Business as Usual

So it was about 1 week ago today that Frederick "Fritz" Henderson resigned his position as CEO of General Motors. Henderson replaced Rick Wagoner on March 31st of this year, at the request of President Barack Obama as part of GM's federal bailout and restructuring plan. This means that he was CEO for a total of 9 months, the same amount of time it takes for a woman to create a child. But did Henderson give this company a rebirth, or continue it down its path to doom?
In the original agreement with the GM, CEO Rick Wagoner agreed to accept a salary of $1/year while the company received federal bailout money (from TARP funds.) With Wagoner's departure so went that agreement, as Henderson refused to hold up the bargain in his place, instead receiving a total compensation valued at roughly $5.5 million for his 9 months as CEO. This means that he was paid $14/minute every minute for 9 months. Sleeping, eating, maybe working? $14/minute. Of course that is a completely unorthodox way of looking at it. So let's say for this period he was working 40 hours/week. This means that for the 9 months he was CEO he made nearly $4000/hour. This man made more in 1 hour that the average American household makes in a month.
What did Henderson do to elicit such high pay? Well, first his company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June, just 2 months after he took over. Then, in the period post bankruptcy between July 10th and September 30th, he led his company to post a $1.2 Billion loss, while other automakers such as Ford and Toyota reported profits.
So if business is an incentive based entity, rewarding hard work and results with compensation, it should follow that the CEO of Toyota pull in a hefty compensation package this year as well right? I mean, they didn't accept any bailout money, they were profitable (at least for one quarter), they have a market cap over 6 times GM and Ford; but alas, it was announced on June 25th that Akio Toyoda (yes the name looks like Toyota, because his grandfather created Toyota,) is taking a voluntary 30% cut in compensation (which was already rumored to be <$1 million US dollars.) This is a prime example of the disease that plagues America, the reason why our economy is in shambles- greed. Pay for top executives has swollen in our generation to approximately 300 times the average worker salary. Historically, this number was closer to 30. The avaricious behavior of collecting maximum compensation while the company providing it deteriorates is demonstrative of the proclivity of these suits in general. They don't care the cost- whether it be to the environment, the consumer of their product, future generations, hell even the hand that feeds them- they want their money and they want it now. This sort of tunnel vision is selfish, destructive, and is unfortunately what our businesses deem acceptable. Gross.

photo courtesy of http://showitortowit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/rustygmlogo.jpg

Birthers Gone Wild

I find it rather amusing that in today's technologically advanced world- where identification is made using biometrics (such as retina scanning,) Federal government-issued passports and social security numbers, and even state-issued Driver's licenses- there are still groups calling for the antiquated and obsolete verification of a paper birth certificate. Americans have recently witnessed an all-out uprising in the "Birther movement"- a group of simple minded individuals bent on the notion that President Barack Obama is not in fact a natural born citizen of the United States. Of course there is one minor detail this imbecilic group overlooks; the absolute ease at which anyone can secure a forged document, let alone the most powerful man in the world. I could have purchased a fake ID in high school for $125; and they were good. You think that even if by some strange turn of events that there was actually a sliver of truth value to these accusations, that Obama couldn't just obtain a fake? At least DL's have lamination, holographic photos of the state flag and such. With birth certificates we're talking about a piece of paper with a signature. Mine actually has a different name on it, crossed out when my parents changed their minds! Might as well ask for his social security card. Jeez.
What I find even more amusing though, practically hysterical, are the recent statements made by my perennial favorite for nitwit of the Millennium- Sarah Palin. Mrs. Palin claims on her facebook (my how I love that she has to speak to the world through facebook- is the media that exhausted with her?) that these sorts of questions are fair game given her history of being badgered over "her" mentally retarded child "Trig," and that she would make it an issue if she were to run for president.
So I have come up with a challenge of my own for Mrs. Palin; President Obama has now on numerous occasions provided the requested documentation to the nay-saying birther group. I now ask this of you- I don't want a birth certificate, or a driver's license, or doctor's bills or any of that easily forged, written documentation- I want a photo. Yes, I want a photograph of you, between March and April 2008, pregnant. You can't tell me that the governor of Alaska went the final 2 months of her "pregnancy" without having a single photo taken. Of course pictures can be and often are photoshopped, but professionals easily spot modificaitons, and making a woman look 9 months pregnant isn't exactly mild alteration.
Feel free to attach them in the comment section below.
Thx.

photo courtesy of http://uspoliticsguide.com/images/birth_certificate_2.jpg