Ah yes, another nostalgic "redistribution of wealth" vs. "Trickle-down economics" showdown. Seems to me that both systems are doomed to failure when taken to their utmost extreme.
Trickle-down?? In 1989, for instance, U.S. CEOs of large companies earned
71 times more than the average worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. By last year (2007), that gap ratio was at
270x. And that 270-fold gap doesn't even include the value of the many free perks CEOs receive, which averaged $450,000, nor does it include CEO pension benefits. So I guess "trickle-down" sounds good in theory, except that someone forgot to tell the friggin' CEOs to keep up with the trickling-down. Although, occasionally a small drop of piss still lands on some blue-collar worker's head, as evidenced here
:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news..._trickles_down
On the other (scarier) side, this economic slump is the perfect fodder for our resident Socialist-Marxists to call for an end to profit margins, private enterprise, and basically stifle any semblance of incentive and reward.
I say: let's do the right thing....and take the Exxon Mobil executive biatches down a notch....close corporate loopholes.... and institute true pay-for-performance metrics for CEOs and CFOs. These executives are very keen on such metrics for their underlings, but somehow still draw handsome rewards and obscene bonuses even as their own "ships" are nose-diving like the Titanic.
It's also obscene that we are the ONLY western industrialized nation on the planet, that drowns critically ill people in non-stop bills, denial-of-coverage letters from insurance carriers, and collection agency threats....instead of allowing these citizens to concentrate on getting better. It's astonishing, that even the folks who ARE insured have to go through this mess of paperwork and denial-of-coverage every time they or a family member go though a serious health problem. No other democracy on Earth allows its' sick citizens to be put through the financial wringer like this. Insurance and HMO companies should all be investigated, and their executives prosecuted for fraud, corruption, wrongful death, and negligence. This health-care mess is bankrupting millions of American families every year. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
11-07-2008, 01:36 PM
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