Why Hillary! Is Both Wrong and a Giant Hypocrite for Criticizing High CEO Pay
Hillary Clinton, under pressure from the left wing of her Democratic Party to aggressively campaign against income inequality, voiced concern about the hefty paychecks of some corporate executives in an email to supporters.
Striking a populist note, Clinton, who announced on Sunday she was running for president in 2016, said American families were still facing financial hardship at a time “when the average CEO makes about 300 times what the average worker makes.”
There is both a punchy way to respond to this and a thoughtful and analytical way to respond. Nobody really cares about the thoughtful and analytical way to respond, so I’ll concentrate on the punchy way.
First, Hillary makes a pretty penny herself, does she not? I seem to recall “dead broke” Hillary making $300,000 a speech (the “special university rate”) while demanding travel in private jets and staying in hotels’ “presidential suites.”
Second, will anyone ask Hillary if she thinks Oprah is overpaid? Oprah is worth $3 billion, and makes $77 million in a bad year and $290 million in a good year. How dare she? Why, that’s more than 300 times what the average worker makes! $77 million is, in fact, almost 3000 times the medium annual salary in the United States.
If you don’t like Oprah as an example, pick your favorite Friend of Hillary and ask her that question. Any highly paid person in Hollywood will do.
Now for the more thoughtful analysis, which nobody really cares about, so I’ll put it beneath the fold: