Hey, I'll do it. I'm pretty sure those guys don't do anything anyway.

[lauraredcloud]

I'm not one of those people who writes screeds on CharityNavigator vowing never to donate to charities that pay their CEOs $650,000; I know that's how much rich people get paid, and for people in business, and people who aren't me, that maybe doesn't sound that extravagant. Still, it's funny, in a world's smallest violin kind of way, to read execs whining and bitching about the bailout-business salary cap announced today.

“That is pretty draconian — $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus,” said James F. Reda, founder and managing director of James F. Reda & Associates, a compensation consulting firm. “And you know these companies that are in trouble are not going to pay much of an annual dividend.” ...

“It would be really tough to get people to staff” companies that are forced to impose these limits, he said. “I don’t think this will work.”

Oh, no. Oh, woe. How will we ever find anyone willing to work for a mere $500,000 with the unemployment rate approaching 8%?

Ummm. Have I become a "current events person"? Blah.

Comments

[sliceydicey.livejournal.com]

That's ridiculous. Somehow I think they'll be able to find someone to fill those jobs. I'm confused; is it like really hard to run a business that you literally need to pay millions to grab one of the hand full of people willing to do it, or is it just businesses can normally afford to pay that anyway and so they try to attract that total badasses? Because when the total badasses have kind of dropped the ball, I think it's okay to bring in someone who is merely competent.

Also, it's nice to see Obama doing badass stuff like sticking it to the man.

[laura-redcloud.livejournal.com]

You're right! I was just thinking that, you know, if they're spending the money to get the badasses, maybe (a) the bailed-out companies can maybe take a break from enticing the badasses for awhile, and (b) the badasses' pay scale will be going down like everyone else's, $500,000 goes further in a recession, but you're right that (c) the leaders of these companies are the people who got us into this mess in the first place, and they're like the highest-paid people there are, so perhaps this is not a situation where paying higher salaries will get you better workers.