Gee, what a surprise: Obama "pay czar" will NOT cap compensation of bailed-out corps or reveal names

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58O3KP20090925

Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:19am EDT

by Steve Eder

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's "pay czar" said on Friday he will not cap compensation for the top employees at bailed-out companies, and will not reveal names, when he releases the first wave of decisions within a few weeks.

"We don't want specific names next to dollars," said Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed in June to decide compensation packages for the highest-paid personnel at companies that received U.S. government bailouts.

The rules do not call for capping pay, Feinberg told a conference here, adding he is faced with setting compensation that discourages excessive risk-taking and that relates pay to performance.

Feinberg said he has the "daunting task of actually determining the compensation," adding, "avoiding excessive risk means different things to different people in different situations."

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Group of 20 leaders said they will crack down on banker pay and better align economic policies as they turned from crisis management to delivering a new set of rules for the world economy.

President Barack Obama and counterparts meeting in Pittsburgh crafted a plan to force banks to tie bonuses to risk and raise the amount of capital they hold, officials said, citing a draft of a statement. They pledged to maintain stimulus measures until growth takes hold and to narrow disparities in trade and savings. They also announced the G-20 will replace the G-8 as the main forum for steering the global economy.

Leaders want to temper the excesses that helped trigger the worst financial crisis in seven decades and the deepest recession since World War II. At the same time, richer governments acknowledge they lack the sway to govern the world economy alone as power shifts to emerging markets such as China.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-s-Cabinet-Picks-and-by-Steven-Leser-081122-969.html

We know what Obama’s expectations are. He wants to bring an end to the Iraq war as rapidly as possible. He does not believe in torture or extraordinary rendition. He does not believe in warrant-less wiretapping. He believes in Universal Healthcare. He believes in sitting down with leaders of countries with whom we have disagreements to find peaceful solutions to our issues. He has committed to finding the best and brightest people to turn our economy around and that brings me to another point.

The one thing that could stand in the way of even a great leader is if the people under the leader did not have the basic knowledge and abilities to perform the tasks that would be assigned to them. Obama is making sure this is not an issue by hiring some of the most competent and experienced people available. Some of these people may have performed a certain way while on their own or within the administration of a different leader, but that does not mean they will perform the same way under Obama.