Editor's note: The following is a letter sent to Ginny Brown-Waite in response to her July 9 newsletter. It is reprinted here at the author's request. ...more

November 10, 2009

One of the leading controversies on the Sunday TV talk shows was the appropriateness of the government imposing limits on the executive compensation packages of those corporations which have been bailed out with tax funds. A moment's reflection on the fact that the taxpayer now stands in the place of the stockholder as the owner of these companies should be a sufficient justification for these limits. Stockholders, as the owners of a corporation, originally set the compensation of its officers and employees, but over the years, the officers and boards of directors, through a series of strategies, wrested control from the stockholders and, treating the companies as their own, set their own compensations without regard for the wishes of the true owners, the stockholders. Their view? If you don't like it, sell you stock. A board room "coup de corps!" ...more

October 27, 2009

Comrade Greenspan wants us to seize the economy's commanding heights. ...more

February 24, 2009

The last few days there have been numerous letters to the editor in Highlands Today and also The Tampa Tribune regarding the State Farm Insurance abandonment of the state of Florida homeowners insurance. I wonder why I haven't seen anything about the 25 percent increase awarded to Progress Energy which took effect on Jan.1? This outrageous increase hits us during one of the country's worst economic recessions in recent memory. I have written letters to Governor Crist and our local Rep. Denise Grimsley trying to get them to rescind or even delay this increase. The governor forwarded my letter to the Public Service Commission and I received a letter from them outlining the reasons why the increase to Progress Energy was awarded. They tell me that one of their reasons was the increase in the cost of fuel and another was the building of a nuclear power plant. ...more

February 6, 2009

Two unfortunate counterparts to democracy are greed and corruption. Rush Limbaugh has said that the salaries and perks extended corporate executives are none of the people's business. This is one of the few areas where he and I part company. I wonder if the recent near-collapse of our economy has changed his thinking. When business failures result in government bailouts, that cost is passed to taxpayers. Excessive salaries often result in stockholders being cheated. These consequences of poor and careless management alone place executives' salaries and perks in the public domain. ...more

January 31, 2009

Fan discontent over the direction of the team was a factor in the recent firing of Jon Gruden as head coach of the Buccaneers, Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer said Monday. ...more

January 27, 2009

Fan discontent over the direction of the team was a factor in the recent firing of Jon Gruden as head coach of the Buccaneers, executive vice president Bryan Glazer said Monday. ...more

January 26, 2009

It was the year the U.S. government pledged more than $8.5 trillion in loans and guarantees to bail out struggling companies. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appeared on the cover of the New York Post more than celebrity heiress Paris Hilton. Stockholders lost more than $30 trillion in market value. Here's a look at 2008 through the numbers: ...more

January 2, 2009

The company that owns Spring Hill and Brooksville Regional hospitals is offering staff physicians the chance to invest in the two facilities. ...more

December 31, 2008

One For Thumb I found the column "Don't Kill The Corporate Goat" that appeared in the Nov. 28 Trib interesting. I think Thomas Sowell missed the point. The amount of money a CEO takes out of his organization is not the point. The point is the CEO is like a captain of a ship. He is getting paid to ensure his ship is performing the task it is designed to do. ...more

December 2, 2008