| Total | Total | Total | Total | |||
| Compensation | Compensation | Compensation | Compensation | |||
| FYE 2012 | FYE 2012 | FYE 2012 | FYE 2012 | |||
| 000s | 000s | 000s | 000s | |||
| Walmart | Costco | |||||
| Duke CEO | 18,132 | 18,713 | Jelinek CEO | 4,811 | 3,335 | |
| Holley | 5,112 | 8,186 | Brotman | 4,539 | 3,757 | |
| Simon | 8,443 | 14,055 | Galanti | 2,826 | 2,390 | |
| McMillon | 10,961 | 8,806 | Portera | 2,738 | 2,330 | |
| Cornell | 5,044 | 7,196 | Zook | 2,730 | 2,314 | |
| Ashe | 11,248 | Sinegal | 1,046 | 2,191 | ||
| Average | 9,823 | 11,391 | Average | 3,115 | 2,720 |
Clearly, Costco has its compensation right, not just at the top, where its average compensation of its top executives average only 28% of that of Walmart's top executives in the most recent two fiscal years combined, but also Costco fairly pays on average roughly twice as much as what Walmart pays to its employees at the bottom of the ladder. And many Walmart employees are unfairly paid near minimum wage.
From examining many Proxy Statements of large corporations filing with the SEC, the overwhelming majority of their CEOs received Total Compensation in 2011 of in excess of $10 mil, which would be considered extravagant by the overwhelming majority of US citizens.
And from these Proxy Statements, a huge majority of the non-CEO executives, usually the next four executives, received Total Compensation in 2011 of in excess of $5 mil, which would be considered extravagant by a huge majority of US citizens.
On the other hand, many of the unemployed for all of 2011 received annual unemployment compensation of roughly $10,000.
Thus, an executive making $10 mil is making 1,000 times what an unfortunate unemployed person makes. This is a moral outrage.
Also, many of the underemployed work two or three part-time jobs, frequently in retail, and get paid right around the Federal minimum wage, or only slight above it. Thus, this underemployed person could well receive total compensation in 2011 of roughly only $20,000.
An executive making $10 mil is making 500 times what the above unfortunate underemployed person makes. This is also a moral outrage.
My recommendation here is that a company, both C corporations and the various pass-thru entities, not be allowed to deduct, for US Federal Income Tax purposes, any of the total compensation above $10 mil of any of their employees, and further be allowed to deduct only 50% of the total compensation above $5 mil, but less than $10 mil, of any of their employees.
Further, my recommendation here would raise the US Federal Minimum Wage by a substantial percentage increase. In addition to fairly narrowing, at least by a bit, the huge economic gap between the top executives of a corporation and the workers at the bottom of this same corporation, this would also provide a very robust, desperately-needed US economic stimulus by putting so much more money in the hands of people who will quickly spend it.
The money raised by the above two proposals should then be used to reduce the US Debt.
