Progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall and United Steelworkers (USW) International Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson discuss the excessive salaries paid to the heads of corporations, many who are rewarded for failed performance and offered golden parachutes.
"We as average citizens and average workers are dealing with a system where we're arguing about the solvency of Social Security and Medicare," said Johnson. "And then allow CEOs to continue these absurd salaries. I mean, how screwed up can a system be when we're arguing about the validity of social safety nets that are vital to this country and vital to the citizens in it and we're sitting back and allowing politicians to sit back and do nothing about what is going on with CEO pay?
They talked about CEOs and heads of firms whose companies have been bailed out by the government and are allowed to profit from the system.
"These are the same people Leslie, that created the largest economic downturn, recession, almost depression, certainly that this country has seen since the Great Depression," said Johnson, "and somehow, we have a system in place that is allowing government money to come in and bail these companies out."
Click the audio to hear the their discussion
Nearly 40 percent of the CEOs who appeared on lists ranking America’s 25 highest-paid corporate leaders between 1993 and 2012 have led companies bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, been fired for poor performance or led companies charged with fraud-related activities. This comes from a recent study by the Institute for Policy Studies: “Bailed Out. Booted. Busted.”
Additional articles on the subject:
Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs: Report
Many highly paid CEOs end up as failures, report says
High CEO pay doesn’t mean high performance, report says
SEC Is Set to Propose New Rule on CEO Pay
Here’s an overarching statistic: Since 1978, CEO compensation has increased 876%. Workers: 15%.