Exxon Mobil Corp.’s former chief executive Lee R. Raymond received more than $400 million in total compensation in 2005, his final year, The New York Times reported — and his total compensation during his 13 years amounts to $144,573 for each day he worked.
Not bad, eh? But he’s hardly alone in cashing in. While the average American worker has seen wages and benefits decline because of outsourcing and technology, executive pay “continues to rise at an astonishing rate,” according to a recent Times special report, which found that the average pay for CEOs increased a whopping 27 percent in 2005, to $11.3 million.
Granted, Raymond led a company experiencing record — many would say obscene — profits. But the oil company’s recent performance is tied as much to the luck of commodity prices as to his leadership.
As one compensation analyst told the Times, “Exxon was there long before Mr. Raymond was there and will be there long after he leaves. Yet he received Rockefeller returns without taking the Rockefeller risk.”
When will corporate boards and shareholders say “Enough”?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Kansas’ two popular senators do not rank among the nation’s 10 best, according to Time magazine. A native Wichitan did, though: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (in photo), R-Pa., is praised for his “principled contrarianism” while fighting Hodgkin’s disease. The other nine best: Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.; Jon Kyl and John McCain, R-Ariz.; Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. It also should be noted that neither of Kansas’ senators is among Time’s worst: Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii; Wayne Allard, R-Colo.; Jim Bunning, R-Ky.; Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; and Mark Dayton, D-Minn. Time also dubs five the “Up-And-Comers”: Barack Obama, D-Ill.; Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.; Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; John E. Sununu, R-N.H.; and Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
Many would argue that such rankings mean little to voters. That’s a point soon to be tested in Kansas, where Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, one of Time’s five best governors last year, is up for re-election this year.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
My ploy continues to work like a charm. Once again I’ve been able to leave a cartoon unfinished, secure in the knowledge that Dear Readers will do the heavy lifting and provide us with clever captions, performing the kind of jobs that Real Americans like moi turn our noses up at. Wait a minute. Real Americans don’t use sissy French terms like "moi." Oh, well. On to the runners up in the latest caption contest. Click on the image to see this week’s winning entry, then look over these other captions and decide for yourselves whether we’re full of it when it comes to judging such things. Kurt Holmes of Wichita sent in a good caption which was weakened slightly by an unseasonable reference, this being Easter weekend and all: "Next year we’re putting a limit on Thanksgiving guests!" Wichita’s Frank Moore thought of another topic in the news: "See, son. You build a casino and they will come!" Larry England of Medicine Lodge also took a gamble with his caption: "Never trust those white guys. Soon they will want to build a casino close to ours." I really like Tracy McCue of Wellington’s caption, but the other judges didn’t concur: "There, you see what happens when our politicians cater to the ‘lost white guys who think it’s India vote!’" From Kurt Holmes of Wichita: "Son, I suggest they pick the corn this year." Cowboy poet Ed Parrish rustled up this caption: "We’ll watch them for five years. If they work cheap and learn our language, we’ll let them stay." Similarly from Judith White: "We’ll let them stay for 11 years, learn our languages, obey our laws, take only the jobs we don’t want and value what we value." Troy Davis said, "What could possibly go wrong if we just let them all in for their cheap labor? I’m sure they’ll assimilate and learn our language and ways." Here’s a twist fromMadison’s J.V. Shelton: "Well, there goes the neighborhood. My God, is that Fred Phelps waving???" Bruce Cole put a new spin on and old phrase: "Well, here comes the neighborhood!" Bruce also submitted "Maybe these men can help us build a wall to keep people out of our land." That one was similar to the winner’s caption, but we gave the winner points for brevity. Richard Julius, always prolific, sent lots of captions. Among the best were "Are they waving at us with one finger???" and "Hopefully, this is just a cruise ship!" Another caption I liked better than my fellow judges was from Sandra Cay of Wichita: "Iraq’s the other way!" Wichita’s Karen Wallace had several good ones: "At last the gardeners have arrived!" and "The work they won’t do, we’ll outsource to India!" and a pretty good pun: "More will come. They get 3,000 miles to the galleon!" Bernie Lantz of Bel Aire said, "We stop immigration, we never get to watch American Idol!" And finally, a few shots a me. An anonymous chap included a note which read: "Hey, Rich, let’s see ya publish this one, you liberal apologist! Only a liberal would compare the original immigrants to this country with the floods of illegals who now invade." And his or her caption: "Look, my son…a new way of life is here! Improved medicine, technology, industry, housing! Thank God!" Then from P.A. Lawrence of Mulvane: " Now get-um straight-um. No talk-um about Hopi cannibalism, Apache running buffalo over cliff for meat and NEVER tell them about plains Indian raids taking women slaves. They’ll think we are SAVAGES! Remember ‘we are one with the earth.’ In 500 years a so-called cartoonist CROWSON will spin history to meet our needs!"
Posted by Richard Crowson
Has the Bush administration’s mishandling of the Iraq war significantly decreased its ability to deal with Iran? Liberal columnist Joe Conason thinks so:
“For warning noises to be taken seriously, however, the noisemakers must possess credibility — and over the past three years, the Bush administration has squandered that precious commodity, along with many lives and much treasure. Having gone to war under the false pretense of preventing a rogue state from obtaining nuclear weapons, President Bush has badly undermined his government’s capability to cope with the real thing.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Today’s tax filing deadline likely has reminded millions of Americans of the complexity of our nation’s tax system. President Bush said that simplifying the tax code was a priority of his second term, but that isn’t going anywhere — and is unlikely to, given his other political problems. Too bad. There is a grassroots movement in support of a national sales tax, though there are concerns about how that might shift the tax burden and create black markets. A flat tax is another option, though that could mean that some wealthy investors end up paying very little in taxes, if their investment income is no longer taxed. Still, billions of dollars are spent each year on tax preparation and compliance costs. It would be nice to put that money to better use.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Here’s a new one to add to the usual arguments against letting Kansans decide for themselves at the ballot box whether to expand gambling: According to The Kansas City Star, Sen. Karin Brownlee, R-Olathe, recently suggested that Democrats and moderate Republicans are seeking a three-year schools plan because gambling then would be needed to pay for it. The real reason, of course, is that the Kansas Supreme Court and the Legislature’s own auditors have said that schools are badly underfunded, and a multiyear plan has emerged as the best means to the desired end of a constitutional funding formula.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Even in the 21st century, some neighborhoods and homeowners’ associations in Wichita and elsewhere in Kansas reportedly still have covenants barring blacks, Jews and other groups from moving in. A bill unanimously passed by both chambers of the Legislature and now before Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should push all groups to purge such language from their covenants at last, or invite legal action against them by the Kansas Human Rights Commission, local governments or individuals. Nearly 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed such covenants unenforceable, it is such racist language that is unwelcome in this state.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
