These CEO’s Make 1000 Times More Than the Lowest Paid Employees

Income and wealth inequality continues to rise in favor of the richest 0.5 percent in the United States and throughout the world. This is due solely to political corruption, often presented as making common sense. Former President Bill Clinton, who, like his wife, is owned by billionaires, is a perfect example of such political corruption, as much as any RepubliCon party politician, and that political party is the epidemy of corruption.

Twenty-five years ago, Clinton campaigned on an idea for limiting excessive pay for American CEOs by capping the tax deductibility of top executives’ compensation at $1 million, and corporations, not wanting bigger tax bills, might reel in their pay. Under the Clinton backed legislation, corporations couldn’t deduct CEO pay over $1 million unless it was “performance-based.” So stock options and performance-based bonuses became the norm. We were told this was a good thing, but, like many things the US public has been told by its corrupted political and business leaders, as well as the corrupted news media, this was a lie, and most likely a deliberate lie.

This lie has resulted in chief executive officers earning more money in less than an hour as much as their typical employee earns in an entire year. Notice the corruption of both political parties has decided not to rescind Clinton’s legislation that he signed on behalf of the rich and their corporations. Notice Joe Biden, an old, sleazy Wall Street pawn, hasn’t said a word either.

USA Today reported a month or so ago that “Stock options – which are often indicative of CEO performance – are not taxable, however, and as such, are often a preferred form of CEO compensation reported.”

Clinton’s legislation gone bad is one of the reasons why stock buybacks have become so popular with CEOs. 59 percent of corporate profits in recent years has gone toward stock buybacks, according to a story in the Guardian a few months ago. This is an easy way to manipulate stock prices higher and make an extra buck in the process. Corporations buy their own lousy stock, driving the prices higher, and then turn around and gradually sell their stock at the higher prices. Any high school student in the same position as any CEO would do the same since the result is higher CEO compensation.

Of course, CEO’s also drive wages, salaries, and benefits downward in order to increase their own compensation via stock options and bonuses. The result has been unprecedented income and wealth inequality. Thank you RepubliCon Party, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden.

According to USA Today’s report, the most overpaid CEOs are:

1. Arthur L. Peck
• Company: The Gap Inc.
• CEO annual pay: $20.8 million (3,566 times the typical employee)
• Median annual employee pay: $5,831
• Annual corporate profit: $1.0 billion

2. Ynon Kreiz
• Company: Mattel Inc.
• CEO annual pay: $18.7 million (3,408 times the typical employee)
• Median annual employee pay: $5,489
• Annual corporate profit: -$531.0 million

3. Joseph M. Hogan
• Company: Align Technology Inc.
• CEO annual pay: $41.8 million (3,168 times the typical employee)
• Median annual employee pay: $13,180
• Annual corporate profit: $400.2 million

4. Kevin P. Clark
• Company: Aptiv PLC
• CEO annual pay: $14.1 million (2,609 times the typical employee)
• Median annual employee pay: $5,414
• Annual corporate profit: $1.1 billion

5. Brian R. Niccol
• Company: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
• CEO annual pay: $33.6 million (2,438 times the typical employee)
• Median annual employee pay: $13,779
• Annual corporate profit: $176.6 million

For a list of the top thirteen, as well as the full story, click on the link below.

CEO’s Made 1000 Times More Than Their Employees

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Sixty Major US Corporations Paid No Federal Income Taxes in 2018

One of the great lies told by RepubliCon Party stalwarts is that the United States corporations pay the highest corporate taxes in the world. The U.S. has a high corporation tax rate, but it filled with so many loopholes that many major corporations pay no federal taxes, and often receive tax rebates from the federal government on taxes they never paid.

 

Failure to pay federal taxes gives corporations more money to give to their wealthy owners and CEOs via ever rising dividends and share prices. It also gives the CEO’s more money to manipulate the stock prices of their corporations via ever increasing stock buybacks. This, in turn, enriches CEO’s and affluent shareholders since much of their compensation is based on how well their company’s stock performs. This results in greater income and wealth inequality since the rich derive most of their income and wealth through their corporations, and the unearned income they receive, which wield tremendous influence over the United States economic, political and judicial markets.

A corporation is simply an idea of a business structure given a legal framework to exist by state legislatures. The conservative/corporate wing of the United States Supreme Court has decided these ideas that have been given a legal framework to exist are real people deserving of full constitutional rights. In other words, the billionaire wing of the United States Supreme Court has gone out of its way to wage class warfare on behalf of the rich and against the 99 percent by making up stories that corporations are people and have free speech rights; corporate free speech rights mean buying the airwaves and filling it with what the rich want us to believe, most of which are lies or are intended to divert our attention away from the real issues, such as the destruction of the middle class.

The corporations avoiding income taxes in 2018 represent a range of segments of the U.S. economy:

* Computer maker International Business Machines (IBM) earned $500 million in U.S. income and received a federal income tax rebate of $342 million.
* The retail giant Amazon reported $11 billion of U.S. income and claimed a federal income tax rebate of $129 million.
* The streaming service Netflix paid no federal income tax on $856 million of U.S. income.
* Beer maker Molson Coors enjoyed $1.3 billion of U.S. income in 2018 and received a federal income tax rebate of $22.9 million.
* Automaker General Motors reported a negative tax rate on $4.3 billion of income.

Paying no income taxes means rising share prices and higher dividends for the rich. Virtually all the income and wealth stolen by the rich from the rest of us come in the form of UNEARNED INCOME.

See the full story by clicking on the following link.

Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Tax Law

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