Washington takes aim at CEO pay

More than at any time in a decade, official Washington is focused on how to curb the gilded pay packages of corporate executives. The problem: It's not easy to legislate a pay cut for some of America's most powerful people.

It's clear that the issue has gained traction this month, thanks to public concern about income inequality, investor outrage over pay at companies such as The Home Depot, and the politics of a new Democratic Congress.

Mark Trumbull

More steps along the road to socialism.

This from our newly-born-again Democrat President:

On Wednesday, President Bush used a podium on Wall Street to admonish corporate boards. "You need to pay attention," to see that top-level pay is tied to good performance, he said.

It seems almost surreal to imagine that there were once Republicans who said that corporate compensation is none of the government's business. Between the Dimwit from Crawford, his Dad, and their pal, Slick Willy, the idea of a free market and anything even resembling capitalism have been effectively and efficiently erased from the American political landscape. We are but a single generation from becoming the Soviet Union or the PRC.