Good God! I never thought in my lifetime I would see this happening in the United States of America. This PUNITIVE action to slash the base salaries of these executives by an average of 90 PERCENT and cut their total compensation in half, is appalling. AND yet, Freddie Mac gets to continue their huge bonuses and salaries. :sick:



WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department is expected in the next few days to order companies that received huge government bailouts last year to slash the base salaries of their top executives by an average of 90 percent and cut their total compensation in half, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The cuts apply to the 25 highest paid executives at the seven companies that received the most assistance, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. Smaller companies and those that have repaid the bailout money, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are not affected.

Kenneth Feinberg, the special master at Treasury appointed to handle compensation issues as part of the government's $700 billion financial bailout package, is making the pay decisions.

The seven companies are Bank of America Corp., American International Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.

"It was unclear exactly how much the executives would be allowed to make......"

"The pay restrictions for all seven companies will require any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special benefits — things such as country club memberships, private planes and company cars — to get permission for those perks from the government."
BUT THEN LOOKIE HERE....

"Elsewhere, Freddie Mac is giving its chief financial officer compensation worth as much as $5.5 million, including a $2 million signing bonus. The government-controlled mortgage finance company doesn't have to follow the executive compensation rules because it is being paid outside the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

HOW very convenient and nice for the "government-controlled mortgage finance company," that THEY don't have to have THEIR compensation cut....EVEN THOUGH, they were at the heart of the financial crisis.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091022/..._executive_pay