Photo from: www.whitehouse.gov
Today President Barack Obama vowed to take “the air out of golden parachutes” with new rules governing financial compensation for top executives at companies taking federal bailout money. The President said: “As part of the reforms we’re announcing today, top executives at firms receiving extraordinary help from U.S. taxpayers will have their compensation capped at $500,000 — a fraction of the salaries that have been reported recently. And if these executives receive any additional compensation, it will come in the form of stock that can’t be paid up until taxpayers are paid back for their assistance.”
Recent reports claim executives on Wall Street got year-end bonuses of $18 billion, despite the financial meltdown and billions from the U.S. government paid to some of their companies. President Obama called this, “Shameful.”
Also, it’s a shame Bush Administration officials did not put restrictions on executive compensation into the Troubled Asset Relief Program, before they handed over billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to these ungrateful financial institutions. The full text of President Obama’s statement about the new rules is on the White House blog.
