I'm a big believer in small government and free markets.  Government certainly has a role in our lives, but it needs to be limited.  Unfortunately, the role of government has continued to increase, while its size has grown.  It's easy to focus solely on Barack Obama's socialistic tendencies, but let's not forget that the bailouts began during George W. Bush's watch.

     We have seen the United States bail out banks, prop up AIG, and take over GM and Chrysler.  Just when you think government involvement can't get any worse, we hear from Kenneth Feinberg, the nation's "Pay Czar".  It appears that compensation will be limited for the top managers at some companies that have received government assistance.  On average, these salaries will be cut by 50%, with some cut up to 90%.

     My initial reaction was outrage.  A person's salary is none of the government's business and should not be regulated.  I'm strongly opposed to the government setting salaries, but then again, I was also strongly opposed to bank bail outs, taking over Chrysler and GM, and offering assistance to AIG.  Upon careful consideration, I realized these restrictions are necessary in order to assure taxpayer interests are protected.

     Salary restrictions are punitive, but these measures are necessary to ensure that executives will manage their companies more responsibly and will think twice about seeking or accepting government assistance in the future.  If a more careful, conservative approach had been taken by these companies, bailouts wouldn't have occurred.  Hopefully, a fear of losing compensation will encourage executives to be more careful, while assuring that tax dollars will not be accepted in the future without careful consideration.