Democrats hit CEO pay, crime
Heading down the stretch before their next series of showdowns, the Democratic presidential hopefuls plan to hit hot-button issues today.
In Indiana, which votes May 6, Barack Obama will call for swift Senate passage of his bill that would give shareholders more sway over CEO compensation and force more disclosure. The House passed similar legislation last year, responding to outrage over the growing gap between worker and executive pay, even when the companies are faltering.
"This isn’t just about expressing outrage,” Obama says in remarks prepared for delivery in Indianapolis. “It’s about changing a system where bad behavior is rewarded – so that we can hold CEOs accountable, and make sure they’re acting in a way that’s good for their company, good for our economy, and good for America, not just good for themselves. We’ve seen what happens when CEOs are paid for doing a job no matter how bad a job they’re doing. We can’t afford to postpone reform any longer. That’s why Washington needs to act immediately to pass this legislation.”
Obama’s bill would not limit executive pay, but is designed to force corporations to disclose and justify the salary and benefit packages by giving shareholders a nonbinding vote on a company’s executive compensation plan.
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, which votes April 22, Hillary Clinton will outline an anti-crime agenda that would reprise her husband's plan for 100,000 new police officers in communities. One goal of the plan is to cut in half the homicide rate in big cities, which has been rising in the last few years.
The agenda would cost $4 billion a year, including programs designed to reduce the number of ex-convicts who return to prison and to increase drug treatment, the Associated Press reports. In her speech in Philadelphia, Clinton will also call for hiring "community-oriented" prosecutors; enhancing efforts to stem gang violence, drug dealing, and gun trafficking; and funding after-school programs, home visits by nurses, and mentoring programs designed to steer at-risk children away from crime, the AP says.
I hope this isn't the beginning of the government telling people how much money they can make.
...his bill that would give *shareholders* more sway over CEO compensation
peterg,
I share your concern, however it does not appear that such legislation would be a limit on executive pay.
I think, though, that such legislation could set a dangerous precedent and lead us along the proverbial "slippery slope".
CAN SOME ONE PLEASE TELL ME IF BARAK HUSSAIN OBAMA IS A SUNNY OR SHITE NAME? ALSO WHY WAS HE NAMED A MUSLIM PRIOR TO GOING TO PHILOPENS
Obviously, Obama didn't take corporate law when he was a law student.
Corporate law is STATE--not federal--law. In order for Congress to pass the kind of legislation Obama is suggesting, it would need some kind of "hook" to claim it had the authority to do so. (Remember, the federal government has enumerated, i.e., limited, powers). There is no way of justifying laws that control salaries on securities regulation, for example. So, I just don't see how this would be possible, unless we have a marxist revolution to redistribute wealth in America, which we may have with Obama, especially given all of his wife's beliefs.
His Bill is just for show. It's "non-binding", so shareholder votes have no teeth and no purpose.
Unless I'm reading it wrong.
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