Obama: Excessive Pay Offends our Values

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Economy

(AP)

With the Treasury Department poised to formally announce limits on compensation for executives at bailed-out Wall Street firms, President Obama said on Thursday that massive pay packages for executives at bailed-out firms offend American values.

"It does offend our values when executives of big financial firms that are struggling pay themselves huge bonuses even as they rely on extraordinary assistance to stay afloat," the president said.

Mr. Obama lauded Treasury's decision to limit compensation for executives from firms that have not yet repaid the government. He said Kenneth Feinberg, the special master at Treasury tasked with handling executive pay, "was faced with the difficult task of striking the proper balance between standing up for taxpayers and returning a measure of stability to our financial system."

"Under these competing interests, I believe he's taken an important step forward today in curbing the influence of executive compensation on Wall Street while still allowing these companies to succeed and prosper," said Mr. Obama. "But more work needs to be done."

The president made the comments at the start of a signing ceremony for a veterans health care funding reform bill at the White House.

At a briefing before the president made his comments, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the White House did not have any involvement in Feinberg's decision. Mr. Obama stressed Thursday that Feinberg had made "an independent judgment."

"You know, I've always believed that our system of free enterprise works best when it rewards hard work," said the president. "This is America. We don't disparage wealth, we don't begrudge anybody for doing well, we believe in success."

Yet the pay packages for executives at bailed-out firms violated Americans' standards of right and wrong, he suggested.

The president also urged the Senate to pass legislation giving shareholders a say in executive pay packages and called on Congress to "move forward on financial reform legislation "that will help prevent the crisis we saw last fall from happening again."

Bailed Out Firms Must Slash Pay By Nov.
Fed Proposal Would Watch Banks' Pay
TARP Watchdog: Execs Can't "Party on Like It's 2007"

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
Follow on Twitter »

13 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment See all 13 Comments


by stuart-johns2 October 23, 2009 6:07 AM EDT: by endurorob_5 October 22, 2009 4:40 PM EDT
Obamas socialist ideals offend our values.
---------

So by your logic (if you call it that), shareholders (taxpayers) are socialistic when they want to control all aspects of the companies they own?

The next time my boss tells me something I am going to call him a socialist. I wonder how that'll go over.; Reply to this comment

by stuart-johns2 October 23, 2009 6:03 AM EDT

by endurorob_5 October 22, 2009 4:40 PM EDT
Obamas socialist ideals offend our values.
---------------

But corporate communism is okay with you right?

Reply to this comment


by sjc_1 October 23, 2009 9:35 AM EDT: It is more corporate fascism, corporations are dictatorships.

by 7deane October 23, 2009 1:50 AM EDT

Government HAS NO RIGHT to decide what CEO's get paid, even if they took loans. How many Americans have a government loan? It is in the best interest of this country to let the market decide who gets paid what. I see no one objects to celebrities' pay. This is a slippery slope. As for 'stupid business decision' what 'smart' business decisions has Obama ever made? Has he ever met a payroll? Increased a companies' profits? It would be laughable if it weren't so frightening that a man who has never had a real job is now deciding how much is too much, all the while flying to Paris to shop and having weekly parties in the White House while our soldiers await his imperial word as to their futures.

Reply to this comment


by stuart-johns2 October 23, 2009 6:01 AM EDT: New nic, Rowdy??

by stuart-johns2 October 22, 2009 10:25 PM EDT

Obama: Excessive Pay Offends our Values
--------------------

Hey Mr. President. Excessive pay would'nt offend my values at all. It would increase them.

Reply to this comment


by dblbar1 October 23, 2009 8:52 AM EDT: not sure.........pay me excessively so I can think about it......


by jsd330 October 22, 2009 9:22 PM EDT: Simple solution, until the loans are paid back the CEO can't be paid anymore then the POTUS, and no bonuses.; Reply to this comment

by Pfantis October 22, 2009 4:42 PM EDT

How about excessive pay for
Sean Penn?
Ben Afleck?
Barbara Streisand?
George Steponapolis?
George Soros?
Alex Baldwin?
Michael Moore?

Reply to this comment


by amacd2-2009 October 24, 2009 12:30 PM EDT: The only solution to excessive pay is a progressive tax rate structure --- as we had under Republican President, Eisenhower.

Top marginal rate at 93% -- and there is no need to control anyones pay.

Possibly, because Hedge Fund ****** and Private Equity Pirates did not exist (and steal billions) during the 1950's, the marginal tax rate on income above several million needs to be revised today to something closer to 95% at 20M -- and up to 99% at 1B -- but this is only an necessary adjustment to Eisenhower's rate.

All typical attempts (by the ruling-elite) to 'game' the system, to loot via the well-known market flaw of 'negative externality cost dumping' (whether with traditional pollution, or with the new ethereal pollution of 'debt bombs') can also be fully addressed with a simple tax code which actually charges offenders with the externality costs that they are trying to dump on society.

Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine

by endurorob_5 October 22, 2009 4:40 PM EDT

Obamas socialist ideals offend our values.

Reply to this comment


by the74blaster October 22, 2009 7:46 PM EDT: Socialism? All we want is fair compensation. There is NO executive that is worth more than $ 500,000 per year.

You conservatives really crack me up. Paying a CEO $ 20,000,000 per year is a stupid business decison! If GM would hve fired their top executive at 20 million per year, they could use that money to pay the salaries of 200 engineers and scientists. You know the peope who invent things and take over the automotive markets in three to five years. Instead GM made a stupid business and retained the executives.

Obama should come up with a progressive income tax and hit these overpaid people with 90% tax on all income over $ 500,000 per year.

That would balance the feeral budget rather quickly.


by beebeedee October 22, 2009 7:46 PM EDT: sassafrass019, do you know anything about the responsibilities of government as outlined in the Constitution? Here's a hint - infrastructure and defense, which accounts for the items on your list. My taxes are SUPPOSED to go for those sorts of services. My tax money is not supposed to be used to bail out or buy failing businesses, nor are my government officials supposed to be able to tell private industry how much it can pay employees (or force those employees to give the money back).