The Institute for Policy Studies and the Campaign for America's Future joined forces
to study a tax deduction for "performance pay" that allows CEOs and other top executives to pocket gobs of money that would otherwise have been taxed as part of their already ample salaries. They, of course, don't call this a tax subsidy. But because they get that little perk and you don't, what else should it be called? The job creators' bonus? We could just go for the simple: rip-off.
But that's not the worst of it. The executives in question are all at the top of corporations that are members of the austerity-mongers at Fix the Debt. In short, they're the plutocrats who want to scoop big hunks out of the food stamps and Head Start and other federally funded social programs for being too damn burdensome. This from Fix the Debt members who managed to personally "sequester" (from the IRS) as much as $1.6 billion via the “performance pay” loophole between 2009-2011.
These top executives "are aggressively advocating cuts to government programs that benefit the ordinary American taxpayers subsidizing their compensation," the study's authors say. Many of them "also added to America’s debt and deficit by using tax havens and other accounting tricks to have their corporations avoid paying their fair tax share."
Some highlights:
• During the three-year period 2009-2011, the 90 publicly held corporate members of the austerity-focused “Fix the Debt” lobby group shoveled out $6.3 billion in pay to their CEOs and next three highest-paid executives.
• These 90 Fix the Debt member firms raked in at least $953 million — and as much as $1.6 billion — from the “performance pay” loophole between 2009-2011. The exact full value of corporate windfalls from this loophole will remain impossible to compute until we have more complete mandated disclosure for executive compensation.
• Top executives at these same Fix the Debt companies are aggressively advocating cuts to government programs that benefit the ordinary American taxpayers subsidizing their compensation. Many of these executives have also added to America’s debt and deficit by using tax havens and other accounting tricks to have their corporations avoid paying their fair tax share.
• Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group enjoyed the biggest taxpayer subsidy for its CEO pay largesse. The nation’s largest HMO paid CEO Stephen Hemsley $199 million in total compensation between 2009 and 2011. Of this, at least $194 million went for fully deductible “performance pay.” That works out to a $68 million taxpayer subsidy to UnitedHealth Group – just for one individual CEO’s pay. A just-released proxy reveals that Hemsley pocketed another $28 million in “performance pay” in 2012, which computes into a tax break for UnitedHealth of nearly $10 million.
• Discovery Communications stood next in line for a government handout. Between 2009 and 2011, CEO David Zaslav pocketed $114 million, $105 million of this in exercised stock options and other fully deductible “performance pay.” That translates into a $37 million taxpayer subsidy for Discovery and its lavish executive pay policies. In 2012, Zaslav hauled in enough additional “performance pay” to generate a tax break worth $9 million.
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2012— Georgia becomes the seventh state to cut off abortions at 20 weeks. No exceptions for rape or incest:
Acting on contentious legislation passed by the Republican-dominated state House and Senate, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R)signed a bill Tuesday that forbids abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy except when the woman's life is at risk. No exceptions are allowed for rape or incest. The bill, HB 954, effectively cuts six weeks off allowable time when abortions are now permitted in the state.
It wasn't the total victory the law's drafters had hoped for, however. In spite of vigorous opposition from forced-birther lobbyists, abortions will be permitted in cases where there are "irremediable" fetal congenital or fetal abnormalities "incompatible with sustaining life after birth." So hurrah for a small victory in two years' of the worst series of defeats for the women's reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide 39 years ago.
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Tweet of the Day:
.@GovernorOMalley has signed the death penalty repeal bill into law, making Maryland the 18th state to abolish capital punishment.
— @journosnow via TweetDeck
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show,
Greg Dworkin on the possibility the background check bill might be back. Gun rights advocate Gayle Trotter pulls a story from the files about women & guns, but doesn't quite bulls-eye it. Historical #GunFAIL: Ken Burns-style tribute to the accidental shooting of Stonewall Jackson. Also: does Wall St. use a "drug lord playbook?" Republicans for "armed revolution"? They're already at war with science, and they actively avoid pro-environment behavior. Just like they actively avoid common sense solutions if it might help Obama. InfoWars "reporter" mocked on Boston street. PA judge jailed for selling kids to private prisons.
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