Do you realize how much power the Congress has given Barack Obama’s pay czar? Not only does pay czar Kenneth Feinberg have “binding” authority over executive compensation, he has the ability to “claw back” money that has already been paid.
The reason this is coming to light now is because seven major companies that participated in the TARP program have to submit their executive contracts for government approval. One contract for energy trader Andrew Hall could be as much as $100 million this year. Some are looking at that amount and thinking that no one should be allowed to earn that kind of income! So the question is … will our pay czar allow this man to receive his $100 million?
Not only that, but he hasn’t even begun to explore this idea of a “claw back” provision. Did you even know that the Congress has given this man the authority to do that? Just tell me where in the Constitution it says that Congress can create laws that would allow a government bureaucrat to retroactively seize money from private businesses? Just curious ….
This power is not just limited to large TARP recipients. Feinberg has the ability to recover any compensation paid to executives of “any company that received federal assistance.” Feinberg himself says, “Anything is possible under the law.” He’s right. Try to name a company that someone can’t build some sort of a claim of having received federal assistance.
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