Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Chris Mathews/$5 million a year (MSNBC)
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March 23, 2009 at 7:38 pm #590198
SmittyParticipantFrom what I understand he just signed a new contract.
Aren’t they(MSNBC) owned by GE?
Didn’t GE take federal bailout money?
Should Chris’s salary be limited to $250,000/year, or at the very least taxed at 90%?
Thanks
March 23, 2009 at 7:47 pm #661499
SarahScootParticipantHmm this seems like it would get complicated because GE is a huge company and, yes, owns MSNBC. However, for MSNBC to thrive they need strong, well-known news personalities. In my opinion, $5 million is not an extravagant salary for someone who draws in millions of viewers on a daily basis. I doubt MSNBC would draw the same viewership without Chris as their “Hardball” host, and he could easily leave for another network if a better offer were on the table.
March 23, 2009 at 7:57 pm #661500
JiggersMemberNo one’s salary should be limited just because we are in a rut right now. And it’s against the constitutional right’s to impose a 90% tax increase on your salary just because you are thriving. If I were an AIG executive, I wouldn’t give one bonus cent back.
March 23, 2009 at 8:10 pm #661501
JanSParticipantjiggers…what constitutional rights would that be? enlighten me, as I don’t know where it says that in the constitution :)
March 23, 2009 at 8:10 pm #661502
rs261Memberthe tax proposal will get lots o lawsuits if it passes…its the whole reason why they left the loophole in to begin with, they didnt want to get sued. And, the pay of non-executives (such as chris mathews) is not limited by anything.
March 23, 2009 at 8:22 pm #661503
beachdrivegirlParticipantChris’s salary should not be limited. And as much I do not like it we really need to avoid the salary caps and extra taxes etc if we dont want our government to spend millions in court fees.
March 23, 2009 at 10:21 pm #661504
HMC RichParticipantAlthough MSNBC is owned by GE, they may be better off than other GE owned divisions. Not only does MSNBC have revenue from ad sales, they also get money from the subscription rates that every single cable or dish network subscriber pays each month. I don’t know if MSNBC is in the black or red, but unless most people get rid of cable/dish subscriptions, money will keep flowing in.
So if you like Chris but dislike Glenn Beck or Wolf Blitzer, financially it mostly doesn’t matter because you are helping to pay for all of their salaries.
The ratings make a difference and help the ad sales staff with the price per commercial but the monthly cable subscription rates almost always insures basic operations are covered and hopefully enough comes in for budgeting monies for replacement and upgrade of facilities, gear, people etc.
As far as capping salaries due to the bailout… If AIG would have been left to fail, would those people still have received those bonuses? I really don’t know. My thought is no but I was wondering. Would the contracts that were signed been fulfilled with AIG going under?
March 23, 2009 at 11:31 pm #661505
HMC RichParticipantThis post could probably go in the AIG thread but to answer post 4 by JanS regarding post 3.
Our Constitution does not allow a legislative body to punitively act against citizens after the fact.
Bills of Attainder are unconstitutional by Federal and State Governments.
The 90 percent tax on these AIG bonuses MIGHT be unconstitutional.
You can find it in the Constitution under Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 or Article I, Section 9. There isn’t a lot said but it is there.
The Heritage Organization addresses this question. http://www.heritage.org/Research/LegalIssues/wm2356.cfm
Their answer, although pertinent to the AIG bonuses, doesn’t address that issue directly.
Also Google AIG and Bills of Attainder and you will get articles by the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun and other sources which address this question. Here is on from the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0322chapmanmar22,0,2981627.column
It is not fully clear but I bet there will be legal challenges.
Personally, if they want to pay Chris Matthews that much money so that he gets a chill up his leg, so be it. I think I would get a chill up my leg if someone offered me 5 Million.
March 24, 2009 at 12:53 am #661506
JanSParticipantactually, I’d get more than just a chill up my leg if someone offered to pay me 5 mil – lol…
I understand what you’re saying, Rich…although technically, jiggers said “it’s against the constitutional right’s to impose a 90% tax increase on your salary just because you are thriving”…I doubt that’s in there – lol..
I don’t think this will get past the Senate…it’s too much of a gut reaction “Ohhhh, we can’t let that happen, the sky will fall”. I truly think something like this should be not such a quickdraw thing. Maybe this can’t be fixed, but future things can be, and not by imposing a 90% retroactive tax…
although, in many soul of souls, it sure does appeal to the common man…yeah, that’ll teach ’em…hehehe
March 24, 2009 at 2:29 am #661507
JoBParticipantHMCRich…
I would cry a river for those whose cable fees fund MSNBC if mine didn’t fund so many right wing talk show hosts who are paid similar salaries…
I too doubt the 90% tax will pass the senate…
but am not so indignant for those poor AIG employees whose contracts we had to honor.
correct me if i am wrong.. but those whose pensions were eliminated in reorganizations also had employment contracts.. didn’t they?
March 24, 2009 at 5:08 am #661508
JiggersMemberJan… I was thinking that the term “Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment” would apply towards AIG bonuses. But then again what do I know.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/takings.htm
March 24, 2009 at 6:35 am #661509
HMC RichParticipantJoB, I don’t know what to say to you other than . . are the right wing talk show hosts only on FOX NEWS? Besides some of the Hosts at FOX, who are the other Right Wingers on other networks? I am curious who you consider right wing.
Just to clarify, your local stations do not get money from cable subscription rates. Then again cable channels cannot broadcast over the air.
If you want to talk about AIG related issues we should do it in that thread or start a corporate greed/cover your ass congress thread
March 24, 2009 at 5:46 pm #661510
JoBParticipantHMC Rich..
I don’t get cable. i get satellite.. and yes my local network affiliate stations do get money from my rates…
I am pretty sure that every single channel beamed into my home gets some money from our monthly subscription.
the current Dish/Channel 4 standoff over appropriate fees has left me without channel 4…
it doesn’t matter much since i find i don’t miss them.. but… they obviously get money from the rates i pay…
That’s what subscription television is all about.. we pay money to have multiple stations beamed into our homes…
i don’t get to pick and choose who i pay for…
As for who the right wingers are… i couldn’t name them because i seldom watch them. It’s amazing, but i find it really difficult to wade down through all that anger and posturing to get to their content.
but it occurs to me that there are some pretty big names involved… like that rush fellow…
And it also occurs to me that the opposition to the war in Iraq wasn’t covered on most of my channels.. or the whistleblower who tried to blow the whistle on Madoff.. or economic news other than everything is coming up roses and you should invest your life savings in… or…
Since the rest of the news channels were pretty much backing up FOX’s portrayal of our political and economic status…
i am really unsure where you get this impression that the media services the left…
From my position… not so far out on the left of the spectrum… it doesn’t look like we get much service at all…
in fact, it appears there is only really one channel that consistently gives us that kind of news.. and that is LINK TV…
We send them extra money so they can keep beaming the kind of news we aren’t getting from all of those leftist channels into our home.
You are concerned about Chris Matthews? He apparently is chump change politically next to Limbaugh… he hasn’t been apologized to by a single democrat… not even by newbies in the house.
Unlike Limbaugh for whom the head of the republican party bends over backward and kisses his vast expanse…
I’ve said it before and i will say it again… everything left of Limbaugh isn’t left…
The left is way over there.. beyond the network rainbow… i like to think of us as the broadcasting pot of gold:)))
You should listen to Laura Flanders:))))
A little LINK TV is really good for some perspective on what the left really thinks…
and it has little connection to that pablum you think is so very left of center.
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