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The Wealth Gap Widens...

Discussion in 'YachtForums Yacht Club' started by YachtForums, Nov 8, 2011.

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  1. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    No, those big corporations are run by executives who get paid many millions of dollars even when the stockholders lose their shirts and the employees lose their jobs. Executives who, even when canned, sail out on golden parachutes with their pockets stuffed. I wish I owned a single share of stock that has earned my a dollar in recent years. Yet the executives are doing just fine. Oil companies and commodities brokers who keep raising prices even though the world is struggling and they're making record profits, banks that are raking their customers over the coals for the privilege of lending the bank their money for free so they can lend it back to us at 27%. My cable TV company just raised my rate 300% and their profits are soaring.
  2. YES!

    YES! Senior Member

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    I don't normally weigh in on social issues but there is an element of basic moral ethic that is missing from the corporate world --- responsibility. No one will take any......

    If an entrepeneur makes a billion bucks in his private, not publicly traded company; more power to him. However, the CEOs of public companies who sell stock that is supposedly vetted by a government agency, the SEC, must be held to a different standard. As Capt J stated earlier, it is us, middle America, that owns these companies, but the CEO charged with managing it is running out the back door with our profits or golden parachuting out of the plane he left going down in flames.

    The solution: Public companies should have CEO compensation that cannot exceed that of the country's chief executive, the President. All the excess compensation should be pumped back into making "OUR" company more efficient and thus, more profitable, raising the value of our stock. If the stock price goes down, then the CEO compensation should be adjusted downward accordingly. If the company is in extremis, the CEO should be thrown under the bus NOT parachuted to safety. And rewards should also be in place for excellence and profitability. That is the way the rest of us live, why not the CEOs?

    Sure Gates, Ellison, Allen and the other fat cats would still be wealthy by any standard had they remained privately operated and earned their income from actual corporate earnings rather than stock options; but not 300 foot yacht wealthy. Then think of the stockholder value and improved company efficiencies that would result from all of that public "stock purchase" money being reinvested in the company rather than going to the billionaires bank accounts. And if you make a billion with your privately owned and operated entity, good on you!

    But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong..........

    PS Thank you to our Vets and all those who support them.
  3. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Well put.
  4. rocdiver

    rocdiver Senior Member

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    And Thank YOU Commander Antrim for your most distinguished service!!

    ROCKY
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I agree, but the shareholders do vote on who is CEO and compensation and this and that. But like anything else, few shareholders actually vote.

    Jobs, Ellison, Allen, and Gates IMO deserve the billions they've made because they are the actual CEO's that started those perspective companies from scratch and invented Microsoft, Apple, etc etc. So IMO they deserve to reap the benefits from something they created. However, I agree that a company that just hires a CEO, that they are grossly overpaid at the expense of the shareholders.
  6. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Corporate executive's compensation should be based on company performance. Turn a company around, get rich. Drive the company into a hole and they should be the first employee to get nothing. That's called incentive. If one profits everybody profits, stock holders, employees and lastly the executive, but he gets the most. It's the rule the rest of us live by in our working lives. Why not the bosses of major corporations? Why does a company pay a man $20,000,000 and lay off employees instead of the CEO? That $20,000,000 could keep about 700 people from going onto unemployment (taxpayer's expense) and losing their homes. That's 1 person who undoubtedly has a comfortable nest egg vs 700 who have nothing to fall back on but the government.
  7. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    "Operating as a federal-state partnership, UC is based on federal law, but administered by the states. The UC program is unique among U.S. social insurance programs in that it is funded almost totally by either federal or state taxes paid by employers."

    UC is government speak for unemployment compensation.

    "Who pays Unemployment Insurance taxes?
    Employers pay state unemployment insurance (UI) taxes. If you are an employer subject to the (UI) law, you are a "covered" employer and must pay UI taxes. It is against the law to take UI taxes out of your employees' wages."
  8. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    I'm aware of how unemployment works. I've been the one directly paying into it at times. However, the reality is that eventually every dollar paid comes out of your pocket and mine through high costs, medicade, reduced property values when homes aren't maintain or are walked away from, etc., etc. I'll leave it to the legislators to shuffle the money around. The bottom line is that you and I pay that 20,000,000 and all the related costs in one way or the other.
  9. Puddle Pirate

    Puddle Pirate Member

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    The Bigger Picture is the Monetary System as a whole.

    Politics, Big Business, Small Business, Stock Market, Education, Republicans verses the Democrates, News Media, Inflation, Health Care, etc...

    These are all just symptoms of the Real Problems intentionally brought on and controlled by the owners of the Central Banking System.

    If you want an education that you will never forget, watch the free movies at The Zeitgeist Film Series Gateway | Zeitgeist: The Movie, Zeitgeist: Addendum, Zeitgeist Moving Forward all three of them. Do your own research after watching these 3 movies. It will blow your mind what you learn from doing your own research.

    Obama and McCain were both backed by the same people. It's public info. just look at their campain doner list. These people that backed both Obama and McCain didn't care who won, either way they were going to be in thier back pocket. Obama doesn't fart without permision form his handler's.

    If you wish to be part of the solution, rather than being part of the problem, join the www.zeitgeistmovement.com . It has begun to snow ball and is gaining momentum like crazy. You can even find a Zeitgeist Group close to where you live if you go online to thier web site.

    Don't just take a glance at this, but do some serious research on this stuff before you begin to make up your mind on it. I spent a few months checking it out before I began believing in the possiblilities of the The Venus Project Foundation - A non-profit 501(c)(3) arts and educational organization which is represented by the zeitgeist movement.

    This is NOT a Religious Movement OR a Political Movement, it is a Social (not socialism) Movement. A different kind of society that completely does away with the Monetary System.

    Please don't take this lightly. This is very serious stuff. I am 48 yrs old and I have a 5 yr old daughter (my other kids are all adults). I am scared to death of what kind of world I am going to leave my kids with.

    So in the mean time, next summer we are going to move onto our boat and look for a warm place to set our hook.

    Attached Files:

  10. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    An here is the epicenter of the world's financial problem:

    CHINA ADMITS TO UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES
    Obama to China: Behave like 'grown up' economy - politics - White House - msnbc.com

    China shot back that it refused to abide by international economic rules that it had no part in writing.
    "First we have to know whose rules we are talking about," Pang Sen, a deputy director-general at China's Foreign Ministry said.
    "If the rules are made collectively through agreement and China is a part of it, then China will abide by them. If rules are decided by one or even several countries, China does not have the obligation to abide by that."

    To me that should have been followed by U.S. & Europe ban Chinese imports and refused to honor 50% of trade deficit.
  11. AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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    It wouldn´t be so easy to ban US and EU manufacturing in China, which I guess is the majority of the imports...
  12. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    True, but even the consideration would have huge implications. And it wouldn't be banning the manufacture, only the import of those goods.:eek:
  13. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    If you want to witness Ma and Pa Kettle marching on _____ with torches and pitchforks, just double the price of all the cheap Chinese stuff they buy at The Big Box.
  14. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Wealth

    One needs to research historical data from the 50's and sixties to see the differences in production, marketing, base costs and Government interference in the market place, this would give one a better idea as to why we are in the mess we are in
  15. 61c40

    61c40 Member

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    One also needs to remember the poisoned water,fouled air,horriific working conditions, that led to government interference!!!
  16. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Have you bought a washing machine recently? Mine cost me $900 plus $600 in repairs over the last 4 years because it was made like c---. My mother's lasted her over 20 years without a single repair. I believe that "double the price" is a myth. When you consider the undervalued Chinese currency, the government subsidies, the industrial espionage, the computer hacking, the cost of transporting goods from half way around the world and the repair costs to inferior products, I really have to wonder how much prices would rise. Then when you consider what bringing manufacturing back to U.S. and European shores would do to the amount of money in family pockets it starts sounding like a pretty worthwhile investment. How does one even consider doing business with a country that says straight up that they are cheating you?
  17. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Have you looked at a Bejing air quality report (they're posted by the U.S. Embasy) or heard about the working conditions in Chinese plants? Tell me we couldn't do better. Yes it costs us to have air we can breath, water we can drink and homes we can afford. To me it's worth every cent.
  18. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    Unfortunately, recent administrations, both Dem's and Rep's have tried to keep the economy clicking in part by making sure you can buy all the cheap junk that you think you need from Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc... stores filled almost exclusively with products from China. A short term fix, creating long term problems.
  19. Puddle Pirate

    Puddle Pirate Member

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    The real epicenter of the problem is (in my opinion):

    The real powers to be are pushing for a one world socialist government. In order to make that happen, they have to level the playing field financially. So, they are bringing up the economies of the poorest (and largest populations) on the planet (China and India) while at the same time bankrupting the wealthiest on the planet (us and europe).
    Funny how GM has sold more cars in China over the last 8 yrs or so then they ever did here in the U.S. but yet they had to file bankruptsy and now the Gov. owns half of it. We hear that they are now doing great and that they have paid back their loans, but you don't hear any thing about the Gov. giving back thier half of the company. Socialism. Healthcare, Socialism. etc...

    Make no mistake, China is being controlled by the same hand full of people that controll or Gov. as well.
    Obama doesn't fart with out permission from these people, and niether would McCain had he become President. Their campains were both backed by the same people, just look up their campain doner lists. It's public info.

    Watch the movies I listed above, do your own research. We are living in the beginning of some very serious times to come.
  20. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    Sounds like you bought a Haier product, which is well known to be garbage. Your Mom's washer was a Maytag or a similarly better product.
    What I was referring to, Ed, was mostly stuff with no moving parts, such as socks and underwear.
    A Chink-built Chery? Ha.
    A Lenovo (ex-IBM) laptop with bits that are not made in PRC but only assembled there? Different story.
    Deadly cat food and sulfurous drywall--you gotta pay attention to what the ChiComs produce: some utter crap and some a bargain.

    I do agree that they are cheats and we are suckers, unless we employ our gray matter and buy accordingly. They can't sell garbage to educated consumers...BTW, I stopped buying Nikes years ago, 'cuz they're also crap.
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