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HomeQuestions of Fairness and Rectitude
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 8th, 2012 6:45 AM |
Stephen Moore wrote a commentary entitled A Fairness Quiz for the President in the Wall Street Journal yesterday which generated hundreds of comments. The comments seemed to break down largely along party lines. I think most of those commenting might not grasp the full picture.
With our nation in the midst of an increasingly confrontational political debate, I think it useful to promote serious questions of fairness and rectitude. In doing so, I would like to reference a fair bit of Mr. Moore’s commentary while passing over some of his more overtly political statements. Additionally, I include my own ‘sense on cents’ and add some of my own questions at the end. (more…)
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes…
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 28th, 2010 10:38 AM |
Uncle Sam wants your money. In fact, Uncle Sam needs your money. How is he going to get it? Any way he can.
Thank you to a loyal Sense on Cents reader for sharing more details about one of life’s two great certainties and how increased taxes will be coming your way. These details are highlighted in a recently released Credit Suisse research piece, Washington Notes:
While many questions have been raised about the ability of the Administration and Congress to find funding for the new initiatives, it is clear that a reduction in current spending alone will not be enough to cover new programs and therefore it will be necessary for the President and Congressional Democrats to rely heavily on increasing taxes. (more…)
Wall Street Compensation Reform in Name Only
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 6th, 2009 9:27 AM |
Say what you want about movie producer Michael Moore, but he is no fool in tapping into the American spirit. Moore takes on Wall Street in highlighting the enormous bank bailouts emanating from this economic crisis. While there are many factors that drove our banking industry and our economy to its knees, ultimately the Wall Street compensation system allowed those taking risk to ‘swing for the fences’ while playing ‘heads we win, tails you lose.’ Washington is going to fix this, right? Having appointed a pay czar in Ken Feinberg, the Obama administration is going to address the crux of this critical issue and reform it, right? I mean, The Wall Street Journal this very morning profiles how Pay Czar Targets Salary Cuts:
The Obama administration’s pay czar is planning to clamp down on compensation at firms receiving large sums of government aid by cutting annual cash salaries for many of the top employees under his authority, according to people familiar with the matter.
Instead of awarding large cash salaries, Kenneth Feinberg is planning to shift a chunk of an employee’s annual salary into stock that cannot be accessed for several years, these people said. Such a move, the most intrusive yet into corporate compensation, would mark the government’s first effort to curb the take-home pay of everyone from auto executives to financial traders.
Folks, with all due respect to Ken Feinberg, these efforts to implement reform in Wall Street compensation practices are largely a joke. Why? While the subtitle of the WSJ’s article includes the term ‘compensation,’ Feinberg’s focus is limited to the term in the title, that being ‘salary.’ (more…)
