It's time for the SEC to expose CEO pay!
By Thom Hartmann A...
The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 requires corporations to disclose their CEO-to-median worker pay ratio, but that information is still being hidden from workers, shareholders, and the American public.
That's why the AFL-CIO, MoveOn.org, CREDO Action, and other groups delivered a massive petition to the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
That petition included more than 165,000 signatures of individuals who want the SEC to implement that disclosure policy, which was approved under the financial reform law five years ago.
Decades ago, CEOs made thirty or forty times what they paid their average worker, but today, that ratio often exceeds 300 to one. And, CEOs don't want us to know how high those ratios are because they know how we would react.
In a press release about their petition, Justin Krebs of MoveON.org said, “Americans have made it very clear – they want an economy that works for all workers and not just for CEOS. They was a level playing field. The grassroots movement to demand a new and transparent economic fairness has been growing all year and now over 165,000 Americans have joined in calling on the SEC to act.”
Well said, Justin. Now it's time for the SEC to take this step towards economic justice.
Comments
#2
And this is why I would rather see a Maximum Wage Gap law, instead of an increase in the minimum wage.
#3
stecoop01 -- Wouldn't you rather want the limit to be a max ratio, instead of, a max gap?
#4
We need to know what the ratio is. Obviously if they want to hide it there is something wrong.
#5
Here we go again. Just another way to harass the filthy rich. Now they have to figure out what part of their wealth is "PAY" and what part they can leave out. Reminds me of that guy Lee Iacocca who stepped in and saved Chrysler. I think he took one dollar for his salary to set an example. Way to go Lee! Wonder what he really walked away with.
#6
Good luck getting these CEOs to fess up anything. They don't even want their workers to find out what each other makes. Nevertheless, the IRS is sitting on top of all these figures. The SEC doesn't need the cooperation of private industry or CEOs to know what that ratio is - they already have all the tools to calculate it themselves. Also, with Dodd-Frank they don't even need their approval or permission to make that information public.
#7
Willie W; You should read his book 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?" that he published about ten years ago, it's a long way from a tribute to his business expertise. More a collection of business experiences and personal tragedies that prompted him to warn Americans about where their country was headed under the current leadership on both sides of the isle !
#8
Huge petition???? less than 200k? Bill O'reily got over 600,000 for Anti Santcuary Cities.
This shows nothing except the BS and class division being espoused by progressives who who want Utopian Society of SAMES. Human Beings are animals. We need to succeed and we have values. Take those values away and mandate them, we become a society of boring, do nothings and so called intelectual watch dog nanny state. end of human beings and welcome the new world order of global government and human control.
We are at the cusp of the end of life on this planet. Buy on credit now!!! You will never have to pay it back. Just like the Fed Reserve. They print money because they know it wont matter in 20 years. There will be nothing left alive on earth.
#9
You mean we could be pulled up by CEO bootstraps? The higher their pay, the more they have to pay their workers? Fantastic idea.
#10
Back on Thom's old website, when windfall profits were the topic, I managed to come up with some sort of formula to tax corporations according to the pay ratio of executives and laborers. I got pretty complicated so I can't remember it, but it is possible to structure taxes to discourage such unbelievable ratios.
#11
mathboy, among others -- We do not need any new laws or ideas, like controlling the ratio between CEO and median pay. The New Deal and Great Society had all the laws we need. We do need to bring back all the laws that the repugs have repealed. Even without those we could enforce the laws we have on the books. For example, quit granting waivers for the Buy America Act of 1936. I think we do not realize how powerful these laws are.
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Wow, fairness... what a radical concept, and how un-American!