In article ,
"Robert Green" wrote:


for bailouts. Capping outrageous CEO salaries is on their agenda (and mine)
as well as returning the taxation of the super-wealthy that apparently has
only benefited them, not the common man.

Be careful what you wish for. Technically salaries are already
effectively capped and have been since the mid-80s when, in a rather
bipartisan fit of passion, it was decided by Congress that execs were
getting paid too much. So the deductibility of salaries was capped at $1
million (and if you look at 10Ks through to today, you'll find most top
executives are still getting near that (the biggest I've seen recently
was around $3 mill in salary).
What happened though, because of the Congressional Umbrage and
desire to do things not unlike is being called for today, was that they
decided to put the interests of the executives "in line" with those of
the shareholders, they encouraged use of bonuses and stock options.
This meant that they were no longer being paid to manage the
company, but rather being paid to manage the share price and thus the
books (I don't think was happenstance that about two years later the
first book cooking scandal broke).
It also meant, as the stock market took off, that CEOs were being
paid orders of magnitude more than even the most captive board would
have had the balls to pay in direct salary. If you look at the ratio of
CEO pay to worker pay, you will note from the mid-60s to early 80s it
poked along in the mid 20s. Then Congressional Umbrage took over,
changed the tax laws and the ratio skyrocketed. Although if you look at
the actual figures it does bounce around A LOT.,


If lowering taxes on the rich was such a super good thing for everyone, why
are so many non-Wall Streeters suffering?

I have no idea what the connection is.


Even Bloomberg, the patron saint of Wall St. who used his enormous Wall St.
wealth to buy the NYC mayor's job, had to back down from clearing the park
because he eventually (with much help) realized that making them martyrs
would only accelerate the movement. That doesn't mean that other panicked
leaders won't provide the movement with a Kent State moment that catapults
the OWS into high gear.


Of course that isn't close to the reality of the situation. The park
is PRIVATELY owned and not a part of the City park system. The owners of
the park asked them to clean up, they did and the PRIVATE owners of the
park decided to not press the issue. IF the owners don't want them
evicted there is little Bloomberg or the City can do.

The protesters know that while Wall St. salaries have rebounded quickly to
the stratosphere, the average worker is still losing ground. While the Tea
Party was a US animal, the OWS protests are now lighting up across the
world. There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear . .
. but it will become clear in the coming months as leaders emerge and
strategies are decided upon.

One thing's for su as more people lose their houses and jobs, they are
much more likely to join the OWS instead of the Tea Party. I predict that
soon boycotts will start of companies that pay no US taxes or that have
CEO's that earn obscenely huge salaries. Once people discover that they can
have a serious effect on companies that are perceived as rapacious, there's
potentially no end to the OWS movement.

Wall Street will actually help the OWS when the stocks of such companies
start to fall on the perception that they won't be able to meet their sales
forecasts because of boycotts. Even die-hard conservatives will become
unintended "helpers" as they pull their money out of what they see as
"sinking ships" and accelerate the downward spiral. One thing's for sure.
Interesting times lie ahead.

The saddest part is that all Wall Streeters and the right can say is "they
are not very tidy" or "they are not very well-organized." It's roughly akin
to saying "that baby can't talk and poops in its diapers." Most movements
and children start out that way, but most eventually grow up. "Not tidy."
Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. One of the most telling signs I can
think of lately that a big change is coming was a Nationwide insurance
commercial I just saw that said: "We're a cooperative and NOT beholden to
Wall Street." America has found a new target to demonize, and if there's
anything Americans excel at, it's finding someone to blame for things. Will
Wall St. wake up in time and self-regulate? I don't think so. It's got
"anti-regulation" built into its DNA which could very well be its undoing.

--
Bobby G.

--
People thought cybersex was a safe alternative,
until patients started presenting with sexually
acquired carpal tunnel syndrome.-Howard Berkowitz