"Pay Czar" Kenneth Feinberg
Name: Kenneth Feinberg
Official Title: Special Master on Executive Pay
Better Known As: The “Pay Czar”
Kenneth Feinberg is a shining example of why government and private industry do not mix. After Washington bailed out Wall Street, Mr. Feinberg was appointed to make sure that executives received a “government approved” salary. On average he slashed executive wages by about 50%, cutting upwards of 95% in several cases. While many see Feinberg’s actions on executive compensation as a necessary evil during a difficult economic crisis, the extent of Feinberg’s jurisdiction is unknown.
The more the government becomes intimately involved with our daily affairs (healthcare, housing, pensions) the more authority Kenneth Feinberg may have over our salaries, too. Overall, Mr. Feinberg is just another far-left Obama appointee, having already worked in Washington for several years as Chief of Staff for Senator Ted Kennedy and as a prosecutor for the US attorney general.
Even though Kenneth Feinberg says he is primarily concerned with “how” executives get paid, and not “how much,” the fact that one man is now qualified to make any of those judgments violates the very nature of our free-market system.
In His Own Words:
“Are these pay packages fair? I had to balance the need for these companies to pay back what they owe taxpayers… Others may have balanced things differently, but I did what I thought was right.”
“I am troubled at the notion that my role . . . could be expanded. That’s a mistake.”
Nick Kypriotakis is the founder and president of Informed-Dissent.com. He is currently a Business Management major at Florida State University, working his way towards a J.D.M.B.A.
He is also a political columnist for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, a member of Florida State's Honors Council and an Honors Legal Scholar.