April 23, 2013
GOP Suggests a More Populist Approach on Executive Pay
– Subodh Mishra, ISS’ Governance Exchange
While addressing “main street” concerns over executive pay has in recent years undergirded the Democratic Party’s platform, Republican Party officials say they, too, will make it an issue in a bid to dispel notions they favor the rich. In a report released recently examining where the Republican Party fell short in the 2012 election cycle, officials said they would do more to attract new voters, including taking a more populist stance on company-related matters such as executive pay. “We should speak out when a company liquidates itself and its executives receive bonuses but rank-and-file workers are left unemployed,” party bosses wrote in the 100 page Growth & Opportunity Project. “We should speak out when CEOs receive tens of millions of dollars in retirement packages but middle-class workers have not had a meaningful raise in years.”
Officials added the party should “blow the whistle at corporate malfeasance and attack corporate welfare,” sentiments long associated with Democratic lawmakers whose historical base include labor unions and other constituencies expressing deep concerns of rising executive compensation levels. Moreover, the new calls are in stark contrast to images associated with 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, portrayed by opponents as among the ultra-rich and disconnected from working-class voters.