"It was a mistake. I screwed up."

(Obama on Daschle's nomination.)

how refreshing!

Original Post by hkellick:

Original Post by jenniferthepennifer:I'm sure they do work hard... but not 1200 times harder!

That, I think, is my feelings.

I've met the "CEO" of our company. Ours is a small company and many of us know each other. I know what his job is and it ISN'T just sitting around making decisions and not worrying about them. Scott, the "CEO", works really hard to help our company succeed.

Based on the amount of work that I know Scott does, I do agree he deserves more money than I do. But 1,200 times my worth? I.. don't know about that. He works hard, harder than me, day and night, and often weekends. But.. not that much more than me.

I worked for a very small company and I worked my arse off and the owner hardly ever came into the office and when she did she would just sit at her desk and read her catalogs.  The only time she worked after hours or on weekends was when the guy who did her accounting came into town.  I got tired of working hard making her money.  Sure I got paid a fair salary, but personally if she worked 1/2 as hard as I did we both could have maybe been making more. 

From what I heard on news radio the execs who get gov't money can get "bonuses" but only as stock incentives and can only cash these in after the company has paid back the gov't with interest.  One guy made a point that this could get high qualified persons if they think they can turn a company around in 5 years get these stock bonuses pay back the gov't and still come out ahead in 5 years with a nice bonus.  I guess its our society "instant gratification" frame of mind that would make some execs not want to do this.

I have to agree with everyone else who is against CEOs earning incredibly unrealistic wages/salaries. I am only a lowly accounting college student, I have no plans for world/corporate dominance , and think it's all bogus. My professor was telling us in class Tuesday that some exec at Goldman-Sachs was earning $400,000 every two days. 2 DAYS! What?? How on earth is that a justifiable salary, how do you spend that much $, and HOW do you sleep at night? Just hearing that made me sick to my stomach, thinking of all the needy people in the world... and 1 man makes over $50 million a year, I'm guessing. For God' sake, the president of the US only makes about $400,000/year! How many millions of Americans are there these days...? He is holding our safety in his hands. Now THAT is a lot of responsibility, wouldn't you say?

I see a couple really good ideas here. Yes, write your congressmen/women and encourage them to make the pay cap retroactive. As of now, nobody is directly affected by it.

Limit top salaries to that of the countrie's top executive? That's an idea I think  a lot of people could wrap their minds around.

Obama screwed up? Not so much, he picked the most qualified candidate who would've been easily confirmed had he not bowed out. But I agree with those who say the conflict of interest with health care corporations was a bigger issue than the taxes. Not that it would've prevented his nomination either.

Seems like most of his Republican picks slide through without difficulty.

And, what I think is an example of politics not as usual. They replaced Gregg with another republican as promised, even though a democratic pick would've almost garanteed a supermajority in the Senate.

Original Post by kathygator:

Yes. I was also gratified to see that not only did he admit the mistake, but he told everybody he could think of. All the anchors of the major news outlets got interviews.

Pres. Obama is going to make the term 'limited media access' obsolete.

It must be pretty damn hard to find good help in Washington.

 Yeah, might have to go as far as Alaska. Wait a minute! That's already been tried.

Original Post by kathygator:

It's kind of too bad, all things considered. Daschle would probably have done a good job, I think. The re-invention of American healthcare will take a lot of co-operation from Big Insurance & Big Drugs.

 Couldn't stop myself from responding to this one either.

Big Insurance and Big Drugs are the real enemy in his battle.

And one more thing...

Myths we are led to believe;

1. Harder work = more pay.

2. More education  = more pay.

3. More responsibility = more pay -might be some truth to this one, but...

Executive positions are not jobs as much as they are rewards for somehow rising above the level of those who actually have to produce something to justify their positions.

Original Post by jeffmidguard:

And one more thing...

Myths we are led to believe;

.

2. More education  = more pay.

Had to comment on this line-- I read a book years ago when I was unschooling my kids - can't remember the name of the book but it talked about "Education inflation" Basically it comes down to in my "day" you could get out of high school and go to work start in the mailroom or whatever and work your way up - and this is what I had done.  Now every big and small company want "college" degrees and not just AS but BS MS or PHD's -- Do you know what those initials really mean --

BS - Bull Sh@@  --MS  = more of the same and PHD  Piled Higher and Deeper

I can see where some jobs need a higher education, but what happened to the good old days of learning on the job.  I also believe most of what is taught in books is not applicable to "real life".

I still say the gov't should have given us the people the $$$ and let us pay off our homes, credit cards and buy insurance and then the banks and wall street would be in great shape not to mention our economy.  Can you imagine if you got just 100K from the govt and still paid taxes on that what you could do with the leftover$$  -

I don't know about anyone else but that so called rebate we supposedly got last summer for me didn't even help pay for the gas it took to go look for jobs!!!

Original Post by dbackerfan:

Original Post by jeffmidguard:

And one more thing...

Myths we are led to believe;

.

2. More education  = more pay.

I can see where some jobs need a higher education, but what happened to the good old days of learning on the job.  I also believe most of what is taught in books is not applicable to "real life".

We gave up our manufacturing job for While Collar Jobs.

And alot of the crappy jobs that don't require much formal education, like Tech Support, are usually beginner jobs for people who are hoping to take their education and put it to good use in Networking or SysAdminning, both of which need education.

Original Post by jeffmidguard:

Original Post by kathygator:

It's kind of too bad, all things considered. Daschle would probably have done a good job, I think. The re-invention of American healthcare will take a lot of co-operation from Big Insurance & Big Drugs.

 Couldn't stop myself from responding to this one either.

Big Insurance and Big Drugs are the real enemy in his battle.

 Which is why Pres. Obama needs someone that can deal with them, is uncorrupted by their money and is untarnishable in the battle.

A constellation of characteristics nearly impossible to achieve.

Maybe he should hire Warren Buffet for the job. ;)

and Harry Markopolis for the head of the new Accountability Office.

just sayin'.

Here's another one...

Zimmerman is paid a salary of $525,000. He was given a raise of $50,000 in June of 2008.

That was before the board approved his bonus, which was nearly double his salary.

Now the nom for Labor has tax issues????

Anyone get the feeling that We The People are the only ones following the rules????

from the freakonomics blog:

A. If all three of them [Geithner, Daschle, & Killefer] were intentionally cheating (and getting away with it until high-level scrutiny), then it’s much too easy to cheat on taxes.

B. If all of them made honest mistakes, then the tax code simply isn’t working.

C. If there’s some combination of cheating and mistakes, then it’s too easy to cheat and the tax code isn’t working.

Maybe the gross embarrassment over these high-profile tax failures will at least spur some tax-code sanity — like the Simple Return, promoted by Austan Goolsbee, who has Obama’s ear.

People like Daschle wouldn’t fill out the Simple Return, but it might free up the I.R.S. to catch tax cheats before the Senate confirmation hearings flush them out.

Heh. Never thought I'd be thinking 'Thank God for the Senate'.

Seems like Solis'  trouble is over her husband's business taxes and only about $6500.00. That might be something to be overlooked.

One positive from all this: President Obama and his wife must have a nearly spotless record. Else they, long-since, would  have been exposed.

article that explains that self-employed people are more likely to cheat on their taxes than people who earn wages from an employer

*nods*

wasn't it her husband's unpaid taxes that tarnished geraldine ferraro?  it was something to do with his business dealings...

Well there certainly is more temptation to. The only time you have to provide receipts is if you are audited. Self employed are more likely to be audited however.

Original Post by jeffmidguard:

And one more thing...

Myths we are led to believe;

1. Harder work = more pay.

2. More education  = more pay.

3. More responsibility = more pay -might be some truth to this one, but...

Executive positions are not jobs as much as they are rewards for somehow rising above the level of those who actually have to produce something to justify their positions.

 1) Right on!! Who needs to work hard to out-perform the competition (other people trying to get the same job / raise / promotion) ! The hard and best workers arent the ones who get ahead...its just a myth!

2) Ya! Who needs larnin? School just teaches book stuff! I already know things, gimme job so i can make moneys plz? I can be doctor! All they ever do is just stick a thing on my tongue and say eat an orange or something! And business people just play golf and tell everyone to wark harder! I can do dat! moneys now?

3) Ya! Reponsibility is stuupid! Cuz, you know, like when im working in the grocery store ...like...im doing just as much as that stuupid guy that tells everyone what to do! And if things mess up, well, that shouldnt matter who gets responsible for that! What does that have to do with moneys? Who cares whos making all the big descisions! I think its just some kinda supeeeeer computer or something anyway! We should all getta paid the same!

*high fives!* Good thing those things are myths...i guess no one else knows about it though...cuz no one is paying me big moneys yet :(

Original Post by nomoreexcuses:

article that explains that self-employed people are more likely to cheat on their taxes than people who earn wages from an employer

*nods*

wasn't it her husband's unpaid taxes that tarnished geraldine ferraro?  it was something to do with his business dealings...

 Most people cheat on their taxes :) Even experts in tax who spend all their time around / working on it can barely keep up....

I bet you have cheated on your taxes...and i bet over 90 percent of the people here have....

Heres one.

Last time you purchased something online...did you account for that when filing your tax report? You dont pay sales tax, its the responsibility of the purchaser in a lot of cases to pay the state tax on those online purchases.....but who is actually calculating / tracking those things? The CD you get or the movie tickets or whatever you might pick up online....

Original Post by loriklorik:

Original Post by nomoreexcuses:

article that explains that self-employed people are more likely to cheat on their taxes than people who earn wages from an employer

*nods*

wasn't it her husband's unpaid taxes that tarnished geraldine ferraro?  it was something to do with his business dealings...

 Most people cheat on their taxes :) Even experts in tax who spend all their time around / working on it can barely keep up....

I bet you have cheated on your taxes...and i bet over 90 percent of the people here have....

Heres one.

Last time you purchased something online...did you account for that when filing your tax report? You dont pay sales tax, its the responsibility of the purchaser in a lot of cases to pay the state tax on those online purchases.....but who is actually calculating / tracking those things? The CD you get or the movie tickets or whatever you might pick up online....

 But that can't really be found in an audit, can it?  Or can it?

I have never purposely cheated on my taxes.  Of course, I'm talking about stuff that you should keep receipts for.  For example, hubby gets some things written off for his job.  For instance, work boots, protective clothing, etc.  We save all of those receipts.  The last thing I want is to get audited and have to pay back money PLUS interest.  But, I see what you are saying, lorik.

Original Post by hkellick:

Original Post by dbackerfan:

Original Post by jeffmidguard:

And one more thing...

Myths we are led to believe;

.

2. More education  = more pay.

I can see where some jobs need a higher education, but what happened to the good old days of learning on the job.  I also believe most of what is taught in books is not applicable to "real life".

We gave up our manufacturing job for While Collar Jobs.

And alot of the crappy jobs that don't require much formal education, like Tech Support, are usually beginner jobs for people who are hoping to take their education and put it to good use in Networking or SysAdminning, both of which need education.

I don't necessarily agree -- sure some jobs require college like drs lawyers and such but somethings can be learned "on the job".  A few years back my husbands boss ( a Dean at the community college) retired- my husband was placed in the position as "interim dean" until the college could find a replacement.  My hubby did the job for 2 years - no complaints from the higher ups his program grew and all he has is an Associates degree - so in the college's mind he wasn't even able to be considered for the job cause he doesn't have that masters degree.    All his life he's been working in the field and knows what "real life" is for those in his chosen field.   Hes in Fire Science.  Also the state boards for firefighters requires things that he can't make the college understand they don't fit into that "general education box"   

I too have entirely learned my job "on the job".  I do hold a certification but the only college classes I've ever done are an EMT and my weight lifting and aerobic classes.  I got most of my job knowledge on the actual job working in the real world and knowing what is really required.  I also make more per hour than hubby.