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The State of the Union and that Pesky CEO Pay

  • Posted on January 24, 2011 at 10:39 pm

This morning Peggy Noonan was on the Morning Joe show.  I watch the show as I’m getting ready for work.  I always think it is interesting when I hear Republicans like Peggy and Joe singing the praises of President Obama.  They both just love Obama and are so thrilled that he is moving more towards the “center”.  I, of course, find all of this laughable because Obama has always been pretty much right of center.  If he was any where left of that golden center, health care would have a public option and we’d be out of these two wars.  I have to make a clarification here as both Peggy and Joe insisted this morning that they are not really into that “Republican” label.  They are really “conservatives”.  All I know is that a thorn known by any other name is still prickly.

I sit here thinking about the state of the union address.  Of course we are all being told that President Obama is going to embrace business with some kind of love fest.  Recently, he put an editorial piece in the Wall Street Journal where he said that we have to look at old, outdated rules and regulations.  I’m really curious about this because I have a nephew who sustained a traumatic work place injury about ten years ago.  I’m sure he wishes there were better rules and regulations in place when he had his hand cut off in a meat cutter.  In business, it always comes down to the almighty dollar.  Let’s see is it worth putting that screw on the “kiddie” pool or will we make more money even with a lawsuit, if we don’t?

The questions business must think about.  I wonder what went through the minds of those Toyota executives when they tried covering up their little problem.  http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2010/112_1001_toyota_recall_crisis/index.html

You can read President Obama’s entire executive order.  There isn’t a lot to it, but it really makes me wonder why President Obama even bothered with it.  However, reading numbers 4 & 5 really get my curiosity up.  It seems to be quite open to interpretation.  The lines seem a little blurry to me.

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/2011.html

Or even his editorial piece.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396604576088272112103698.html

As stated in that Executive Order and to the extent permitted by law, each agency must,
among other things: (1) propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned
determination that its benefits justify its costs (recognizing that some benefits
and costs are difficult to quantify); (2) tailor its regulations to impose the
least burden on society, consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives, taking
into account, among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs
of cumulative regulations; (3) select, in choosing among alternative regulatory
approaches, those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other advantages;
distributive impacts; and equity); (4) to the extent feasible, specify performance
objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner of compliance
that regulated entities must adopt; and (5) identify and assess available
alternatives to direct regulation, including providing economic incentives
to encourage the desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable permits,
or providing information upon which choices can be made by the public

I’ve been curious about the push for business in government for awhile now.  Here in Michigan we have a new governor, a businessman.  In the last election Maine and Florida, like Michigan went to the business world for their governors.  Now, I hear talk of President Obama warming to business and yet I saw on MSNBC today that American businesses have created about two million jobs this past year.  However, only 600,000 are in the United States.  I keep hearing the words “business friendly” and I’m not sure exactly what that means but I can deduce that it might imply “labor unions” not so friendly.  It really does come down to the bottom dollar.  How can a business turn the highest profit?  The cost of labor has to go down to make business happy or they can just keep hiring workers in other countries.  Where does that leave the American people?

Our Governor spoke last week and I’m still wondering exactly what he’s going to do but I know it’s going to be some kind of love affair with the business world.  Don’t get me wrong, I do realize that business has to be able to make a profit.  I’m just not so sure that those high CEO pays are all that necessary.  Other countries seem to curb the appetite of their CEO pay.  It is destroying our country.  Here is a good take on it. http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2008/ca2008114_493532.htm

Notice that CEO pay can be 400 times the pay of the average worker.  I would say that is kind of excessive!  If we want to fix business in this country, then maybe we should start at the top and stop making the little guy continue to give up things and make concessions.  American CEO Pay needs to be adjusted.  Every CEO should be thinking about his or her country.  John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country.”  We can start with CEO pay.  Maybe President Obama could create an executive order there.  Maybe the government should do business only with corporations that limit the CEO pay.  President Obama imposed a restriction on CEO pay for companies involved in the bailout plan.  However, many of them found ways around that little gem.  I think our government shouldn’t do business with any corporation that has excessive CEO pay.  If you really want to make your stomach churn, just check out the AFL-CIO site on executive pay.  It really will make you sick.  http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ If you’re too lazy to do the search, just check the top 100 here:  http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/top100.cfm

There is something wrong with business when the CEO can make such tremendous figures while the little people at the bottom of this food chain are continually asked to take a cut.

I’ll be watching the president tomorrow night.  I’ll be hoping that he’s thinking about those little people at the bottom, but I have this sneaking feeling it’s going to be more about the bottom line for business and how we all have to sacrifice a little bit more.  However, I know that guy at the top won’t be feeling a thing!

As I was looking around tonight I came across a great “read” on what’s happening with public sector unions.  This is a blog post by a teacher.  http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2011/01/impending-demise-of-unions.html

Just keep all of this in mind when your listening to the president Tuesday night.

Dreams of Our Fathers…and “Buck Up”……

  • Posted on October 4, 2010 at 7:09 pm

I must admit that while I have read President Obama’s, “The Audacity of Hope”, I have not read his “Dreams of My Father”.  After reading the recent Rolling Stone’s article on President Obama and seeing his comment that Democrats have to “Buck up!”, I am left wondering at the audacity of Obama.  This shows so well the complete lack of understanding there is between what happens in Washington D.C. and what happens “Anywhere” in America; where people are struggling to pay their bills, keep their jobs, get health care and be treated with respect.  It is appalling to think that this man who once joked about his lack of seniority in the Senate and the “jobs” they’d let him do, who at the time appeared to show a “humble” side is now becoming a rather arrogant president.  This behavior could be excused but insulting the American voter is never really excusable.

President Obama was essentially finished with the interview and overall it was pretty much a “love fest” between Rolling Stone magazine and President Obama.  The interview seemed to be used for the president to talk about that “70%” of his agenda that he says he has completed.  The president was motioned away and then came back and felt the need to add this condescending statement to the interview:

“We have to get folks off the sidelines. People need to shake off this lethargy, people need to buck up. Bringing about change is hard — that’s what I said during the campaign. It has been hard, and we’ve got some lumps to show for it. But if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren’t serious in the first place.”

I know all of us come from varied heritages.  We have many different racial and ethnic backgrounds but one thing has always been true.  We have a deep abiding love for our country and we think it is the most wonderful place to raise our children.  Our dreams are what our fathers and mothers have always dreamed, that if you work hard and play fair you can go far in America!  America is a place of opportunity.  In recent times we have noticed that those doors of opportunity have been getting slammed shut.  We can and do still dream, but we haven’t quite figured out when all of these politicians started thinking more “globally” rather than about our own country and more about business than the American people.  I think it is a lofty goal to try to stamp out poverty globally but it’s almost sad to think that these same politicians cannot seem to recognize that they only need to look in their own districts and states to see the dire need in this country.

All of us know that there has been a progression, mostly through education, in our own families.  Each generation has become generally a little more educated and wealthier.  However, this most recent generation is finding out the hard truth of today’s world.  Some of them cannot even afford college and the truth is they may go to college and come out and not be able to find a job that pays enough to pay for their student loans.  The truth is they may end up with a life threatening illness and end up in poverty because they’ve lost all of their money trying to pay the doctors, the pharmacy and the hospital.  The truth is they may have worked in the same job for twenty years only to go in one day and find out their job is being exported out of the country and they have no idea if they have marketable skills for another job.  The truth is, both parents have to work, so their child goes to school and comes home to an empty house and mom and dad really don’t know what their child is up to, but they hope for the best.

We all dream for our children.  We dream that they will have a bright and shiny future filled with happiness and fulfillment.  We dream that they will grow up healthy, get an education, land a great job doing something that they love and have a wonderful family life.  These dreams used to be very attainable but today we are all filled with uncertainty of what the future will bring.  This is one of the many reasons why I cannot understand how President Obama can continue to show such a vast lack of understanding  of the American family condition.

His family has led a life of privilege.  His children go to private schools as did his wife and Obama, himself.  He and his wife have gone to the best universities.  He has traveled all over the world as has his family.  He sees the world globally while we see the world through our communities.  We are tied to our lives in our communities.  Many of us do what we can to better our communities.  We know that we are part of the global community but our heart may be in Michigan, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and somewhere else in this vast country.   In reality we are all brought together from many parts to make one, not “one world” rule, but we are Americans!  Yes, we continue to dream, just as our parents dreamed, but now we must fight.

We must fight to keep our dreams for our children alive.  We cannot sit back idly and allow our politicians, and even you, President Obama,  to continue to ignore the plight of our country.  We must address the issues of poverty, the economy, the two wars and our failing infrastructure.  This is how we can show our patriotism and our love not only for our country but for the dreams of our parents, ourselves and our children to come.  So President Obama if you are finding yourself in a quandary as to why the base isn’t too fired up this election cycle, maybe it’s because you seem so out of touch with who we really are and what we really want.

When you were voted in with that “hope and change motto” many people thought you were going to aspire to do all you could for our country.   However, as the countless vacations and golf outings continued to take place, some of us out here were left wondering if you have the right work ethic.  From my perspective, I haven’t noticed much difference between GW and you.  I will give you credit for the stimulus as I think it did some good.  It was probably too small and maybe should have been directed more closely to the American people like the home buyer’s credit and the car buying credit were.  However, I think I’m not alone in my disappointment about most of the other areas and this is what part of your problem is for us.  You talked a lot about change, but we find ourselves still involved in two wars.  Guantanamo is still open.  The health care bill avoided single payer or anything else that resembles what most of us were hoping would happen.  Like your predecessor the banks were more important than the people.  While the banks were too big to fail, the American people were too small to matter.  This is the sad truth.

So, now you want those Democrats to basically stop whining and buck up like we’re some sniveling child that simply is having a temper tantrum.  Mistakes were made back in May of 2008 with the fallout of the Michigan and Florida primary.  While you may have moved on, many Democrats, like me, still feel the sting of that primary election when our votes were simply awarded to you, even though we voted for someone else .  At that time many of us felt betrayed by our party.

From my perspective you probably could have won my “loyalty” back, if you hadn’t governed so much like a Republican.  It’s hard for me to see you as anything but a black version of GW and the Democratic Party as the “LITE” version of the Republican Party.  You actually seem to be more comfortable with politicians and corporate heads than the American people.  Trust me when I say, “I want to believe in my party again.”  The Republicans give me nothing that makes me want to vote for them.  With the Democrats being a somewhat less offensive version of the Republicans, it’s still hard to get fired up about this election!  I mourn for my Democratic Party and what it used to be.  These young kids today probably don’t even know what a “real” Democrat is or what a “FDR” Democrat governs like.  We have had many years of Democrats morphing into this Republican “lite” version.  You and your fellow Democrats may be used to it.  I, on the other hand, see no point in two parties that are so closely aligned with business that it’s difficult to see the difference between them.

Knowing that you will fail unless you can generate some enthusiasm with the Democrats, you sent Bill Clinton out to massage the masses.  Bill is so charming and he does make a lot of sense with his argument.  However, when I started listening to him I realized that I wished he was president, not you.  He can talk straight and he seems to have ideas for getting out of this economic mess, which makes me wonder why you didn’t put him on an economic team.  I know your people wanted to keep him out because Bill might take over.  He might shine too strong!  This was supposedly the big reason why Hillary couldn’t be considered for VP.  Seeing Bill makes me wonder what Hillary would have done different from you.  I know she would have used Bill’s talents instead of bringing him out for a failing election to throw a “Hail Mary” pass.  I also know she would have worked tirelessly because it appears that she is doing that as Secretary of State.  She barely took time off even for her own daughter’s wedding!  Bill “gets me”.  He knows how to talk to me and the American people.  Listen to him and maybe you won’t make me feel like a second class citizen with your “buck up” statement.  Bill would have never chosen to coerce me into voting for him with that kind of comment.  He would just lay out the choices in a logical manner that we all can understand.

Here is President Obama looking thoughtful. He needs to use his words as thoughtfully as he appears to be here.

President Obama, the problem you and the Democratic Party has is the fact that we are really “not that much into you”.  If there ever was a love affair, it is long past its prime!  I have to say when John Stewart made fun of Representative John Boehner and compared him to a cheating spouse that wants his woman back but promises not to change, which by the way was hilarious, I was left thinking he could mock you and the Democratic Party the same way.  You have  been sleeping with the enemy on everything from the war to taxes to even education!  That old “merit pay” talk was started by Republicans to kill the teacher’s unions.  It’s been enacted by you, supposedly a Democrat.  You can probably tell I’m a bit edgy about all of this.  I “bucked up’ a long time ago when I started writing down my thoughts and determined that I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the party left me!  My dreams of a party that will make this country strong again have been shattered.  I still dream for the future of our children as I will always keep “hope” alive.  I just don’t believe you when you say you’ve done so much and there’s more to do.  It sounds too much like when GW always used to say, “It’s hard work.”  We all work hard in this country.  You chose the job and spent a lot of money trying to get it.   I say President Obama “buck up” and quit your whining.  The American people deserve better and they deserve to have their dreams kept alive.  We will vote for the Democrats, if we think they’ll do everything they can to keep our dreams alive and attainable.  Right now, most real Democrats aren’t too sure about that.  The main thing you and the rest of the Democrats have going for you is the sheer fact that the Republicans are worse!