February 04, 2009
Grand High Exalted Emperor Obama: UPDATED
The One spoke today regarding executive compensation, and The one was most displeased:
Excuse the F#CK out me?
Exactly what title does this arrogant prick think he holds?
As President it means precisely nothing what you will or will not tolerate in terms of the compensation private corporations offer their employees. And FYI executives - unlike say members of Congress - do not award themselves salaries and bonuses. Executive compensation is set by the corporate board.
Just to be sure of the facts before I let this rant get the better of me, I did a little research into the power of the Presidency. I read this now little used document called The Constitution. In that document I found these brief passages outlining the powers of the President:
I may not be the most astute Constitutional scholar but I don't see anything in there that gives the President power to set the salary levels of the employees of any business venture.
When The One was mere member of Congress he and his brethren rushed through a bit of panic legislation for the express purpose of giving large sums of money to wall street financial enterprises to paper over the results of their poor business decisions. That they, including The One, voted to do this without putting any conditions on the recipients of the money is merely a sign of their own lack of foresight and general business stupidity.
Now you bellow from the bully-pulpit of the Oval Office that you will not tolerate how these companies choose to pay their executives. BFD.
And as for any member of congress who feels compelled to share in your intolerance, you need to be hit in the face with a big STFU pie. You people - who screwed the whole thing up in the first place - can vote yourselves a raise whenever you decide you want one. You just decided to increase the petty allotment for every member by $93,000.
Listen closely - the increase in your petty cash allotment is significantly larger than the ever shrinking portion of my hard-eared salary you so graciously allow me to keep. And you have the gall to whine about what a corporate board decides to pay its executives?
None of you may like what these people are being paid. But there isn't - or there damned well shouldn't be - anything you can do about it. You set up the bailout in such a way as to make the Federal Government essentially a silent partner in these corporations. So do us all a favor and be silent.
UPDATED:
No Controlling Legal Authority
As I saw little outrage over The One's dictatorial setting of compensation limits for financial executives I began to wonder if perhaps there existed in the TARP legislation something that made his edict perfectly legal. So I looked it up.
No purchase of troubled assets means no controlling legal authority to regulate compensation.
"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."
Excuse the F#CK out me?
Exactly what title does this arrogant prick think he holds?
As President it means precisely nothing what you will or will not tolerate in terms of the compensation private corporations offer their employees. And FYI executives - unlike say members of Congress - do not award themselves salaries and bonuses. Executive compensation is set by the corporate board.
Just to be sure of the facts before I let this rant get the better of me, I did a little research into the power of the Presidency. I read this now little used document called The Constitution. In that document I found these brief passages outlining the powers of the President:
Section 2. [1] The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
[2] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
[3] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
[2] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
[3] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
I may not be the most astute Constitutional scholar but I don't see anything in there that gives the President power to set the salary levels of the employees of any business venture.
When The One was mere member of Congress he and his brethren rushed through a bit of panic legislation for the express purpose of giving large sums of money to wall street financial enterprises to paper over the results of their poor business decisions. That they, including The One, voted to do this without putting any conditions on the recipients of the money is merely a sign of their own lack of foresight and general business stupidity.
Now you bellow from the bully-pulpit of the Oval Office that you will not tolerate how these companies choose to pay their executives. BFD.
And as for any member of congress who feels compelled to share in your intolerance, you need to be hit in the face with a big STFU pie. You people - who screwed the whole thing up in the first place - can vote yourselves a raise whenever you decide you want one. You just decided to increase the petty allotment for every member by $93,000.
Listen closely - the increase in your petty cash allotment is significantly larger than the ever shrinking portion of my hard-eared salary you so graciously allow me to keep. And you have the gall to whine about what a corporate board decides to pay its executives?
None of you may like what these people are being paid. But there isn't - or there damned well shouldn't be - anything you can do about it. You set up the bailout in such a way as to make the Federal Government essentially a silent partner in these corporations. So do us all a favor and be silent.
UPDATED:
No Controlling Legal Authority
As I saw little outrage over The One's dictatorial setting of compensation limits for financial executives I began to wonder if perhaps there existed in the TARP legislation something that made his edict perfectly legal. So I looked it up.
SEC. 111. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
(a) Applicability- Any financial institution that sells troubled assets to the Secretary under this Act shall be subject to the executive compensation requirements of subsections (b) and (c) and the provisions under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as provided under the amendment by section 302, as applicable.
(b) Direct Purchases-
(2) CRITERIA- The standards required under this subsection shall include--
(3) DEFINITION- For purposes of this section, the term ‘senior executive officer’ means an individual who is one of the top 5 highly paid executives of a public company, whose compensation is required to be disclosed pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and any regulations issued thereunder, and non-public company counterparts.
(c) Auction Purchases- Where the Secretary determines that the purposes of this Act are best met through auction purchases of troubled assets, and only where such purchases per financial institution in the aggregate exceed $300,000,000 (including direct purchases), the Secretary shall prohibit, for such financial institution, any new employment contract with a senior executive officer that provides a golden parachute in the event of an involuntary termination, bankruptcy filing, insolvency, or receivership. The Secretary shall issue guidance to carry out this paragraph not later than 2 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and such guidance shall be effective upon issuance.
I have said many times before that I am neither a legal scholar nor a lawyer but from my reading of this is seems pretty clear that the provisions empowering the government to limit executive compensation are triggered by the purchase of troubled assets. It is my understanding that Treasury Secretary Paulson decided not to purchase troubled assets but to just give the institutions money.(a) Applicability- Any financial institution that sells troubled assets to the Secretary under this Act shall be subject to the executive compensation requirements of subsections (b) and (c) and the provisions under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as provided under the amendment by section 302, as applicable.
(b) Direct Purchases-
(1) IN GENERAL- Where the Secretary determines that the purposes of this Act are best met through direct purchases of troubled assets from an individual financial institution where no bidding process or market prices are available, and the Secretary receives a meaningful equity or debt position in the financial institution as a result of the transaction, the Secretary shall require that the financial institution meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. The standards required under this subsection shall be effective for the duration of the period that the Secretary holds an equity or debt position in the financial institution.
(2) CRITERIA- The standards required under this subsection shall include--
(A) limits on compensation that exclude incentives for senior executive officers of a financial institution to take unnecessary and excessive risks that threaten the value of the financial institution during the period that the Secretary holds an equity or debt position in the financial institution;
(B) a provision for the recovery by the financial institution of any bonus or incentive compensation paid to a senior executive officer based on statements of earnings, gains, or other criteria that are later proven to be materially inaccurate; and
(C) a prohibition on the financial institution making any golden parachute payment to its senior executive officer during the period that the Secretary holds an equity or debt position in the financial institution.
(B) a provision for the recovery by the financial institution of any bonus or incentive compensation paid to a senior executive officer based on statements of earnings, gains, or other criteria that are later proven to be materially inaccurate; and
(C) a prohibition on the financial institution making any golden parachute payment to its senior executive officer during the period that the Secretary holds an equity or debt position in the financial institution.
(3) DEFINITION- For purposes of this section, the term ‘senior executive officer’ means an individual who is one of the top 5 highly paid executives of a public company, whose compensation is required to be disclosed pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and any regulations issued thereunder, and non-public company counterparts.
(c) Auction Purchases- Where the Secretary determines that the purposes of this Act are best met through auction purchases of troubled assets, and only where such purchases per financial institution in the aggregate exceed $300,000,000 (including direct purchases), the Secretary shall prohibit, for such financial institution, any new employment contract with a senior executive officer that provides a golden parachute in the event of an involuntary termination, bankruptcy filing, insolvency, or receivership. The Secretary shall issue guidance to carry out this paragraph not later than 2 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and such guidance shall be effective upon issuance.
No purchase of troubled assets means no controlling legal authority to regulate compensation.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 09:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
1
You don't seem to realize that this is only for companies receiving federal assistance.
He has every right to limit the income of companies receiving taxpayer money. If companies don't like that, then they don't have to take any money from the government. It's as simple as that.
He has every right to limit the income of companies receiving taxpayer money. If companies don't like that, then they don't have to take any money from the government. It's as simple as that.
Posted by: Omar at February 05, 2009 10:07 PM (Wd9by)
2
Show me the Constitutional or legislative authority.
It shouldn't be too hard to find I quoted the relevant sections of The Constitution and the Bail-Out legislation.
I am well aware that this applies only to the semi-nationalized institutions. But as we are learning and unfortunately will probably have to continue to learn, just like pregnancy, you can't be just a little bit socialist.
It shouldn't be too hard to find I quoted the relevant sections of The Constitution and the Bail-Out legislation.
I am well aware that this applies only to the semi-nationalized institutions. But as we are learning and unfortunately will probably have to continue to learn, just like pregnancy, you can't be just a little bit socialist.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 05, 2009 10:50 PM (R7LgM)
30kb generated in 0.0365 seconds; 40 queries returned 179 records.
Powered by Minx 1.1.4-pink.
Powered by Minx 1.1.4-pink.
