Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Obama evinces love of capitalism by slashing executive pay

From the AP:
The Obama administration will order companies that received huge government bailouts last year to slash the base salaries of their top executives by an average of 90 percent and cut their total compensation in half, a person familiar with the decision said Wednesday...

In the AIG trading division, the arm of the company whose risky trades caused its downfall, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, the person familiar with the plan said...

The pay restrictions for all seven companies will require any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special benefits... to get permission for those perks from the government...
Okay, I know what some of you are thinking right now:

"This is nothing but pure, unadulterated totalitarianism at its worst!"

However, before you fall prey to the typical Conservative, knee-jerk reaction, please take a moment to ponder the following thought:

The president - on a number of occasions - has pledged that Americans making less than $250,000 will not see their taxes increase. According to Chairman Obama's latest directive, top executives at AIG will receive no more than $200,000 in total compensation, which means their tax rates will never go up as long as Obama is president. Hence, contrary to what the knee-jerk Republicans will have you believe, Obama is exhibiting a profound sense of empathy and compassion toward the aforementioned executives.

Truth be told, Obama is the ultimate capitalist, which is why he'll continue to monitor the salaries of all Americans - in order to ensure that they'll never again have to pay an extra dime in taxes to the IRS...

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