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MORE TALES OF TOP BRASS AT THE TROUGH By LINDA LEATHERDALE On top of all the news of Wall Street players feasting on fat-cat bonuses and excessive pay packages, funded by taxpayer-paid bailout money, comes this: Fraud-ridden Nortel Networks, now in bankruptcy protection, wants to pay 1,000 of its top executives up to US$45 million in cash incentives and bonuses so they won't jump ship as the ship goes down. Meanwhile, some 95% of its workers in North America, will only be eligible for $3 million in retention bonuses. There's even been suggestions that government bail out the financially-troubled Ottawa-based hi-tech player, who's been riddled by scandal after scandal, after CEO John Roth walked out the door with $400 million, while Nortel shares plummeted and employees lost jobs. Bottom line is taxpayers, on the hook for bailouts and bankruptcies, have had enough. Socialism for Wall Street and Bay Street, while brutal capitalism bleeds Main Street, has to stop. If taxpayers are footing the bill, taxpayers should have the final say on who gets paid what.
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