Time to face the truth

[one-eyed-fatman]

So how about the poor people who do pay taxes? You know, the ones who work for Mcdonkeys, Walmart etc. No praise for them, uh. They work for a living. They pay taxes. But yet I have heard praise for CEO types who make much more than they are worth (way more). The American way of thinking is getting really weird. Think I'll call it the pig syndrome. All for me and nothing for you. Just totally strange the way people think these days. The government can rip us off for billions and it's the poor peoples fault.

[einheit 13]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

So how about the poor people who do pay taxes? You know, the ones who work for Mcdonkeys, Walmart etc. No praise for them, uh. They work for a living. They pay taxes. But yet I have heard praise for CEO types who make much more than they are worth (way more). The American way of thinking is getting really weird. Think I'll call it the pig syndrome. All for me and nothing for you. Just totally strange the way people think these days. The government can rip us off for billions and it's the poor peoples fault.

Took ya this long to figure that out?? I think its time for a pig hunt....

[mgeoffriau]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

But yet I have heard praise for CEO types who make much more than they are worth (way more).

Tell me this: if these CEO's are so easily replaceable, then why don't the boards of these public companies just fire them and hire someone else for less money? What one man can do, so can another, right? Why would the board members willingly pay "way more" money to a CEO if someone else could do the job just as well?

You are worth what someone will pay you. The average Wal-Mart worker does not have the requisite skills to run a large company.

[einheit 13]

Originally Posted by mgeoffriau

You are worth what someone will pay you. The average Wal-Mart worker does not have the requisite skills to run a large company.

Niether do most CEOs, hence the board members.....if he was that good he wouldn't need help.

[mgeoffriau]

Originally Posted by einheit 13

Niether do most CEOs, hence the board members.....if he was that good he wouldn't need help.

Are you serious?

[einheit 13]

Originally Posted by mgeoffriau

Are you serious?

Are you??

[mgeoffriau]

Yes.

Actually, I was just wondering whether your comment was tongue-in-cheek, or you really believe that boards only exist because CEO's aren't good enough.

A company's board represents the interests of the stockholders (being stockholders themselves). This creates a balance of power that discourages CEO's from cheating. It's an issue of oversight.

What's interesting to me in these debates is that I think those on the left side of the political spectrum often misunderstand the right-wing mentality.

My ideology is not that my guys are right, and your guys are wrong, therefore my guys should be in power. It's that because of the crooked nature of man, nobody should be trusted with more power than is absolutely necessary. Which is why, for example, I was relieved to see the Patriot Act pass from the books without renewal. I felt it was too much power for our government.

[Delija]

Originally Posted by einheit 13

Niether do most CEOs, hence the board members.....if he was that good he wouldn't need help.

Einheit, I am always very impressed with your posts. I even agree with the majority of them. (Not all, that would be anathema to me).

You have made many of the most thoughtful and intelligent and well informed contributions to this board IMO. But this one time you appear to be in error. Unless I am just misunderstanding your wording, which is certainly possible...if that's the case, then I'll let the following stand as an explanation to those who don't understand the relationship of a board of directors to a corporation. (And their CEOs).

Board members don't "help" CEOs. At least not in the sense I inferred your meaning to be from what you wrote. Board members oversee things as advocates of the shareholders. It is a legal requirement for any publicly owned corporation (in America) to have a board of directors.

The members of the corporate boards are elected by the shareholders. The directors are not management nor are they even employees (a misconception held by many). They do receive compensation generally, but not necessarily... which is often in the form of stock, the amount of which is also voted to them by the shareholders. The shareholders can vote to pay them in cash if they see a reason to. Stock and/or stock options are almost always a good incentive not only for board members, but for management and labor (meaning employees in this sense of the word "labor") as well, since keeping the value of a company's common stock (equity shares) is always a good incentive to work hard and smart.

So even though board members aren't employees in the normal sense of the word, they still perform functions (work) that can and should benefit the bottom line. And that bodes well for the owners of any company (who are the common stock shareholders in the case of public corporations).

It can be confusing since a board member can own stock, which makes him or her an owner of the company, and they can get paid to perform their duties as board members, yet technically they are not employed. I guess a simple way of looking at it would be they are non-working owners (partners) who don't earn any salary, but get paid as consultants to the very companies they own (in part).

I guess it's supposed to be confusing. After all, the accountants and auditors and IRS have to have something to keep them all busy. And of course the lawyers make themselves necessary to keep it all sorted out. Shakespeare was right. The only logical place to start is by killing all the lawyers.

EDIT: Damn, mgeoffriau said the same while I was typing. Oh well, at least he's wrong about everything else. j/k


Lapé (Haiti-Creole),
D.

[Mike TRT]

Originally Posted by mgeoffriau

I was relieved to see the Patriot Act pass from the books without renewal. I felt it was too much power for our government.

The Patriot Act is (was) a phenomenal Act that should be tweaked a bit and implemented ASAP.

we used it today as a matter of fact so its not completly removed

[Delija]

Originally Posted by Mike TRT

The Patriot Act is (was) a phenomenal Act

Oh boy!

Good night.


Vakaçegu (Fiji),
D.