March 13, 2002

No one likes business tycoons who rip-off their company with exorbitant bonuses while their employees lose life savings. President Bush proposes they not be allowed to do that. He wants to strip CEO's of their bonuses if they profit from bogus financial statements. He also thinks executives should be barred from running publicly held firms if they abuse their power.

Is this something government should be doing? Who will define these things? Some liberals think that CEO's should be limited in what they can earn. Is that the business of government and, if it is, who decides? And who decides what is bogus and what is not. Some liberals think anything over a certain amount is bogus.

I'm all for the Securities and Exchange Commission fixing the loopholes in the law that keep employees from selling their stock while management unloads theirs, but I'm uncomfortable when government gets to decide who is making too much money. I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.