaries, bonuses, stock options, golden parachutes, etc) to stockholders with those stockholders having greater authority to deny or adjust such compensation.

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by lookout123

Pay reform? Is that code for we need to not let people more successful than me have what I can't get?

What, like "the power to ruin the banking system with irresponsible bonuses and practices"?

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by lookout123

Pay reform? Is that code for we need to not let people more successful than me have what I can't get?

The companies that took the government money are pretty screwed and will have to play by the rules but well run companies who are able to stand and succeed on their own should not have any input at all from the government on pay beyond the legal minimum wage guidelines.

No, it is not code for that. I am saying that, over the past 30 years or so the tax codes have increasingly favored the rich, and not only that, executive pay has gone through the stratosphere while the average workers wages have stagnated severely, plus they have been losing benefits. Capitalism NEEDS checks and balances, and we haven't had any for a very, very long time. Over the past 30 years, the difference between a CEOs pay and the average worker has grown from 30 times more, to about 500 times more. While executive pay has ballooned, middle class wages have not kept up with inflation. If they had, we wouldn't need so many government programs, and people wouldn't be so far in debt. Don't you GET IT?

Minimum wage is a fucking JOKE. Who can live off of that? And you know most other wages for the middle class and working class are based on minimum wage standards, NOT what is fair or how hard the job is or how hard the person works or how valuable they are to the company or the economy, or how profitable the company is. ALL jobs are important. ALL work is important. I'm sick of executives and business graduates thinking they are so much more valuable than everyone else, because they aren't. Without many of the "lower class" or "less valuable" jobs, this country would come to a screeching halt.