Do you smell that? It’s the wacky business world’s way letting us know its spring. Another day another business executive walks away with a cool 232 million while his employees work on their fancy “will break dance for food” cardboard signs under the overpass. It happens so often that I think people have become immune to the harsh realities, but the disparity of rich and poor rears its ugly head once more. Show of hands who all remembers Enron, MCI, and Tyco just to name a few?

Today I read in the newspaper that James Cayne CEO of Bear Stearns has hired personal security to escort him around his former office. Apparently employees were furious that Mr Cayne was going to bridge tournaments during the week the firm was crumbling. While I don’t advocate the use of violence, I’m actually kind of shocked that more CEOs who run their respective businesses into the ground don’t require the services of special kung fu ninja type body guards. I’m just saying… Anyways I don’t want to turn all “leftist” socialist on you while you read this perfectly good conservative blog, but it struck me while we throw the book at drug dealers and general miscreants, who is a larger threat to society? The guy with a bag of weed, or the guy who steals corporate funds while he devastatingly wipes out pensions, careers, lives, families, and communities (my apologies to female drug dealers and corporate thieves). Just because you went to college or play bridge with “important” people that doesn’t negate your contribution to destroying society.

I generally believe in the idea of the free market and all that nonsense I learned in economics, but these lovely ideas only seem to work on paper. The real monkey wrench that smashes these theories always seems to be corporate greed. As much as I hate government interference in industry and life in general, I do believe that some oversight is needed at the (bare minimum) to protect pensions. Maybe some oversight is needed to hold board members accountable for their actions. We have seen this time and again were somebody in a suit makes a bone headed move, the whole board rubber stamps it, it fails DOA, and to cover it up before they go on vacation they fire 1/3 of their staff. Maybe I’m naive but somehow that just seems wrong to me. OR, (and I’m just talking off the top of my head here) how about you keep the parachute bonus of 200 million and divide it between the workers and royally kick the CEO, President, and board members in the ass before you fire and shame them then take their salary and/or maybe even send them to jail. Too rough? Sounds just about right to me. Lets be serious if you screw up the count at McDonalds, Ronald isn’t as forgiving.

 I remember watching CNBC last year when the Fed infused Wallstreet with liquidity *cough* I mean bailed them out *cough* after weeks of rich millionaires on TV crying about they need help. Then I watched in horror as these same hypocrites felt that people hurt by the subprime crisis didn’t deserve any help, and that my friends pretty much sums this whole thing up in a tight little package. Which brings us to today, the Feds once again stepped in and saved the day guaranteeing Bear Stearns for 30 billion dollars (so they could be bought out by J.P. Morgan at 2 dollars a share instead of 160 a week ago), all the while there are poor people still living in FEMA trailers in New Orleans. Sorry to be a downer but it’s true, and while the rush to save one, and the hesitation to save another in the same breath is shocking, it is to be expected because everybody knows poor people don’t know how to play bridge.