Finally someone is going to lay done some reality rules for the firms that take OUR tax money bailout. The administration’s proposed cap on executive compensation is a good start, but also needs to address things like the infamous Merrill-Lynch executive suite remodeling and other extreme perks of the Marie Antoinette class of executive royalty that has driven many of our largest firms into ruin.

Despite what Rush Limbaugh and other entertainers will say, this is NOT undermining free enterprise. This IS the price of coming to the taxpayers with your hand out. Free enterprise means free to succeed and free to fail no matter how large or small.

The enormous salaries, bonuses and stock options are supposedly ensuring that firms can compete for the very best executive talent.  When we look at what these highly-compensated super executives have done to many Wall Street and automotive companies, it is hard to imagine how someone could have done worse. For some time now a variety of business/financial writers have been decrying the bloated compensation for top executives, regardless of their performance, but for the most part the stockholders of these firms were powerless to change it.

At least now the taxpayers won’t have to keep rewarding failed performance in this area and there is a chance that the stockholders may once again have some say.

“If you take the King’s shilling you must do the King’s bidding.”