A while back when the details of the Bush tax cuts were coming into focus, Time Magazine ran an article that explained how the average American’s cut was disproportionately smaller than the fat cat’s slice. Like most people who read the article, I was upset that the nation was going to be thrown a huge deficit in order to pad the bankrolls of the wealthy, while the average American, suffering from lay-offs and pay-cuts, was going to receive a paltry check or none at all.
Time just ran another article detailing some of the dividends that CEO’s are going to receive thanks to Bush’s dividend tax cut. In figures that are nothing but obscene, CEO’s are issuing increased dividends—or creating them in some cases—for what can only be described as self-interest. For instance: Citigroup CEO (and billionaire) Sandy Weill will receive $27 million in after-tax income, up from his previous $11 million. Bill Gates will receive $82 million after taxes, thanks to a newly created eight cents-a-share dividend. I find it very hard to believe that any of the über-rich CEO’s either upped the dividend value or created one solely to satisfy the “demands” of the shareholders. I can think of another reason. Can you?