US public wants CEOs punished for 'greed'
Saturday, September 27, 2008
AN ANGRY US public and Congress are pushing to snip the rip cord on golden parachutes used by fat cat CEOs to escape Wall Street's mayhem.
Democrats in Congress insisted that any agreed package to address the financial crisis include restrictions on executive pay.
They caught the mood of a nation sickened at watching the titans of finance walk away from Wall Street disasters not only unscathed, but enriched.
"The wealthiest people, those ... in the best position to pay, are being asked for no sacrifice at all," read a petition to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which by Thursday, after three days, had 32,600 signatures.
The petition, organised by independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, attacked what it described as the Treasury's attempt to let bungling executives "continue to make exorbitant salaries and bonuses".
Those gigantic pay checks, bonuses, and Midas-like farewells encapsulate what the public sees as Wall Street's greed-is-good philosophy.
For example, the CEO of bankrupt Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, received total compensation of US$71.9 million in 2007, including stock, bonuses and other pay, according to a survey published by Forbes magazine.
Martin Sullivan, the chief executive of AIG, who left the insurance giant before it was rescued this month by the federal government, received US$14 million, a survey in USA Today said. He also quit with a severance package worth US$47 million.
Even punishment for those at the centre of the chaos comes with a gold lining.
"We'll never see that money again," said Mathew May, a 24-year-old economics student attending a small demonstration near the New York Stock Exchange. "They deregulated the markets and ran wild. Now we're bailing them out."
Arun Gupta, an editor of alternative New York newspaper The Indypendent, said there was "socialism for the rich and dog-eat-dog capitalism for the rest of us."AFP
Democrats in Congress insisted that any agreed package to address the financial crisis include restrictions on executive pay.
They caught the mood of a nation sickened at watching the titans of finance walk away from Wall Street disasters not only unscathed, but enriched.
"The wealthiest people, those ... in the best position to pay, are being asked for no sacrifice at all," read a petition to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which by Thursday, after three days, had 32,600 signatures.
The petition, organised by independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, attacked what it described as the Treasury's attempt to let bungling executives "continue to make exorbitant salaries and bonuses".
Those gigantic pay checks, bonuses, and Midas-like farewells encapsulate what the public sees as Wall Street's greed-is-good philosophy.
For example, the CEO of bankrupt Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, received total compensation of US$71.9 million in 2007, including stock, bonuses and other pay, according to a survey published by Forbes magazine.
Martin Sullivan, the chief executive of AIG, who left the insurance giant before it was rescued this month by the federal government, received US$14 million, a survey in USA Today said. He also quit with a severance package worth US$47 million.
Even punishment for those at the centre of the chaos comes with a gold lining.
"We'll never see that money again," said Mathew May, a 24-year-old economics student attending a small demonstration near the New York Stock Exchange. "They deregulated the markets and ran wild. Now we're bailing them out."
Arun Gupta, an editor of alternative New York newspaper The Indypendent, said there was "socialism for the rich and dog-eat-dog capitalism for the rest of us."AFP
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