Manny Mondays - Let the Good Times Roll Edition...in the Executive Suite

Morning all! After a busy weekend and being mostly unplugged from the news, I had to scramble a bit to find a worthy topic for Manny Mondays. Lo and behold, after a brief cursory search, it wasn't that difficult to find one that is near and dear to my heart: executive pay. As the New York Times revealed this past weekend, after a period of big-time sacrifice during our market and economic crash to put this country's economy and citizens on solid footing again (um, wait, that never happened, you say? Never mind then), the good times are rolling yet again in the corporate executive suite, even if they aren't exactly rolling for the rank and file worker.

But unfortunately far too many of the same rank and file citizenry whose wages have stagnated at best have bought into the misguided mantra that we must NEVER, EVER raise taxes on any of such "productive" corporate execs citizenry in this country and ask any sacrifice whatsoever for the greater good out of any of these people. Real sacrifice (like taxes) is for the "little people", it seems, or means for folks who are clearly "different from you and I", as Matt Taibbi pointed out in a brilliant article last week, "raking one's own leaves".

But I digress. Here are some key excerpts for the article - The Drought Is Over (at Least for C.E.O.’s):

So far, this recovery has not trickled down. After two relatively lean years, C.E.O.’s in finance, technology, energy and beyond are pulling down multimillion-dollar paychecks. What many of these executives aren’t doing, however, is hiring. Unemployment, although down from its peak, stood at 8.8 percent in March. And few economists predict the jobless rate will drop substantially anytime soon.

For the average C.E.O., however, the good times have returned. The median pay for top executives at 200 major companies was $9.6 million last year. That was a 12 percent increase over 2009, according to a study conducted for The New York Times by Equilar, a compensation consulting firm based in Redwood City, Calif. Many if not most of the corporations run by these executives are doing better than they were in the downturn. Many businesses were hit so hard by the recession that even small improvements in sales and profits look good by comparison. But C.E.O. pay is also on the rise again at companies like Capital One and Goldman Sachs, which survived the economic storm with the help of all those taxpayer-financed bailouts.

But wait, there's more:

On this year’s list, the highest-paid C.E.O. was Philippe P. Dauman of Viacom, who made $84.5 million in just nine months. (Viacom changed its fiscal year-end to September from December.)

Viacom has said that the compensation was inflated by one-time stock awards linked to a long-term contract signed last year.

Also at the top was Ray R. Irani, the C.E.O. of Occidental Petroleum, who took home $76.1 million last year, up 142 percent from the previous one. Last year, the board awarded Mr. Irani a $33 million cash bonus plus $40.3 million in stock awards, more than double what he received in 2009.

But alas, there are also the usual hoots and howls from the other "little people" also known as "shareholders" who are starting push back on these pay packages, likely to no avail in the end, I'm guessing:

Shareholder frustration was probably most evident in recent weeks in the unusually bitter public spat at Hewlett-Packard. H.P.’s board has already been heavily criticized for its handling of the ouster last year of its former chief, Mark V. Hurd, after an H.P. investigation uncovered business conduct violations related to a personal relationship with a contractor.

Two of the most powerful shareholder advisory groups issued highly critical public reports recommending that investors this year vote against H.P.’s executive pay plans and current board members, saying that the company highly overpaid its executives.

But, hey, in our current political environment where Congress is basically the handmaiden of the uber-rich, for the uber-rich, and by the uber-rich, we must never EVER raise taxes on this group under ANY circumstance, and all is good with taxing these folks at the same rate as a small business entrepreneur that makes around $750-$1MM/year, right? These beacons of our communities must never be asked to give more and therefore "sacrifice" for the greater good. After all, we should be worshipping the ground that they walk on every day and thanking them for being so great.

In all seriousness, can someone please tell me why these people can't ever be taxed at a higher rate than people who aren't even close to this income and wealth stratosphere, especially when the country is in clear times of duress, such as now?

Given these vast wealth disparities today, don't we need a vastly more progressive tax code which allows us to "go where the money is" if we hope to truly address some of these longer term budget issues? Or is the continual plan merely more and more "sacrifice" and "austerity" for the Sheeple until we are all sucked dry so that the uber-wealthy never have to give back, while those who have all the money continue to make out like the new robber barons of the 21st century? It's all really nauseating if you ask me, but then again, what do I know? After all, it is Monday morning, and I may just be a little on the cranky side today.