Corporate Pirates

It's dumbfounded when you review the credit crisis in the US. AIG is in the brink of collapse, yet they have spent almost 1/2 million bucks to send their lackeys for away day, USD20 Gs for spa , USD7,000 for golf and USD150,000 on just food. At the same time, they are crying out for help to get a piece of the USD700B stimulus that was approved by Congress earlier.

On the other hand, corporate titans cringe at the idea of paying too much bonuses to their hardworking staff when their revenues sky rocket in "historic proportions" (to plagiarize Obama's description of the ailing economy). Corporate bosses spend in excess of USD20-50k per trip on their private jets on the basis of time optimization, convenience, security and efficiency (in other words, they don't like to wait in line or wait for the plane to take off). Not to mention their ridiculous pay, stock options and golden hand shakes (see my earlier notes). Don't misconstrue me. I think CEOs and Senior Management should be paid handsomely proportionately to performance, same with their working staff. However, when times are bad, it should also be proportionate. We all work for money, there's no denying that (with the exception of Buffett & Tiger Woods alike). This is when staff morale plummets seeing their big bosses perusing the latest yacht catalog while you see your colleagues being thrown out.

Obama is likely to stir the pot. He has refused lobby money profusely. He is therefore not bounded by pressure from the lobby groups. That is encouraging. The fate of the US economy will affect us and the longer it is hurting, the worse it gets for our exports & services, hence money into the country.

Meanwhile, Main Street is not happy at all. People are flabbergasted to see all their hard-earned money taxed by the Government and given back to the same people and corporations who kicked them out of their homes and took away their jobs.