CEOs are the most useless part of any corporation. Yet no one can explain why a CEO makes so much money while providing so little in return - even themselves. The only qualifications they seem to have is that they went to the "right" college, joined the "right" fraternity, then was invited to join the "right" country club.
I have often joked about having, instead of a minimum wage, a maximum wage: the total compensation of the highest-paid person at a company cannot be more than a multiple of the total compensation of the lowest-paid person at the company. The multiplier would be 10*log(FTE) - that is, ten time the log (base 10) of the number of Full-Time Equivalent positions at the company (not counting temp-workers).
An easy way to think of this is 10 time the power of ten in the employee count. For example 37 employees; log(37) = 1.568201724, so the multiplier is 15.68... If the lowest person is making $24k a year; then the highest compensation would be 37,636.84 - if they wanted to make more money they could pay the lowest-compensated person more (or increase their benefits or both) -or- hire more people to increase the multiplier.
It's not really a serious proposal, but I like the idea the the feedback encourages either more hiring or paying the lowest-paid person more.
Just tax income for officers or executive employees who make more than 50 times what the lowest paid worker makes. You would see worker income skyrocket.
I get the politics of it, but the fact that the types of businesses most of us work for (with fewer than 50 employees) are never subject to these ideas drives me crazy. I have been a victim of hundreds of thousands of dollars of wage theft over the decades (not kidding, I once worked out the amount of FICA my company would have paid, except I paid it instead), because the companies I work for call my position "contract" even though I fulfill a staff function. And they get away with it, because they're so small.
Another tax I would like to see is a 50% tax on any profits used to fund stock buy backs. They do nothing to change the core value of the company, it has the same assets the day after a $100 million stock buy back as the day before. But it artificially boosts stock value, which is especially valuable to executives with stock options and other large stock holders. And which may help corporations avoid this tax by giving stock options and retirement funding instead of pay increases.
I would also want a tax on each and every stock transaction. No more automatic high speed trading and more investing in actual productive companies. Or just ban all trades that aren't between the investor and invested. Because when Alice sells her MechaCompany stock to Bob, then MechaCompany isn't getting a cent more, so that's not actually an investment. Investments that aren't investments are lies and should be banned.
THIS is the strategy Biden should be using! Emphasize holding Wall Street accountable, reducing wealth and income inequality and prosecuting white collar crime at the highest level. OHJB has done a good job helping average American families, but people are sick of feeling like they're an underclass.
Hmm, I'm not so sure about this one. Raise the corporate tax rate if the CEO (and execs) are overcompensated? Wouldn't that make this calculation possible?
1) How much income did we get?
2) How much is left?
3) Give 2) to the CEO
4) Net income = 0. Tax bill = 0. 5% more of 0 still 0.
Wouldn't it be better to bring back the 90% personal income tax bracket over, say, 500K? Tax it when they actually put the money in their greedy little pockets.
It never ceases to amaze me how much vitriol a Democratic officeholder can draw, even from other supposed Democrats, for stating simple, obvious truths and proposing common-sense solutions for dealing with them.
For a long time, the DNC democrats and the GOP agreed to a "hands off Wall Street" approach that was utterly disasterous for working people, saw our industrial heartland gutted out, income inequality soar and power shift decisively to oligarchs. Bernie Sanders called bullshit on it and a lot of people responded. Biden largely adopted his positions and got elected. That's all fact. Sour grapes is all.
But... but... He dared confound the ascension of St. Hillary the Anointed. She Who Was Foretold . Consort to the White Trash Womanizer St. Willie the Slick. Personification of Life, Love, and Light! (https://youtu.be/tNllhhVD6Ng?si=601L8iRwdNT75S8o)
It was also nearly 8 years ago. I get still being mad, but there’s absolutely nothing productive to come from screaming at hypothetical democrats you’re blaming for an astronomically close loss.
(It’s entirely possible much of Obama 2012 support that didn’t vote Hillary was soft on politics to begin with
I was thinking the other day that being a doctor used to be the pinnacle of class, financially, and you could assume that you would be in the upper middle class, but now as more women and people of color join the ranks, the pay hasn’t increased tons but they’re now outpaced by financial dickheads, tech a-holes and people who sell things that no one needs. It’s so messed up.
Back in the 1990s, I worked on an show about the high cost of medical care. One of the interviewees commented that it wasn't that long ago that the best parking spaces at a hospital were reserved for the doctors, who needed to get in and out as quickly as possible for emergencies. Now those spaces are reserved for the CEO, CFO, and other useless board members who contribute absolutely nothing to the patients' care.
My partner is a primary care doctor, probably of the last generation that wasn't saddled with life-long debt in order to become one. Even so, that salary (for an 80+ hr per week job) paid for what used to be the "middle class American lifestyle"- ie a modest home, used car, send kids to state college..) The history of the previous owners of our house (1920s immigrant store worker, 1960s appliance repairman all with the same size family as we have) is illustrative of how the cost of living-especially housing- has become unfeasible for most. We couldn't afford a home in our city today on that doctor's salary.
When I had a bebe, I saw a np almost exclusively even though she wasn’t going to be able to deliver the bebe — that was a hospital policy. I continued to see her because she was the best. She never weight shamed me and I loved her Frank manner.
CEO doesn't show up to work today, who notices?
The REAL workers don't show up? Well, just look at what happens when there's a strike for an example...everything grinds to a halt.
So who's really more important?
I'm willing to put a waiver in for Warner Brother Discovery as long as they fire Zazlov's ass and renew Our Flag Means Death.
CEOs are the most useless part of any corporation. Yet no one can explain why a CEO makes so much money while providing so little in return - even themselves. The only qualifications they seem to have is that they went to the "right" college, joined the "right" fraternity, then was invited to join the "right" country club.
Ta, Robyn. Sigh.
I have often joked about having, instead of a minimum wage, a maximum wage: the total compensation of the highest-paid person at a company cannot be more than a multiple of the total compensation of the lowest-paid person at the company. The multiplier would be 10*log(FTE) - that is, ten time the log (base 10) of the number of Full-Time Equivalent positions at the company (not counting temp-workers).
An easy way to think of this is 10 time the power of ten in the employee count. For example 37 employees; log(37) = 1.568201724, so the multiplier is 15.68... If the lowest person is making $24k a year; then the highest compensation would be 37,636.84 - if they wanted to make more money they could pay the lowest-compensated person more (or increase their benefits or both) -or- hire more people to increase the multiplier.
It's not really a serious proposal, but I like the idea the the feedback encourages either more hiring or paying the lowest-paid person more.
Just tax income for officers or executive employees who make more than 50 times what the lowest paid worker makes. You would see worker income skyrocket.
Place an arbitrary cap on personal wealth. Say, 50 million dollars. No one can have more than 50 million dollars. After that you're taxed at 100%
But, how would narcissistic trust fund babies know they were better than other narcissistic trust fund babies?
I get the politics of it, but the fact that the types of businesses most of us work for (with fewer than 50 employees) are never subject to these ideas drives me crazy. I have been a victim of hundreds of thousands of dollars of wage theft over the decades (not kidding, I once worked out the amount of FICA my company would have paid, except I paid it instead), because the companies I work for call my position "contract" even though I fulfill a staff function. And they get away with it, because they're so small.
Another tax I would like to see is a 50% tax on any profits used to fund stock buy backs. They do nothing to change the core value of the company, it has the same assets the day after a $100 million stock buy back as the day before. But it artificially boosts stock value, which is especially valuable to executives with stock options and other large stock holders. And which may help corporations avoid this tax by giving stock options and retirement funding instead of pay increases.
No, stock buybacks should be illegal, like they used to be.
I would also want a tax on each and every stock transaction. No more automatic high speed trading and more investing in actual productive companies. Or just ban all trades that aren't between the investor and invested. Because when Alice sells her MechaCompany stock to Bob, then MechaCompany isn't getting a cent more, so that's not actually an investment. Investments that aren't investments are lies and should be banned.
Bernie.
Fuck yeah!
THIS is the strategy Biden should be using! Emphasize holding Wall Street accountable, reducing wealth and income inequality and prosecuting white collar crime at the highest level. OHJB has done a good job helping average American families, but people are sick of feeling like they're an underclass.
But then he'll alienate all those poor millionaires. That's not bipartisan! That's not COMPROMISE!!!
Hmm, I'm not so sure about this one. Raise the corporate tax rate if the CEO (and execs) are overcompensated? Wouldn't that make this calculation possible?
1) How much income did we get?
2) How much is left?
3) Give 2) to the CEO
4) Net income = 0. Tax bill = 0. 5% more of 0 still 0.
Wouldn't it be better to bring back the 90% personal income tax bracket over, say, 500K? Tax it when they actually put the money in their greedy little pockets.
Just tax them? Seems to be letting them off lightly.
Gotta start somewhere
Damn, that was well written.
It never ceases to amaze me how much vitriol a Democratic officeholder can draw, even from other supposed Democrats, for stating simple, obvious truths and proposing common-sense solutions for dealing with them.
For a long time, the DNC democrats and the GOP agreed to a "hands off Wall Street" approach that was utterly disasterous for working people, saw our industrial heartland gutted out, income inequality soar and power shift decisively to oligarchs. Bernie Sanders called bullshit on it and a lot of people responded. Biden largely adopted his positions and got elected. That's all fact. Sour grapes is all.
But... but... He dared confound the ascension of St. Hillary the Anointed. She Who Was Foretold . Consort to the White Trash Womanizer St. Willie the Slick. Personification of Life, Love, and Light! (https://youtu.be/tNllhhVD6Ng?si=601L8iRwdNT75S8o)
It was also nearly 8 years ago. I get still being mad, but there’s absolutely nothing productive to come from screaming at hypothetical democrats you’re blaming for an astronomically close loss.
(It’s entirely possible much of Obama 2012 support that didn’t vote Hillary was soft on politics to begin with
I was thinking the other day that being a doctor used to be the pinnacle of class, financially, and you could assume that you would be in the upper middle class, but now as more women and people of color join the ranks, the pay hasn’t increased tons but they’re now outpaced by financial dickheads, tech a-holes and people who sell things that no one needs. It’s so messed up.
Back in the 1990s, I worked on an show about the high cost of medical care. One of the interviewees commented that it wasn't that long ago that the best parking spaces at a hospital were reserved for the doctors, who needed to get in and out as quickly as possible for emergencies. Now those spaces are reserved for the CEO, CFO, and other useless board members who contribute absolutely nothing to the patients' care.
Same story as the unions. As soon as women and People of color were let into the unions, pay went down and union-busting became a growth industry.
My partner is a primary care doctor, probably of the last generation that wasn't saddled with life-long debt in order to become one. Even so, that salary (for an 80+ hr per week job) paid for what used to be the "middle class American lifestyle"- ie a modest home, used car, send kids to state college..) The history of the previous owners of our house (1920s immigrant store worker, 1960s appliance repairman all with the same size family as we have) is illustrative of how the cost of living-especially housing- has become unfeasible for most. We couldn't afford a home in our city today on that doctor's salary.
Plus they're being supplanted by nurse-practitioners. My last three medical contacts have been with NPs.
(Not that I'm complaining. They did fine by me. One, in particular, was outstanding; sadly, she just left my doctor's practice.)
When I had a bebe, I saw a np almost exclusively even though she wasn’t going to be able to deliver the bebe — that was a hospital policy. I continued to see her because she was the best. She never weight shamed me and I loved her Frank manner.