The ban on bonuses passes
Posted by Ray on July 31, 2009 under Main, Politics | 
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The bill is targeting bonuses of top executives of banks, but could have wide implications. I agree that the bill is a nice gesture to pacify the populist outrage of Americans who funded the recovery of such institutions as Goldman Sachs, which we still fund through the FDIC guarantee program and the fed discount window, but this bill could impact hedge funds as well.
Government is meant to put some restrictions on bad behavior and to watch out for the people, but they have failed, repeatedly and miserably. Mostly because these people looking out for the people are taking campaign money from the people who are out to bilk us and consistently pass laws to help them or strip away legislation that kept their risk under wraps, Glass-Steagall.
Now they want to pass this new bill that will restrict bonuses for top executives in the banks, which will never get past the Senate and Obama will definitely veto it, he received $23 million from financial services firms during the elections. While you may be for such restrictions you have to remember that this is a slippery slope and could have unintended consequences to be determined in the future. Additionally, how much government do you really want in business?
The only good thing about the bill is the shareholder vote on pay, but the shareholder vote is merely ceremonial and can be rejected by the company. Shareholders are the only ones that should have a voice on compensation, with the exception of firms who take government funds to survive. However, Congress took the only thing good about the bill and made it nonbinding, which is where the populist outrage should be directed towards.
Lastly, the populist outrage should be directed towards Congress as they sat by and let these banks get away with murder over the last decade. Most of the people responsible for this mess have consistently been reelected for decades, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, etc. and since the people reelect these clowns they only need to be mad at themselves.
We need term limits simply because the longer one stays in government the more corrupt they become. This is not a government by the people and for the people, but rather for who can raise the most money for their campaign or, simply, who gave me the most money and what do they want. We went from a country that treated its citizens extremely well to a country that has taken away its basic freedoms, see the P.A.T.R.I.O.T., Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, Act. We voted for change, but all we got was more of the same with way more government than we ever expected.
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