As POTUS and FLOTUS charm the Continent, new details emerge about the not so secret meeting between President Obama and the financial mavens whose incredible avarice plunged this nation's and the world's economy into the deepest pits of despair since the Great Depression.
Quick brown foxes, jump over lazy dogs for juicy details of big-wigs taken to the woodshed.
They may not have come hat-in-hand this time, but they tried to make their case none-the-less. They soon realized that this was to be all business and no pomp and circumstance.
At each place around the table sat a single glass of water. No ice. For those who finished their glass, no refills were offered. There was no group photograph taken of the CEOs with the president...
Said one attendee: "The only way they could have sent a more Spartan message is if they had served bread along with the water."
The signal from Obama’s body language and demeanor was, I’m the president, and you’re not.
Thus, having only one glass of iceless water to wash down the crow and enlightened with the understanding of who actually runs the country, the gathered power-brokers, though cowed, tried to explain the outrageous salaries, bonuses, perks and what not with trite platitudes and arguments as worn as my sixth-grade sneakers.
"These are complicated companies", one CEO said. Offered another: "We’re competing for talent on an international market."
The Big-Dog wasn't buying that condescension. The "it's complicated" argument that every parent or teacher knows is a useful tool in not explaining things to a fifth-grader, gained a lot of traction during the tenure of the previous occupant of the Oval Office, but now the grown-ups are in charge. Saying "it's complicated" to our President is a lot like me like me pitching to Alex Rodreguiz - there's no mustard on that pitch, so it's going outta the park.
Seems too, that our Head-Ass-Kicker-in-Charge is using that Blackberry&trade he fought to keep for more constructive purposes than Twittering John McCain. Unlike the former Head-Bad-Decider-in-Charge, President Obama understands life outside the bubble and remains more in touch with the mood of us common folks than either Gee-Dumbya or his private-jet-riding, I use "summer" as a verb, pals whose ignorance and malfeasance succeeded in odiously driving our financial system to ruin.
[The President]... offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. "Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that."
[He] spoke of public outrage over the high-flying executive lifestyle. “The anger gentlemen, is real.”
Obama urged pay reform and said rewards must be proportional, balanced, and tied to the health and success of the company.
Talk about guy with his finger on the pulse. I guess those who live in glass houses shouldn't heave bricks about. Especially when they are buying those bricks on our dime.
I fully share the populist anger over the excesses perpetuated by the "Wealthy Know Best' sitcom of the past eight years. Bush and his cronies handed the keys to the kingdom to the power elite and told them to drink freely and deeply from the well. And, like all gluttons, they did without regard, without remorse and without conscience for those hauled the water.
President Obama's directive that those who gain must heed to the opinions of those who give informed the Ringmasters of the Wall Street Circus that their largesse was no fait accompli. And, in his not so gentle admonishment of those who came to believe they owned the world, President Obama displayed both the keen intellect - so sadly absent from our leadership of late - he possesses and the depth of his commitment to the creation of a more equitable nation.
President Obama is talking here about the social contract. What he is saying is what we all know: You are welcome in our system to profit from your endeavors. We have always rewarded hard work, sacrifice, education and all that. This is the world we live in. But, remember, gentlemen, to not let your greed blind you to the other half of the equation. Noblesse Oblige. The treasure you horde, comes with an obligation to respect and repay the people upon whose backs you made it. At this time, your behavior, your actions have lost the faith and the trust of those people and, thus, you have to show, through affirmative action, that your interests are broader than yourselves. Part of the deal, gentlemen, says that you have to give back to those upon whom the burden of your success lies. Otherwise, they just might take it themselves.
The Big-Dog summed it up very well, reminding those who would be kings:
My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.
Now, that is Righteously Kick-Ass
.