Romney Touts Presidential Salary Plan That Was Literally A Saturday Night Live Skit

[Kadie]

Romney Touts Presidential Salary Plan That Was Literally A Saturday Night Live Skit
By Ian Millhiser on Jun 13, 2012 at 12:59 pm

In an interview with conservative radio host Neal Boortz, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney floated an unusual profit-making opportunity for himself if he becomes president — paying himself a higher salary if he performs well in the White House. In Romney’s words, “I do believe in linking my incentives and my commitment to the accomplishment of specific goals . . . . I wish we had that happen throughout government — where people recognized they are not going to get rewarded in substantial ways unless they are able to achieve the objectives that they were elected to carry out.”

This is not a new proposal, however. It was actually proposed in 1992 by billionaire presidential candidate Ross Perot — or at least by someone pretending to be Perot. In a 1992 Saturday Night Live skit, Perot impersonator Dana Carvey outlined something very similar to the Romney plan for presidential compensation:



If I’m President, we get 0% growth, you don’t pay me nothing. 1% growth? Hell, a chimpanzee could run this country and make 1% growth! So you don’t pay me dime one. Got my own plane, don’t need Air Force One. State Dinners? I’ll pay it, it’s nothing to me, sand on the beach! Now, don’t worry about ol’ Ross Perot, I got $3 billion back at home.

Now, here’s the deal. Here’s what I’m trying to tell you. 3% growth in our economy, $120 billion growth in our GNP – I get a billion dollars. Now, think about it, that’s a bargain! You’re up $119 billion. I’m telling you, 2.99% growth, I don’t see a penny, not one red cent. But don’t feel sorry for me – I got $3 billion. I’m gonna be fine.

more...
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/06/13/498933/romney-touts-presidential-salary-plan-that-is-literally-a-saturday-night-live-skit/

[annabanana]

1. Heh. .MORE fail from the Rmoney team. . . . n/t

[Kadie]

7. It seems like every week it is something new.

It is going to be interesting.

[Indydem]

2. The president should be paid NOTHING.

You have to be rich to be president anyway. While in office, the government pays all your expenses, and once you leave office, you make a fortune on the speaking circuit.

Not one penny in salary.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Look at businesses that incentivize performance.

I have no doubts that managing the numbers (aka cooking the books) becomes the top priority for maximizing compensation. Obviously harder to do that in the public sector, but when you want to run government like a business, you start re-engineering the organizational structure to make it work for you.

[Gregorian]

4. These ideologues are in the wrong business. Instead of fucking America they should be writing comedy

For example- Religious Liberty Referendum. This translates to making it legal to blow people up who you don't like.

Hilarious!

[tularetom]

5. I'd go along with that provided it worked both ways

There's no downside risk for him if his "objectives" are not met. And of course those "objectives" would be defined so vaguely that there would be no way to prove whether or not they were met. But there's a way to fix that.

In the unlikely event that this clown were actually elected president he should be put on a performance contract like the one "Ross Perot" proposed 20 years ago, with the additional clause that if the economy takes a shit, Romney has to cough up a percentage of the loss.

[KamaAina]

6. Well, at least he didn't rip his platform off from SimCity

like Cain did with his 9-9-9.

[Voice for Peace]

8. He just wants a gigantic corporation to play with

[LynneSin]

9. For a man whose networth is over $200mill, I think a $400k/yr is like me quitting my current job...

and working at McDonalds.

What incentive would Romney even have to earn any of his paycheck? I mean if all of Romney's networth was invested in a 4% mutual fund the guy would still make $8 million a year. $400k is pocket change for him and an insult to think that the American voters would somehow think THAT is a reason we should vote for the guy.

[tclambert]

10. His plan works so well in the private sector. CEOs only get bonuses if their companies thrive

. . . or if they go bankrupt, . . . or tank the entire economy, . . . or get bought out, . . . or pretty much any time the CEOs avoid going to prison. (I'm not sure about that last one, I just can't think of a CEO who went to prison and got a bonus.)

[jaysunb]

11. And THIS is why the polls say it's a deadheat ?