President Obama, Are You Listening?

In an announcement I loved reading this morning out of Great Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling proclaimed a 50% tax on all bank bonuses over 25,000 pounds, translating into $40,800. That low limit effectively captures the vast majority of bonuses that will be paid.

I found it very curious that within a half hour of that announcement, a member of the board of Goldman Sachs, William George, was quoted as saying that his firm is taking a “very hard look” at whether to pay people less because of public outrage over bonuses. My educated guess says they will do one of two things: One, they will impose a temporary restraint until the outrage dies down; Two, they will decide that their pay policy can’t be changed because it will result in a “talent exodus,” a matter which I have addressed before.

Indeed, the reaction of the US financial community supported the latter conclusion. “We don’t think it is at all likely that Treasury-IRS would impose a 50 percent tax on banker bonuses,” said David Schmidt, a senior consultant for New York-based compensation firm James F. Reda & Associates. “This pay cut would likely cause an exodus of talent.” I have stated repeatedly in the previous columns that while it may be true that there would be a temporary exodus of talent, the attitude that that talent cannot be replaced is utterly ridiculous.

The only voice quoted that agreed with the idea of a US bonus tax is the one I respect the most. Clyde Prestowitz, whose book, Three Billion New Capitalists, was a warning shot across the economic bow of the country when we still believed that what has happened could not happen, called the bonus tax “a great idea that is justified by the taxpayer supported bailouts.” He added, “There’s a lot of pain and agony out there because of their malfeasance.”

His statements are confirmed by a Bloomberg National Poll released today that almost two thirds of Americans rate bankers lower than Congressmen, lawyers and insurance companies. With polls released in the past few months showing favorable ratings of Congress hovering in the teens, I suspect that the true number of people who give bankers that low a rating is closer to 80%. Bloomberg’s study only polled 1000 adults, hardly enough to produce a completely accurate reading.

Is President Obama listening? Is Tim Geithner? Mr. Geithner recently paid lip service to the “irresponsibly high bonuses” being paid on Wall St. this year, but no further action is currently being contemplated, and it’s obvious that the people paid to watch the banking system also expect nothing to be done.

I suggest that Mr. Prestowitz is correct. It is time to follow the lead of the British and impose a bonus tax of at least 50%. This would accomplish two important objectives: First, it would show that those elected to govern are listening to the will of the people who elected them. Second, it would send a clear signal to Wall St. that their actions are wrong and completely out of touch with economic reality. This is something the majority of Americans already seem to know.

Finally, it is worth remembering that last year, in the immediate wake of the banking crisis that started this economic turmoil, British bankers apologized for their irresponsibility. American bankers had the nerve to blame “excessive regulation” for the crisis. It’s time to remind them that the fallout from their willful transgressions is far from forgiven.

**The source of all quotes in this article is Bloomberg.com

A Thanksgiving Thank You

The holiday season is upon us and being the manic depressive that I am, I find myself with typically conflicting thoughts. It seems to me that the whole country is sort of manic depressive in a way. The extremes are getting more extreme. I’m sure that right now there are people drinking toasts to their decadent excesses, feeling no guilt, while other people are feeling as if they are in a hole miles deep because they know their standard of living has dropped and shows no sign of a quick rebound.

It has always been this way in America and maybe it always will be. But if my less than glamorous existence is emblematic of America, then the way I am dealing with it is no less indicative of the resilience of the American spirit. I push on every day. I face personal crises on a daily basis and my soul bleeds likes a festering wound but I remain optimistic. What else can any of us do?

It is sad that the socially maladjusted minority regularly grabs the spotlight of the mainstream media. It is equally sad that many other people find these fringe dwellers with a perverse need for attention so fascinating. The ones who are ignored in all of this are the citizens who plod along on a daily basis and raise their children uneventfully, instilling them with a sense of values and dignity. This doesn’t make the newsreel highlights, and there is always talk of changing values and the erosion of the family, but certain things remain constant, and that still is and always will be the backbone of this manic depressive nation.

So this editorial is a shout to you, the ignored, the decent, the stressed and the children who are struggling to understand their existence while the world shifts beneath their feet. As John Lennon sang forty years ago, love is the answer. I know that to include such a cliché in an editorial is a literary sin but the truth of that statement will resonate through every generation. No matter what your situation, if there is love, there is hope. And I think the people of this country whose lifestyle has been so cruelly and abruptly disrupted realize that. They are the collective force for good that hold this country together against an ugly tide of corruption and greed. If we are to restore our simple sense of morality, untainted by manic depressive extremism, then those people will be our ultimate salvation and I want to thank them for it in advance, and let them know that their efforts do not go unrecognized, no matter whether the mainstream media pays any attention to them. I see examples of it every day, in the way a mother and child look at each other as they hold hands on the street. In the way a gentleman with twenty items in his shopping cart lets me go ahead of him because I only have three items. In the way that someone I don’t know compliments my singing in the church choir on Sunday. These simple gestures say so much about who we are as a society. I pray that we never reach the point where that kind of civility goes out of style. Thank you, and I hope everyone enjoys their turkey and football with a sense of moderation and civility.

The Range of Human Behavior

There have been two incidents in the past two days that showed the extremes people are capable of in stressful situations.

The first, more prominent incident occurred at Fort Hood, Texas. An army major, trained in psychiatry, and scheduled to be deployed to a war zone, snapped and tried to murder as many people as he could before he was taken down by this incident’s hero, Kimberly Munley.

Sgt. Munley is a trained firearms expert and has also served in the military. She committed a selfless act of bravery by confronting a man who had already committed multiple murders and suffered serious wounds while disabling him. She responded immediately and without hesitation and placed herself in mortal danger to save the lives of others. She is the mother of two young children, but upon recovering consciousness at the hospital, her first question was about the lives she had saved. This woman deserves the utmost respect and the highest honor this country can hand out.

The perpetrator of this incident, Major Nidal Malik Hasan is an army psychiatrist who spent most of his time counseling and comforting soldiers who suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome as a result of exposure to combat situations. It is unclear whether he planned to kill himself after he satisfied his lust for slaughter, but he had apparently authored several recent posts on the Internet about suicide bombers and had been giving his belongings away. The prospect of his upcoming deployment pushed him past his breaking point. The magnitude of his violence speaks volumes about the darkest capabilities of the human condition.

The second incident occurred at a Florida prison. Deputy Ken Moon was on duty and alone on a unit when he was assaulted by an inmate. The inmate had Deputy Moon in a choke hold which may have resulted in the deputy’s death if not for the quick action of four inmates who came to deputy’s rescue.

These men had nothing to gain by helping the deputy. When asked why they helped him, they responded by saying they liked him, nothing more, nothing less. It was a simple act of kindness in a place where that is usually in short supply. It was unclear why Deputy Moon was attacked, but when a man is in a murderous rage, clear thought is non-existent. The extent of his violence differs from Major Hasan’s only by degree.

I am not in any way trying to equate the heroism of Sgt. Munley with that of the inmates. However, just as the violence is different only in degree, so is the heroism. It shows the range of reaction that is possible when people are exposed to stressful situations. Violence and heroism have been constants throughout history. Until we can learn to live with each other peacefully, we must pray that the heroism of brave individuals will never succumb to the violence of the disturbed.