Wisconsin Clean
Elections Coalition
Promoting fair elections for all parties and
independents
eNewsletter #10
(April 22, 2006)
This is a periodic newsletter on election
and health care reform. If you wish not to receive it please unsubscribe at the
bottom and accept my apologies for the intrusion.
.
In
this issue:
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1) Mark Green does a tax
turnaround?
2) Health
care news from The Center of Public Integrity
3) CEO Pay up 27% for 2005
4) Tidbits (Important note on SB1)
5) The China Syndrome
6) Give me a break!
7) Book recommendations
8) Contact
Information
9) Removal instructions
.
Please do not respond to this email
address. It is used for cleanup purposes only. Please use jelohman@gmail.com
1
Mark Green
does a tax turaround?
Big spender
Green says cut spending
by Bill Christofferson
You know what
they say about actions vs. words.
Rep. Mark Green says today that he will save us from taxes and reduce government
spending in Wisconsin.
All we have to do is elect him governor.
Believable?
Well, it easier to believe if you don't look at his record in the Legislature
or in Congress.
In the Legislature, Green voted for Tommy Thompson budgets that spent more and
more every year. The 1993-95 budget alone, which Green
supported, increased spending 13.4%.
Comment: Green was part of the
problem when he was in the state legislature, is currently part of the problem
in Congress, and will continue to be part of the problem if elected governor.
We need a new candidate from a new political party.
2
Health care news: Another piece on
the "Massachusetts Miracle"
By Robert Kuttner
Is the new Massachusetts
new health plan really a model for reform nationally? Advocates of universal
health coverage feel they finally have their nose under the tent. The question
remains, however: is this the right tent?
The design of the plan was drastically constrained from the
beginning by Governor Romney Mitt who started with three dubious assumptions.
First, he insisted that basic health insurance could be had for $2,400 a year.
As any employer or individual who actually buys insurance knows, minimally
decent coverage costs around $4,000 for an individual and double
that for a family. The rhetoric about basic “Chevrolet policies” versus “Lexus
policies” is blarney. Any policy that costs only $2,400 has astronomical
out-of-pocket payments. It simply shifts medical costs to individuals.
See complete article at: http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11375
3
CEO Pay up 27% for 2005
Executive Pay
by Lee Drutman, Citizen
Works
CEO Pay up 27 percent for 2005, study finds
Average total pay for CEOs
was up another 27 percent last year, to $11.3 million, according to a survey of
200 large companies conducted by Pearl Meyer
& Partners. Median pay, meanwhile, was up to $8.3 million, a 10.3 percent
jump from 2004. Most of the growth came from stock and other long-term payouts,
which were up $1.9 million. Perks were up $188,000.
The biggest compensation package of 2005 went to Occidental
Petroleum CEO Ray R. Irani, who took home $63 million
in total pay. Bruce E. Karatz of KB Home and William
E. Greehey of the Valero Energy Corporation tied for
second place with $40 million in total compensation.
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The New York Times used the release of the CEO pay survey to do a series of
stories on skyrocketing compensation.
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In one story, Eric Dash asks why compensation
continues to grow exponentially, even though, according to a recent Los Angeles
Times/Bloomberg survey, 81 percent of Americans now think that CEOs of large
companies are overpaid:
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“Many forces are pushing executive pay into the stratosphere. Huge gains
from stock options during the 1990's bull market are one major reason. So is
the recruitment of celebrity C.E.O.'s, which has bid up the compensation of all
top executives.”
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“Compensation consultants, who are hired to advise boards, are often
motivated to produce big paydays for managers. After all, the boss can hand
their company lucrative contracts down the road.”
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“Compensation committees, meanwhile, are often reluctant to withhold a
bonus or stock award for poor performance. Many big shareholders, such as
mutual funds and pension plans, have chosen not to cast votes critical of
management. The results have been a growing gap between chief executives and
ordinary employees, and often between the boss and managers one layer below.”
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In another story, Claudia H. Deutsch interviews Charles M. Elson, the
director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the
University of Delaware on the effects of a new SEC rule requiring clearer
disclosure of CEO pay.
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“As he sees it,” Deutsch writes,
“forcing companies to bring excessive pay to light is, at best, treating a
symptom. It does little to cure the underlying diseases: runaway compensation
packages, granted by boards that barely monitor the performance of the chief
executive.”
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"Disclosure is like aspirin; it can make you
feel a little better, but it can't even cure the common cold," Elson told
the Times. "The fact is, a board that
overpays the C.E.O. is in all probability not minding the store on other
issues, either."
4
Tidbits
First and foremost (from WDC): Call your assemblyman and ask that s/he pressure
John Gard to get the ethics bill (SB1) to the assembly floor for a vote before
the end of session. He has been delaying it, and may possibly not put it
to the full assembly for a vote before the session ends.
Please take a few minutes to
contact Assembly Speaker John Gard and Assembly Majority Leader Michael Huebsch
and urge them to keep their word and schedule a vote on Senate Bill 1.
You can call Gard's
office at 608-266-3387 or e-mail him at rep.gard@legis.state.wi.us.
You can contact Huebsch's office at either 608-266-2401 or 888-534-0094 or
e-mail him at rep.huebsch@legis.state.wi.us.
(Representatives
are compalining about the need to disclose their
personal financial holdings, which could expose conflicts of interest. This
should be a must for those seeking public office.)
CEO
pay tops out at $398 million for ExxonMobile's retiring Lee Raymond. If you have been wondering
why gas prices have been going through the roof, see http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/04/17/legacy_of_an_exxon_ceo.php and http://www.wisopinion.com/blogs/2006/04/190k-day-7-days-week.html
Federal
Mine Agency Considers New Rules to Improve Safety: Mining rules that were earlier set to go into effect, and
were struck down by the Bush Administration when he took office, are again
being considered. OF COURSE Bush's actions had nothing to do with the
campaign contributions he received from the mining industry (wink, wink!).
It was purely his "compassionate conservatism" playing out, but
he had more compassion for the profits of the industry than the safety of the
miners. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001592.html
.
In the US House, gubernatorial candidate Mark Green
(R) repeatedly voted to weaken ethics rules
(from Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, see http://www.wisdc.org/pr041206.php
). Given the state of Wisconsin's
ethics laws and corruption charges and convictions and jailings,
Green should feel right at home if he gets elected.
.
What the state can do on health care: By
Joseph Geck, Waukesha,
See http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=414778
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What Recovery? by
Max B. Sawicky - Republicans anxious to extend Bush's
tax cuts should ask how the first round performed. See http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/04/12/what_recovery.php.
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Too much pressure for Milwaukee County
Board.
They blink, and good for them: See Victor Huyke's Above The Law With Halloway at http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=3991
.
Responsible Wealth seeks blocking of Estate
Tax repeal: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0407-21.htm
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State Elections Board, Candidates who have registered for 2006 elections: http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=3219&locid=47
www.ThrowTheRascalsOut.org
No changes since last eNewsletter but we will be expanding it in the next few
weeks.
5
The China Syndrome
Excellent Newsweek
article....
Adrift
in a Turbulent World
By Fareed Zakaria
The most important strategic decision
the united States
will make in the next decade is not about Iraq,
Iran or North Korea. It is about China. What
will America's basic
attitude be toward the rise of China?
And similarly, the most important strategic decision that Beijing
will make in the next decade is: how should it relate to the United States?
Depending on whether the answer to these questions is "cooperation"
or "confrontation," one can imagine two very different 21st
centuries. And yet in neither country does one get the sense that there is
clarity on this subject. President Hu Jintao's visit to America this week-where he will
spend all of an hour with President Bush-is unlikely to change the situation.
In the United States, attitudes toward China remain
extremely mixed. Some Americans admire China for its economic success;
others are fearful and increasingly combative. Some, particularly in the
business community, commend the government for producing what can only be
called an economic miracle. Others, particularly in Washington,
criticize Beijing
for its repressive tactics, and believe that its political and economic system
is inherently unstable. As a result, Washington
has within it elements that want to contain China and others that want to
cooperate with it.
See the complete article at http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/newsweek/042406.html
.
Comment: This points to a new and very
critical problem caused by our moneyed political system.China’s
growth is a direct result of American CEO greed and a
political system that has (1) weakened trade laws and (2) allowed CEOs to
hijack their corporations. CEOs that outsource their products have salaries
that, on average, are twice that of CEOs that don’t outsource; and they are
more than willing to share their excess profits with the politicians who made
it all possible through weak trade laws and by de-clawing the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Only getting the money out of the
political system through public funding of campaigns will fix these problems,
and it would be the best $10 per taxpayer per year ever spent.
6
7
Book
Recommendations
Read
the reviews on www.amazon.com
Hostile Takeover
: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take
It Back (Hardcover)
by David Sirota (ISBN 0307237346)
From the publisher:"Hostile Takeover: How Big Money
and Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back," by
David Sirota, describes the conquest ofAmerica's
democratic government by Big Money interests. Sirota, a former congressional
staffer, says although major, high-profile scandals are roiling Washington,
D.C.,
today, the most prevalent examples of the hostile
takeover are "the almost invisible, day to day corruption tales that
plague American politics. One day, it is a little-noticed amendment in a big
spending bill in Congress. The next day it is political reporters refusing to
address major economic challenges that average Americans are faced with. And
still the next day it is a politician boldly lying to the public about who is
behind what they are doing." This book is written for regular Americans
who want to know what is happening to their democracy, not for the political
elite (I
have not read this yet so I cannot attest to its worth, but it looks
interesting and I have it on order.)
.
10 Steps
to Repair American Democracy : An Owners Manual for
Concerned Citizens (Paperback)
by Steven Hill (ISBN: 0976062151)
From the publisher: Unresponsive government. Uninspiring candidates. Mindless political
debate. Suspicious voting equipment. American
representative democracy is suffering through its worst crisis in many years,
and while many Americans recognize it, they just don't know what to do about
it. In <i>A More Perfect Union,</i> Steven Hill offers specific solutions for election
reform. Arguing that much of what ails American politics is rooted in
antiquated 18th-century practices, Hill makes a stirring call for national
elections standards, nonpartisan election officials, an Election Day holiday,
and other repairs to the nuts and bolts of the voting process. Further, he
calls for the end of winner-take-all elections, adoption of proportional
representation, reform of presidential elections, fairer representation in the
U.S. Senate, universal voter registration, public financing of elections, and
free air time for candidates. An inspiring blueprint for repairing and
reinvigorating American politics, Hill’s simple yet effective proposals
strengthen not just the electoral system, but the republic itself. (This has some extremely
useful suggestions, but since they are useful to the public they likely will
not survive the political process.)
8
Contact
information
Lohman
is a retired business owner in Colgate
WI and volunteers’ time on the issues of Election reform and Universal health care -
Contact: Jack E. Lohman
jelohman@gmail.com
or jelohman@charter.net
Phone 414-477-8686 (cell)
www.WiCleanElections.org
www.wi-cfr.org
www.SmokeFreeDining.net
9
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