I’m going to go on a rant today. I’m getting really frustrated with the government bailout/compensation capping talks. In essence, I see the government having two options, neither of which they are taking:

Option 1: Treat the bailout/TARP/whatever it’s called this week as a loan. Setup interest rates and payment plans, and go with it. No involvement other than collecting payments. In essence, non-voting shares in the companies who need the assistance.

Option 2: Treat the bailout as if they had simply purchased shares in the company the “normal” way. They get to vote on board members, possibly even sit on the board. If they are voting members, they, as The Government, get to do things like suggest new CEO’s and limits on pay. They are major stakeholders, and they get the privileges accorded to them with such a rank.

What they need to stop doing, though, is what they are doing right now. Back in January, when the bonuses were being paid out, and the government said “hey, we don’t like that” the banks said – “hey, tough, it’s our company, and they are our employees.” We all know what happened next – the government passed legislation taking the bonuses back out of the pockets of the employees. While it may have been distasteful to pay them out these large sums of money, it set the precedent for what’s happening now. If the government doesn’t like the way the companies are acting they will ‘fix it’.

It’s intolerable to stand by watching as the individual politicians meddle in the affairs of major companies without also holding them personally accountable to the shareholders of those companies for what they are doing.