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Frankly Vile
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has, as must be expected from his sort, championed legislation in the US House of Representatives that dramatically increases the government’s control over those firms in what used to be until recently the private sector which have received any federal financial assistance under any of the various bail-out programs of recent months.
It’s called the Pay for Performance Act of 2009 and it’s one the most vile, pernicious, draconian, and un-American pieces legislation that our nation has been unfortunate enough to experience.
Barney Frank and the Liberals in the House Financial Services Committee, angered over the dwindling – shockingly, even President Obama backed away from it – support for the confiscatory tax bill on the AIG executives who received bonuses, drafted and passed the Pay for Performance Act of 2009 which is, in many fundamental ways, even more draconian, invasive, and punitive that the original AIG bill.
From the Washington Examiner:
The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.
In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is “unreasonable” or “excessive.” And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate “the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates.”
— Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
This abomination was first introduced by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl) and supported by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CN). Formally known as the Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act of 2009, it will be voted on by Congress in this week. Given the makeup of the House, it will most likely pass – as will all such bills that either increase government control of the private sector or support the class warfare efforts of the Liberals.
You can read the full text of the bill (H.R. 1664) here.
So now the Liberals want to control all the compensation packages – and effectively all the terms of employment – for any financial firm that has received or will receive funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) or the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
The Liberals will deny the charge that the government will control the terms of employment, but you can’t create performance-based standards without including the low end of the spectrum.
I think that America can reasonably expect that any of the skilled workers and executives at these firms will be rethinking their careers at this point. With the government controlling their wages and even their continued employment, I think they will leave the troubled firms as quickly as possible. This will likely lead to those firms’ final collapse, which will allow the government to seize them as was done during the Great Depression. Just don’t expect them to be returned to the private sector later this time.
On the bright side – this sort legislation will have the positive effect of causing any corporation to twice or more about accepting one iota of financial “assistance” from the government in the future. Additionally, healthy firms – those not in line for the federal dole – will be able recruit the best and the brightest – since they’ll still be allowed to offer competitive wages and benefits – from those companies mired in the federal assistance trap and eventually drive them out of business.
Tags: America | Barney Frank | Capitalism | Congress | Economy | Liberals | Nationalization | Obama | Politics | Socialism
