This is more of a case of the rich and powerful washing eachother's hands. One example that comes to mind is the CEO of Exxon-Mobil who retired a couple of months ago. During his 13 years as CEO, he was paid $686 million, an average of over $140k per day.

Apparently that was not enough, so when he decided to retire, the board gave him a $356 million retirement package. This retirement package was not part of any "deal" or contract they had with him. This was simply a $356 gift. Think about that the next time you are filling up your tank at the pump at an Exxon or Mobil station. That is where your money is going. Also, I don't see how the stockholders could be very happy about that.

The trouble is, many CEOs are on the compensation committees of each others boards. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Still think they make more than what they're worth. AND then they get a 'compensation' package on top of that. Since when is a salary not enough to do your job? (not talking about health bennys here) If you're going to 'compensate' the CEO, then you better compensate all the other workers at the same percentage because the CEO did not do it all by himself.