Surtax is terrible solution

Dear agents of change,

While government help to solve the comp inequities is dicey, without some input by gov I can’t see getting any traction. The gov knee jerk surtax on AGI was ill conceived and set back their credibility. Even though AGI was an outrage (paying $162 million in bonuses to the very guys who tanked the biggest insurer in the world), the solution must be crafted at the point of negotiating the contract.

Note:

Kenneth Lewis of Bank of America made $218 million over 6 years while the value of his company fell into an abyss. Like so many other CEO’s he fell into financial “group think” and was afraid he might be left behind.. Also his option package (like all others) loves risk and volatility.

Another quick example outside of banking…..$98 million to Howard Schultz of Starbucks in 07. His stock fell from 40 to below 10.

In addition to damaging capitalism, if we don’t fix this, our tax rates will be higher than they otherwise would be—for reasons to lengthy to list here.

Steve Hartnett

Agent for change