The Rich Get Richer

Obama has got to stop hurting these guys fee-fees with his corporate jet class warfare. They just have it so hard as it is:

The final figures show that the median pay for top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. That works out to a 23 percent gain from 2009. The earlier study had put the median pay at a none-too-shabby $9.6 million, up 12 percent.

Total C.E.O. pay hasn’t quite returned to its heady, prerecession levels — but it certainly seems headed there. Despite the soft economy, weak home prices and persistently high unemployment, some top executives are already making more than they were before the economy soured.

Pay skyrocketed last year because many companies brought back cash bonuses, says Aaron Boyd, head of research at Equilar. Cash bonuses, as opposed to those awarded in stock options, jumped by an astounding 38 percent, the final numbers show.

Granted, many American corporations did well last year. Profits were up substantially. As a result, many companies are sharing the wealth, at least with their executives. “We’re seeing a lot of that reflected in the pay,” Mr. Boyd says.

It's the American way: concentrate all the wealth and compensation at the very top, because those people need to have all the money - they create the jobs and trickle stuff down on us! And things! For everyone else, expect them to do more with less, oftentimes the jobs of maybe two to three people because of massive recessionary layoffs, and pay them the same wages with minuscule adjustments (if any) that barely cover recent increases to the cost of living. It's a great racket too; the economy continues to suck because our political class thinks austerity is the panacea for 10% GDP, so the workers are terrified of losing the gig they have, or demanding more in pay, or being able to find work elsewhere. 

And next time some asshole Republican puffs his chest about how we have to keep taxes low and can't raise them ever, think of this gilded motley crew:

The preliminary and final studies put Philippe P. Dauman, the chief executive of Viacom, at the top of the list. Mr. Dauman made $84.5 million last year, after signing a new long-term contract that included one-time stock awards.

Leslie Moonves, of the CBS Corporation, got a 32 percent raise and reaped $56.9 million. Michael White of DirecTV was paid $32.9 million, while Brian L. Roberts of the Comcast Corporation and Robert A. Iger of the Walt Disney Company each received pay packages valued at $28 million.

“Media firms seemed to be paying a lot,” said Carol Bowie, head of compensation policy development at ISS Governance, which advises large investors on corporate governance issues like proxy votes. “Media companies in general tend to be high-payers, and they tend to feed off each other.”

Other big payers included oil and commodities companies like Exxon Mobil and a few technology giants like Oracle and I.B.M.

Some of the other highly paid executives on the new list who were not in the April survey are Gregg W. Steinhafel of Target, who had a $23.5 million pay package; Michael E. Szymanczyk of Altria, $20.77 million; and Richard C. Adkerson of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, $35.3 million.

Republicans want to abolish your Medicare, your Social Security, even your roads, all so these guys can keep their 6 or 8 (or more, who knows) vacation homes with Lambos parked in front of each of them.

But don't worry - with the top 0.1% holding all the wealth, they will eventually trickle it down and create jobs with Western European levels of healthcare and retirement benefits. Just you wait.