Executive order #6: Opening the gates of hell
Today's Financial News - Posted February 4, 2009
Obama has only been in office for a couple of weeks, yet he has destroyed the system that countless Americans have fought and died for. The Civil War ended slavery. What will it take to end the new administration’s freedom-destroying laws?
By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com
Baltimore – (TFN): On January 20, millions of Americans uttered the words, “I thought I would never see the day.” They were proud to see a new leader sworn in and were optimistic, expecting change and full of hope for the nation’s future.
Now it is my turn to utter the cliché phrase. I never thought I would see the day when the American government seized control of the free market, but it is here and it has happened. I expected lots and lots of restrictions on the nation’s businesses with a Democratic Congress and an ultra-liberal president, but I never thought I would witness our nation’s top official limit an American’s pay.
When President Obama officially limited the pay for scores of American executives to $500,000 he officially opened the gates to hell. Forget our leaking borders and illegal immigrants. Now we have socialist demons crashing the gates.
Since its creation, this country has functioned on the belief a man must be paid what he is worth. It was up to the free markets to determine what a worker received in compensation each week. If he felt he deserved more than he was offered, he moved on.
The last time the government interfered with wages in such a drastic way, we entered a nasty civil war that destroyed countless lives and nearly destroyed a great nation.
Washington secedes from reality
Now, I am not saying a $500,000 yearly salary is remotely close to the horrific nature of slavery, but I am saying the government’s interference in the free market is just as dangerous and works to destroy what so many Americans have died trying to protect.
With just one swipe of his pen, one politically motivated man has changed this nation’s business world forever.
The mainstream media is focused on companies like Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C). The way these companies have bled cash over the past year have tricked many ill-informed Americans into believing it is alright for the government to dictate executive pay.
But what so many of this nation’s headline readers are overlooking is the dozens of smaller banks that were quietly forced into agreeing to the TARP terms. Remember when Paulson corralled leaders into a Washington boardroom, closed the doors and shouted, “Okay, listen up. Sign these papers and you can go home.”
I bet those CEOs that essentially signed away their salaries are puking in their office garbage cans today. They were never told they were slashing their pay. Now the successful bosses have to apply to the government to get their contractually obligated salaries back where they belong.
Yes, the top-level execs at the nation’s few successful banks will get their full wages, but guess who gets to determine the definition of success. One hint: it isn’t the free market.
Uncle Sam forced his way into preferred shares of the nation’s banking system. Now the old man is forcing his way into the payroll department.
Not only should you be pissed about this, you should be downright scared.
Once the gates of hell are opened, they are impossible to close. These demons will haunt this country for a long, long time.
Next Article: The shipping industry stays afloat
3 Responses to “Executive order #6: Opening the gates of hell”
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February 4th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
This is a double edged sword!
While I agree with you in principle that government should not dictate earnings, the other side of the coin is that there has already beeb egregious ABUSE of funds advanced by the government! Since I DISAGREE with the government in effect bailing out mismanaged and essentially bankrupt companies, it is REFRESHING to see a President be so forthright as to LIMIT executive pay IF they are receiving government (taxpayer) assistance.
While I would much prefer to see the new President ADMIT that our present fractional reserve fiat currency system is the MOTHER of all Ponzi schemes and propose changes to restore HONEST MONEY, in the absence of such an initiative and playing by the present realities I think his stance is REASONABLE in the circumstances.
What I DO BELIEVE is that numerous executives of major companies and including those in charge of the bailout plan have acted with favouritism and may be guilty of outright fraud, certainly the foxes have been put in charge of the hen house, and the outrageous acts we alredy know about are only the TIP of a huge iceberg that may yet sink the American economic ship!
February 5th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
In the end, many executives have their pay in restricted stock and will simply take more stock to get their compensation. Civil war comparisons may be a bit hyperbolic here. But, a good comparable would be the restrictions during WWII and the resulting rise of pensions and employer-linked health care benefits. We’ve come to depend on these benefits but they’ve weakened out companies and our healthcare system. Wage and salary restrictions have tons of unintended consequences stemming from the fact that you can’t control fringe benefits. One would hope President Obama and his administration understand this.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I understand that #500,000 limit for top Exc.’s is for those firms that request taxpayer bailout funds. Is this not correct?