Barney Frank Wants to Add Limits to CEO Pay Structure of All US Companies

Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, is trying to pass a law that will limit the salary of CEOs and other corporate execs:

Rep. Barney Frank says excessive compensation packages for top corporate executives played a key role in the country's financial crisis, and he wants to reign in that pay.

"I believe that the structure of compensation has been flawed," the Massachusetts Democrat said while chairing a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Frank wants to develop guidelines for compensation practices, and not just for companies receiving government bailout dollars. Frank argues the problems is much wider.

There are some changes that need to be made in the way CEO's are paid and compensated, but the government is not the one that should make them change. It isn't their place. Given time the free markets will force them to change their ways or go out of business as it did with GM, Fannie & Freddie, AIG, etc.

Congress needs to worry about themselves and their job performance and compensation for said performance. They are worrying about the golden parachutes that failed CEOs get when their own poor job performance is just as abysmal as the CEOs they are bailing out. What would Barney say if China, the country that is bailing out Rep. Frank and his free spending buddies on Capital Hill, started telling him how much he could make? After all, the Chinese are bailing Washington out just as Washington is bailing out the CEOs.

What the most ridiculous part of this story is that the Massachusetts Democratic Senator doesn't want to stop at just the companies that are being bailed out. He wants to limit the pay of the CEOs of companies that are profitable. What is he thinking? How can he justify putting limits on the fruits of their successes?

Will General Motors, Chrysler Follow Amtrak's Lead of Government Corporate Takeovers?

As General Motors goes into bankruptcy and the government becomes 60% owner, parallels are being brought up between Amtrak and GM:

Some analysts say the federal government's effort to prop up the nation's largest auto manufacturer is eerily similar to a 40-year effort to revive the nation's ailing railroad system. Billions of taxpayer dollars later, Amtrak still needs the government to survive -- and critics say General Motors appears to be headed down the same track.

"I see no hope whatsoever for the situation," said Wendell Cox, a policy consultant who sat on the government-appointed Amtrak Reform Council a decade ago and draws parallels to the GM intervention today.

Amtrak could be a winner in America today, if the government wasn't doing its usual bang-up job of running things.

Why are we allowing Obama and the government to be the new de facto CEO of GM? Obama hasn't ever been an executive of any businesses, and the government has a horrible track record with such takeovers?

Biden Wants Working Families to 'Share' Their 'Increased Productivity'

My Thoughts

"The American people, working class families, have to share in the increased productivity."

Isn't that just another way that we need to "share the wealth"? This is a poorly repackaged idea from the most socialistic administration in US history.

What is somewhat surprising is that Biden actually admitted their true agenda of having more than just the top 10% of the wealthy "share".

I guess "sharing" is "patriotic" just like paying higher taxes. Right, Joe.