WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate John McCain took aim at chief executives of the largest U.S. companies, saying many of them enjoy big paydays while escaping responsibility for their mistakes.
McCain pledged that if elected he would push to let shareholders curb the pay of CEOs and unleash federal prosecutors to punish wrongdoing.
“For too long, government has been the voice of big business, not small business,” McCain said. “Even when very large businesses violate their trust, they seem to be held to a different standard — getting away with conduct that would leave any small-business owner broke.”
McCain told the National Federation of Independent Business that “something is seriously wrong when the American people are left to bear the consequences of reckless corporate conduct, while the offenders themselves are packed off with another $40 or $50 million for the road.”
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has proposed legislation to give shareholders a nonbinding vote on executive pay. Bloomberg News
