My comments to President Obama on corporate bonuses 2/22/09

COPORATE SALARIES AND BONUSES

Many of your supporters feel strongly that the solution to the economic crisis will require stringent control of corporate salaries, bonuses, and perks in companies that benefit from bailouts. A lot of the nation's money has come to be invested in such outlays, and, as in the earlier Crash and Great Depression, they, plus a climate of general corporate irresponsibility and loose regulation, have been a big factor in precipitating the crisis. The fact that tax-payer money is the source of all bailouts means that the government has a responsibility to us to make sure that all possible corporate sources of money for reimbursing the treasury for the bailout are collected. Many of us are facing huge increases in our taxes and fees at the same time as our incomes are shrinking fast. Where is that tax-payer money going to come from? The very rich, who have hugely increased their proportion of the national wealth in recent years must beging to pay their fair share. Many of us are now in serious debt, so aside from simply paying our bills and surviving, we need to reduce our indebtedness. Furthermore, you seem to hope that we will consume more, so that companies that sell things get customers. Just how to you expect us to do that. Most of us must drastically cut back our spending and will have to do so for years to come to get out of hock.