RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

Talk About Entitlements! * Open Thread

By SusanUnPC on February 4, 2009 at 11:00 AM in Current Affairs

Dr. Alden Cass, clinical psychologist, explains the executives’ “rationalizations” for why they deserve the perks and bonuses:

Full story at Reuters. MORE BUSINESS NEWS BELOW, including UPS’s jobs outlook + the staggering losses of Japan’s Hitachi + Australia’s rush to stem massive losses:

UPS’s Job Outlook:

Hitachi’s Staggering Losses:

Australia will spend billions on infrastructure and jobs while its central bank cuts rates to a record low to try and stimulate the flagging economy

MORE BUSINESS NEWS at Reuters.

  • Strawberrybitch

    Yup, you’re so right Susan. These same CEOs that think they deserve these obscene perks are the first dirtbags to complain about high taxes and safety net programs for the most vulnerable people in our society. Disgusting.

  • Diana L. C.

    What sickened me also in the video is the ONE saying “Shame on you.” Where is his shame over his lavish spending in this economy?

  • mountainaires

    Yeah, they are disgusting. They “get it” though. They “get” that they aren’t going to be forced by Obama/Geithner to take the real consequences they deserve. This cap on executive salaries is a hedge which saves them, instead of punishing them. The better punishment would be the natural consequences of their actions, which Obama and Geithner are not prepared to allow. The resulting shell game, which you are being suckered into–selling yourselves cheap–is the real life consequences of allowing their companies to go bankrupt, which is what SHOULD HAPPEN.

    While you’re all picking sides about executives–classic class war tactics to distract you–Obama and Geithner are preparing to really screw you, and let them get away unscathed.

    Mish Shedlock:

    The Government has already guaranteed $400 billion in bad debts of Citigroup and Bank of America. Now Geithner wants more. Note that the market cap of Citigroup (C) is roughly $19 billion and Bank of America (BAC) is roughly $27 billion. The treasury is guaranteeing $400 billion of debt on companies that would be worthless without those guarantees. Does this make sense?

    Mish Shedlock:

    Instead of being fired for incompetence, executive salaries will be capped at $500,000.

    For the record, I am not in favor of salary caps, especially caps imposed by the government. I am in favor of letting the free market work. What would happen under a free market approach is these executives would be out on their ass and their companies bankrupt and sold off in pieces.

    Obama’s Plan: Triage for Troubled Assets.

    http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/02/triage-for-troubled-assets.html

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      I am not a fan of anything going on economically right now. No caps, it is a bad precedent to set and no bailouts. If companies fail, their CEOs ride ends and I would think makes it harder for them to get another CEO job. Who wants to hire a guy who let the comapny tank?

  • Fran

    I think that these CEOs are the people most seriously infected with our cultural disease of narcissism.

  • wodiej

    No accountability, that is why they do it.

  • Lisa-NY

    Isn’t class warfare just wonderful.
    Im glad to see the start of Obama’s trickle up economy starting to sprout, and the beginning of a more Socialized Gov’t.
    We’re screwed.

  • Sassy

    One day, there will be accountability.
    Corrupt, greedy, heartless people will have to present their ledger, and the Almighty will take no excuses!

    • wodiej

      Amen to THAT!

      I agree, no salary caps but no help from the government either. If you don’t let people reap the consequences of their behavior, they will keep repeating it.

  • Winston

    Wouldn’t a criminal psychologist have been better suited to the task?

    Perhaps some day we can develop some kind of cure for whatever the hell it is they have. For now though I think about 20,000 volts of juice might help. It is worth a try. I’ll even supply the jumper cables.

    • http://www.hillaryorbust.com Hillary or Bust

      Hahaha….

      Yeah, I don’t think of these CEOs as “talented.” I think of them as greedy, pathetic, sorry excuses for human beings.

      They aren’t at the top because they are smarter than everyone else. They are at the top because they have an insatiable pit in the bottom of their crusty little hearts that they must feed with external “stuff” to make them feel good about themselves.

      They are powerhungry and greedy. They don’t love themselves ultimately, and thus they need big houses, cars, and trophy wives to fill the void.

      Unfortunately, it’s these psychological basket cases that are ruining our country.

  • wodiej

    Did you all hear…Pelosi said today that 500 million people lose their jobs each month that goes by wo their pork package. There are only 150+ million workers in the total country.

    • beebop

      And these people are in charge? Stunning. Just stunning. We could substitute the homeless in DC for these pathetic excuses for leadership one out of every three weeks and never notice. To think that I thought that Princess Caroline was under qualified?! I have now changed my thinking ….

    • HARP

      At least all that botox keeps her head inflated.

  • mel

    Andrew Taylor

    Wednesday, February 04, 2009

    WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama says the recession will turn into a “catastrophe” if the economic stimulus is not passed quickly.

    Mr. Obama began lobbying for the plan anew Wednesday amid gather criticism of the package as its price tag climbs above $900-billion (U.S.).

    The President rejected several criticisms of the plan, saying that tax cuts alone will not revive the U.S. economy.

    He also said that longer-term goals such as energy independence and health care reform can wait until later.

    The White House released some of Mr. Obama’s remarks ahead of a White House announcement on executive compensation limits.

    Mr. Obama argued that Congress needs to get behind his economic stimulus approach, saying the American people expressed their preference for his ideas when they chose him as president in November.
    Mr. Obama urged members of Congress “to act without delay” while also promising to make changes to the legislation.

    “No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger,” he said. “Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let’s show people all over our country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task.”

    Mr. Obama has sought each day to ratchet up the pressure on reluctant legislators, bringing different supportive groups to the White House, scheduling a string of TV interviews, even travelling to a charter school to tout one portion of the bill.

    “A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future,” he said. “That’s why I feel such a sense of urgency about the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.”

    Mr. Obama argued that Congress needs to get behind his economic stimulus approach, saying the American people expressed their preference for his ideas when they chose him as president in November.

    Huh, when did Obama ever offer any ideas during the election?

    The only thing going on by Obama right now is laying a foundation to pass the blame when his stimulous package fails to revive anything but his pork grabbing friends!

    • Fran

      My thought exactly – BO never had a plan – so people could not have been voting for his plan.

      Also – he says it could all go down without this package. Guess what? There is just as much chance that it will get even worse WITH the package.

      We need plan, but this one has not been thought through. He wanted it passed without people even reading it.

  • HARP

    What amateurs. All the CEO brain talent will migrate to companies that received no bailout and so accordingly…no caps.

    • beebop

      Or join Daschle lobbying the government ….

  • Peggy Sue

    It’s hard to muster anything close to understanding for these execs. I remember the Tyco CEO–the shower curtain, a ridiculously priced unbrella stand and a lavish “toga party,” while the company and its employees were walked off the plank.

    I think the good doctor is being generous with his “rationalization” statement. These guys were just greedy, playing King of the Hill at everyone else’s expense. And frankly, there are too many politicians playing the same game.

    Does not make me feel confident. Not even close.

    Thanks for the vids, Susan.

  • Elizabeth

    Not only is Hitachi posting record losses for a Japanese company, they’re cutting 15000 jobs in the second mass layoff for Japan’s electronics sector in less than a week. … Panasonic was 7,000 on Wednesday and by the computer maker NEC last Friday ….Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony have all also recently announced thousands of job cuts.

    Japan is better off than most other countries because because their banks actually have reserves so funds will start flowing once supply and demand stabilize. I am not saying that Japan will prosper in next few years, but will be by far better place to be than most other debt driven currency printing countries. The currency is also dangerously strong, meaning lack of worry about inflation.

    But without exports to the US on track, downside of a strong yen, the Japanese economy is going to be hurt very badly. Maybe not as badly as others, but it’s still going to hurt.

  • wodiej

    Sec. of Treasury Geithner wants to cap exec pay but tried to write off the cost of his son’s summer camp as business expense.

    • beebop

      That is why Tim is as bad as Tom … do as I say not as I did … He is not entitled to any respect.

  • mel

    Here is Odumbo’s Exec Plan just announced:

    Obama caps pay for bailed-out bosses
    JIM KUHNHENN

    Wednesday, February 04, 2009

    WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday imposed $500,000 (U.S.) caps on senior executive pay for the most distressed financial institutions receiving federal bailout money, saying Americans are upset with “executives being rewarded for failure.”

    Mr. Obama announced the dramatic new government intervention into corporate America at the White House, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side. The President said the executive-pay limits are a first step, to be followed by the unveiling next week of a sweeping new framework for spending what remains of the $700-billion financial industry bailout that Congress created last year.

    The executive-pay move comes amid a national outcry over huge bonuses to executives heading companies seeking taxpayer dollars to remain afloat. The demand for limits was reinforced by revelations that Wall Street firms paid more than $18-billion in bonuses in 2008 even amid the economic downturn and the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars.

    “This is America. We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success,” Mr. Obama said. “But what gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.”

    The pay cap would apply to all institutions that have negotiated agreements with the U.S. Treasury Department for “exceptional assistance.” Those would include American International Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Citigroup Inc.

    Firms that want to pay executives above the $500,000 threshold would have to use stock that could not be sold or liquidated until they pay back the government funds.

    Generally healthy institutions would have more leeway. They also face the $500,000 limit if they’re getting government help, but the cap can be waived with full public disclosure and a nonbinding shareholder vote.

    Mr. Obama said that massive severance packages for executives who leave failing firms are also going to be eliminated. “We’re taking the air out of golden parachutes,” he said.

    Other new requirements on “exceptional assistance” will include:

    —The expansion to 20, from five, the number of executives who would face reduced bonuses and incentives if they are found to have knowingly provided inaccurate information related to company financial statements or performance measurements.

    —An increase in the ban on golden parachutes from a firm’s top five senior executives to its top 10. The next 25 would be prohibited from golden parachutes that exceed one year’s compensation.

    —A requirement that boards of directors adopt policies on spending such as corporate jets, renovations and entertainment.

    The administration also will propose long-term compensation restrictions even for companies that don’t receive government assistance, Mr. Obama said.

    Those proposals include:

    — Requiring top executives at financial institutions to hold stock for several years before they can cash out.

    — Requiring nonbinding “say on pay” resolutions — that is, giving shareholders more say on executive compensation.

    — A Treasury-sponsored conference on a long-term overhaul of executive compensation.

    Top officials at companies that have received money from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program already face some compensation limits.

    And compensation experts in the private sector have warned that such an intrusion into the internal decisions of financial institutions could discourage participation in the rescue program and slow down the financial sector’s recovery. They also argue that it could set a precedent for government regulation that undermines performance-based pay.

    “It’s not a government takeover,” Mr. Obama stressed in an interview Tuesday with CNN. “Private enterprise will still be taking place. But people will be accountable and responsible.”

    Still, some elected officials were pushing for the stricter caps.

    Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has proposed that no employee of an institution that receives money under the $700-billion federal bailout can receive more than $400,000 in total compensation until it pays the money back. Her figure is equivalent to the salary of the president of the United States.

    Even some Republicans, angered by company decisions to pay bonuses and buy airplanes while receiving government help, have few qualms about restrictions.

    “In ordinary situations where the taxpayers’ money is not involved, we shouldn’t set executive pay,” said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.

    “But where you’ve got federal money involved, taxpayers’ money involved, TARP money involved, and the way they have spent it, with no accountability, is getting close to being criminal.”

    • obamastolemyboyfriend

      hehehe…I would love to be rewarded for failure with $500,000! If I fail at my job, I get a pink slip. Simple as that.

      It is no wonder that Obama is opposed to making the bigwigs earn their income. He is not in favor of earnings. If he himself had had to earn the job of president, he would not be sitting where he is right now.

      Nothing that the Obama administration and congress are doing is anymore than a bandaid. It is time to amputate the mangled limb and go from there. Yes, the economy will suffer short term, but let the banks and other companies fail and then the Government could help new companies get started and those companies can do things differently, in ways that equal success, then they can pay back the Government for the help after a certain number of years. Kind of how America should work, IMO. Now everyone wants to be saved, and bailed out and take handouts! Stop it! People need to want to succeed on their own. Do a good, honest job and that is how to succeed. Sit on your a$$ waiting for a check only brings the same. Stop the checks that haven’t been earned!

  • The Real HC

    I feel 100% entitled to the fruits of my labor. I have a problem with badly run businesses getting a taxpayer funded bailout. Capping CEO pay? Great way to move top talent out of the USA. Bailouts? No thanks.

  • wodiej

    this is why they shouldn’t have given them a bailout. If they were that bad off they wouldn’t have been able to afford the bonuses.

    Hey did you all hear, Michelle O’s job at the hospital was eliminated. Hmmm….guess they didn’t need anyone for that after all.

    • beebop

      …. they had alredy gotten what they were after.

  • Athena the Warrior

    Two weeks in and already President Bo Bo looks to escape the pressures of the White House:

    http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D964BKD01&show_article=1

    On a tough day, Obama escapes for a while

    Feb 3 04:37 PM US/Eastern
    By BEN FELLER
    Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) – On the rockiest day of his young administration, President Barack Obama did what surely made him happy for a while.
    He left.

    With little notice, the president and first lady Michelle Obama bolted the gated compound of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in their tank of a limousine on Tuesday. They ended up at a Washington public school, greeted by children who could not care less about the collapse of a Cabinet secretary nomination.

    “We were just tired of being in the White House,” the president candidly told the gleeful second-graders at Capital City Public Charter School.

    “We got out! They let us out!” Mrs. Obama said as the kids and their teachers laughed.

    The White House said the Obamas’ trip had been planned, just not publicly announced.

    The surprise timing, though, gave the feel of two different worlds.

    At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs was getting grilled about Tom Daschle’s doomed nomination for health and human services secretary.

    Meanwhile, the president was getting questions from boys and girls who are the same age as his seven-year-old daughter, Sasha.

    One child asked him if he had a favorite superhero. Spiderman and Batman, the president answered.

    Another student asked what it was like to live in the White House. Mrs. Obama took charge on this one, delighting the kids with all the perks of life in America’s most famous house: a florist, a bowling alley, a movie theater, even a special place where people make chocolate and candy.

    “You should come visit,” she said.

    The stop at the school underscored a promise that the Obamas made and insist they will keep: to avoid getting caught up in a White House bubble. They say they will be visible parts of the Washington community—even in the midst of a hectic day. Or a difficult one.

    Consider what happened just before the president left the White House compound.

    In the span of a few hours, he dealt with the aborted candidacy of his government’s chief performance officer over an embarrassing tax problem; he announced a new commerce secretary nominee to replace the one who withdrew weeks earlier because of corruption investigation; and he accepted the stunning withdrawal by Daschle, who had his own problems over back taxes and ethical conflicts.

    None of that came up at school, although Obama did sneak in a plug for his economic stimulus plan.

    He was upbeat. He and his wife read the students a book about the inspirational story of astronauts landing on the moon. He took a class photo, accepted hugs from the children, thanked them for pictures they made him, and even delivered them a couple of brown-paper bags full of books.

    “Thank you, guys,” the president said to cheers.

    Awaiting him back home: More questions.

    This time, they would be coming from five television network anchors, in rapid-fire interviews in the Oval Office. And so goes the job.
    Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Isn’t that great? All the perks and none of the responsibility. Yeah that’s change you can believe in!

    • The Real HC

      “We were just tired of being in the White House,” the president candidly told the gleeful second-graders at Capital City Public Charter School.

      For once Obama and I are in complete agreement. I am tired of him being in The White House too.

  • Linda C.

    This is so bad.

    The economy is going down the drain and it is going to be difficult to stop it. We might all go the way of Iceland.

    Tax credits to businesses without any business is not going to work.
    Pumping money into failed banks to cover their losses when they don’t even know their losses is not going to work.

    Guaranteeing a four percent interest rate to “new home owners”, when one in ten households are behind on their existing mortgage isn’t going to accomplish anything. The banks will not underwrite a new mortgage at any rate when there are huge pending and impending foreclosures on their balance sheets.

    • beebop

      I totally agree with you. This so reminds me of a distorted and twisted “Gift of the Magi” — only in this version everyone takes for himself and gives to no one.

  • Judy L. NC

    You know what this reminds me of? The Bush administration’s Medicare prescription drug plan. Just when sick, little old ladies thought somebody cut them a break, they soon came to realize the money went straight to the pharmaceutical giants and they got screwed. Same thing today.

  • bert

    And these rich, papmepered execs think teachers should have merit pay imposed on them. None of them could last 30 minutes with 25 seven year olds. These charltons are the ones who should be on a merit pay system!!!!! Then we would not be in the economic meltdown we are in now. No gain, no pay.

  • bert

    rich, pampered – sorry for the misspelling. When I am angry my keyboard acts up and misspells words.

    • Judy L. NC

      mine does the same damn thing.

  • Seattle Moss

    For all of you that think we can just be friends and turn the other cheek..This ones for you
    You heard it from Moss first…Cheney is a Hero!!
    http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/cheney_obama_policies/2009/02/04/178350.html?s=al&promo_code=7972-1

  • tango

    LOL, here’s the latest on Hilda Solis. Another cabinet pick Obama probably wishes had turned down the job.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/101mswgc.asp