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 Corporate
Welfare is alive and well in spite of political campaign promises to end it. According to a new
Associated Press
story, the median compensation for the CEO of a large publicly traded company crossed over into the 7-figure realm
for the first time in 2013, with an average pay package of $10.5 million - an increase of 8.8% from $9.6 million in
2012. Why do I say corporate welfare? Simple, the increase is attributed primarily to a surging stock market, which
is almost entirely funded by the Fed printing money (yeah, I know, it's not actually printed)
and passing it into the coffers of bankers, investors, and businesses either directly via stimulus programs, quantitative
easing, and bailouts, or via social programs, government contracts, hiring incentives for OTWM workers, and a multitude of other
manipulations. Our country's top CEO bad-mouths 'the rich' while continually pandering to demands for the status quo.
Martha's Vineyard and Oahu vacation homes aren't owned and rented out by cops and firemen. Meanwhile, you and I have
our insurance rates multiplied, the cost of food and everyday supplies increase with every trip to the store, and
our freedoms and privacy diminish daily. Do I begrudge anyone receiving a super-high salary? Not at all; I never have.
What I resent is a government that pretends to be looking out for 'the little guy' while simultaneously stabbing us
in the back. Only two classes of people are benefitting these days: those who are already rich and those who
vote for a living and receive handouts. We who work for a living are supporting the other two classes.
Among the companies included, the average CEO pay was 257x that of the average employee, up from a mere 181x in
2009.
Who ranked highest in the CEO pay in 2013? Anthony Petrello, at $68.3 million, of oilfield-services company Nabors
Industries. "That figures," you might say, but then consider that Les Moonves of CBS broadcasting came in at a close
second with $65.6 million. CBS (and other news organizations) has top employees
married to top officials in government, so don't think the 'old boy's club' and payola only occurs in the eeeeeevil
oil business. There is also quite a bit of dough being paid to deans of universities, heads of charities, 'green'
industry titans, and foreign governments (including ones on our official terrorist-supporter list). If you feel a
sharp, twisting pain in your back, there is a good reason for it.
Here is an interesting finding in the study: female CEOs had a median pay package worth more than their male counterparts,
$11.7 million versus $10.5 million for males. That is due in part to many of the women inheriting the position after
their husbands or fathers died.
I'm just reporting the very verifiable facts.
Posted , 2014
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