Oh, For Crying out Loud...

*Sigh*

McCain criticizes Obama for wanting to increase dividend and capital gains taxes and aiming to raise the minimum wage and link it to an index.

But he also takes aim at top corporate executives with big salaries and excessive severance packages.

"Americans are right to be offended when the extravagant salaries and severance deals of CEOs ... bear no relation to the success of the company or the wishes of shareholders," he will say, adding that some of those chief executives helped bring on the country's housing crisis and market troubles.

"If I am elected president, I intend to see that wrongdoing of this kind is called to account by federal prosecutors. And under my reforms, all aspects of a CEO's pay, including any severance arrangements, must be approved by shareholders," he will say.

If any issue required some of McCain's vaunted "straight talk," this one does. But I guess "straight talk" is only reserved for when the Maverick™ needs to take on conservatives.

Update - Look, I like a lot of what McCain is saying in his speech. I just get a bit itchy at statements like this:

We need rules that assure fairness and punish wrongdoing in the market.

"Assure fairness" in the market? Eh...who defines fair? It's a bit too hopey-changey for me, I guess. Then again, I'm just a moron.

posted by Slublog at 01:33 PM

| Access Comments