Absolutely! No corporate giveaways! nm

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Commentary: Larger-Than-Life Corporate Salaries are Unfair to Average American Workers

Despite slower-than-anticipated growth and lower-than-expected profits, many corporations have generously rewarded their leaders, while simultaneously reducing lower-level staff salaries and benefits in an attempt to control costs. This disturbing practice only serves to further widen the gap between America�s wealthy few and its working class and clearly demonstrates just how little this country values its workforce.

At a time when most American workers are struggling to make basic ends meet and worrying how they�ll manage to save enough for retirement, many of this country�s corporate chief executives are stuffing their pockets with larger-than-life compensation packages that include high base salaries, stock options and ample pension plans. In 2004, the average chief executive�s salary at a large company was more than 170 times that of the average worker�s pay. Last year, executive salaries grew 25 percent, while that of the average American worker grew only 3.1 percent.

Even when a company struggles, their CEOs are still rewarded. For example, the current CEO of a global manufacturing firm received over $11 million in compensation last year, despite the company�s $3.4 billion revenue loss, an 11-percent drop in stock value and a staff reduction of 17,000 workers. There are similar stories at corporations across the country. While worker pensions are frozen and many are asked to do without raises, CEOs manage to earn their multi-million dollar bonuses.

It�s no surprise that CEOs are cleaning up. Consider this: Corporations often use compensation committees to set their executive salaries. Many of these committees use outside consultants to help guide the process. These consultants are often already contracted to do other work for the company. The conflict of interest here is obvious: The consultant won�t upset the CEO -- and risk losing other contracts -- by setting a more realistic, performance based pay model.

Many corporate CEOs are, in short, getting over, and it is a slap in the face of every American worker. While it is understood that executive salaries would greatly exceed that of the average worker�s, there is no logical argument to explain why the growth rate between the two is so dramatically different. To protect its workforce, corporate America must ensure worker�s salaries grow at rates that keep pace with the cost of living, while slowing the rate of growth of CEO salaries. Corporate boards must stop rewarding CEOs with multi-million dollar bonuses. It is unacceptable for a company to lay off thousands of workers and then turn around and pay an executive for a job well done.

As a country, we often ask our government to think about the needs of the average American, and rightly so. However, if America is to truly prosper, the corporations that feed our local economy must also consider and respect the well-being of average worker.

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Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president of Rainbow PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

certain he knows how to catch BinLaden and he puts country first it behooves him to tell anyone who will listen!!!!!

I think it will be all over after the first debate. Obama's poll numbers creeping up, but after debate, will skyrocket.

I should not have posted anything about myself, beliefs or opinions. I should have checked all messages from you first to make sure that I would agree with you so as not to expose your narrow-minded views to anything other than just that.

Absolutely. I just have such a strong belief in respect for one another. We need to think about what our chidren/grandchildren are witnessing us and others do and say each day. I don't care if the president is white, black, Indian, Asian, or otherwise...if he can just do his best for the country and, I know this is a long shot but, this not turn into a black/white issue. He's just a person. What does his skin color have to do with anything? We are all just people.

I keep thinking of Kennedy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I just hope he doesn't try to do the convertable thing. I think he mentioned doing it at one point.

I really don't think Bush will try the directive 51 thing or anything like that, although I wouldn't put it past him.

....we could keep at this for a week and never convince one another, which is fine. We don't get to vote on this issue. America has spoken. We want change. The dems will have enough votes in congress to ram this through without any input from you or me. As AL Gore says: The science is settled. The debate is over.

1. You have such a low opinion of our elected officials (what with the lobbying, bribing, the royal retirements and all) yet you want to turn your healthcare over to them exclusively?

2. If you or someone you love are denied by your insurance company, you might be grateful for the opportunity to accept charity or hock everything you own for the chance to get help. Or you could just roll over and die. Your choice.

4. If you haven't the energy to fight with WDGD (We Don't Give a Damn) Insurance, what makes you think you can take on the FBHR (Federal Bureau of Healthcare Rationing)?

5. Why should you be bankrupted by having to pay higher taxes to provide healthcare for me or my family?

Anyhow, we both need to get a life, so I'm all finished posting about this subject

If my neighbor likes to slap his wife around a little, what business is it of mine? (Other than her screams occasionally waking me up at night, which is easily remedied with earplugs.) And if she should pound on my door one night asking for shelter - what kind of fool would I be to let her in? That might put me in the position of having to defend her - and would probably make her husband real mad. And when I hear multiple gunshots two streets over (a regular occurrence - there's Section 8 housing over there and they get kinda frisky) why should I care? Unless bullets are actually punching through my walls, is it really my business? And when I see someone breaking into my neighbor's car (not the wife beater - the other neighbor) is it really my place to intervene? If I see a shoplifter in a store shall I carefully avert my eyes - because what concern is it of mine?

what we have is a mess, but what we will get with government-controlled healthcare will be so much worse. I have no clue how to solve the inequities in our current system but I know that letting big government take over for big insurance is another step in the wrong direction. It's another example of 'we must do SOMETHING' without having a clue what that something should be. We have to do something effective and nobody knows what that is.....yet.

If you think insurance companies are difficult to deal with now, wait until you have to get approval from a government bureaucracy. The inefficiency and expense of anything the government manages is legend.

Presently, there is a monetary incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs, for medical equipment companies to design new technology, for scientists physicians to perfect new treatments and techniques (other than having something named after them). When the government has sets profit limits and salary caps to prevent 'obscene profits from the illness of others' nobody will have much reason to break a sweat to do these things (again, other than having something named after them).

You CAN indeed murder someone and you WILL indeed be arrested. The difference is you actually CAUSED HARM to someone. You didn't do something that just went against the opinions of another person.

I have two children myself that are young now and I understand about "protecting" children, but give me a break, this world is so corrupt it's ridiculous! There is A LOT that I need to protect them from, NOT the fact that two people may love each other and happen to be the same sex.

I am not gay, so therefore I have no right to say yes or no to gay marriage, but I would never put someone down for having different beliefs than I do.

I would be just as infuriated, just as vocal and, in addition, I would feel betrayed because I had voted for him. McCain was not my first choice among the republican candidates (not even my third or fourth.) He was a poor choice that the republican party forced upon me, but the only alternative to Obama and I voted not for McCain but against the other guy. Bet you hiney I would have flames shooting out my ears if McCain were doing all this.

All that is missing for me now is that I do not feel betrayed. I knew what we would be getting from an Obama presidency and my only comfort is that I did what I could to prevent this from happening.

If the above post is supposed to be an example of any kind of logical thought, you have miserably failed in your attempt at communication. So, given your obvious deficits, lets go R-E-A-L S-L-O-W.