'Could bailout's pay caps launch Wall Street trend?'

They b****y well BETTER:

*New York - Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs, MADE $73.7 MILLION LAST YEAR. (outraged emphasis mine) James "Jamie" Dimon, chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase, had to make do with $57.2 million, reported Forbes magazine.

"But if either company takes part in the federal government's $700 billion rescue plan for financial firms, Mr. Blankfein and Mr. Diamon may have to be content with $500,000 a year, or their company will have to pay higher taxes.

"While it's not likely this will cause either man to skimp on meals, the proposed mandate shows the depth of animosity toward highly paid executives on Wall Street.

"Some compensation consultants wonder, in fact, if the clampdown may be the leading edge of a shift away from the enormous pay packages of the past decade."

(Gee. Ya think?)

Okay. Here's something that will absolutely blow your mind.

I just started clicking on various CEOs' salaries at random. No one earns under a mil. Many are 20 mil and better. And look at the size of the list.

That should give you some perspective on the fabulous salaries the above-mentioned bankers make. AND on just where all the money is going in these companies. Believe me -- the CEO is not the only one making loads more money than they're worth. Underneath each of them is a tier of executives getting BONUSES every year of a mil, or, depending on totem-pole status, at least six figures.

So, let's just get this straight: this is a LOT of money we're talking about. In just one company, a good deal of this money could have been used to shore up the company against the very crisis they're dealing with now. But no -- in the hyper-competitive business world, you have to pay dearly for the "talent." You have to pay MORE than Multi-Headed Hydra Inc. if you want Mr. Hotshot CEO. Meanwhile, the "assets" (read: Joe Grunt, who actually makes the company do its thing) are either taken for granted or totally ignored; risk is laughed off; tens of billions of dollars go toward multiple homes, Cuban cigars, whatever.

Kind of like Nero fiddling while Rome burns, thinks me.

And the whole irony is, better than half the time, these CEOs last about a nanosecond in service to the companies that hire them. And here comes the now becoming infamous "golden parachute" severance packages. A cunning CEO can cash in on multiple parachutes in the short space of five years -- and every day, they are doing so all the time.

THIS is what has been going on behind the scenes, and has directly contributed, along with other stupid practices, to the precipice we all stand at the edge of.

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Now. I'm conservative to the core. I do NOT approve of too many regulations on the free market, because Communists have proven time and time again how fatal it is to a healthy economy.

HOWEVER.

In order for a free market to function effectively, it is CRUCIAL that those in charge of a business act PRUDENTLY. In ALL areas of their job. This means that they have a REALISTIC picture of their own worth, based on what they ACTUALLY DO for the company -- and, if need be, curtail their own salaries and those of their underlings to help the TOTAL COMPANY EFFORT.

This kind of common sense used to be the rule of thumb. CEOs used to be held strictly accountable to their boards of directors and their shareholders, and to be fired was a huge disgrace (as well it should be).

Nowadays, it's just one big wife-swapping operation. Immoral? Sure. Destined to lead to catastrophe? We're seeing it now.

It used to be that most executives of companies went to church. You knew they didn't give one single care to Jesus' urging us to help those less fortunate -- they'd donate to "charities" (big mondo fancy ball; the crumbs left over go to "the poor;" nice writeoff on taxes) and assuage any appearance of guilt.

But still, they knew there were being held to a standard. Not no mo'.

Would real religious conviction help here? Undoubtedly. But in a time in human history when we are all questioning the nature of our beliefs, moral standards are being re-evaluated. These greedy you-know-whats are taking full advantage of the vacuum.

And sending the rest of us down the river in consequence.