This cuts to the heart of the CEO pay discussion, so thanks for raising it. The argument made by this overpaid bunch always centers around the unfounded concept of “high risk/high reward” but there never is any risk at the top. It’s only about reward, with the risk being doled out in heavy doses to everyone else. In the case of GM, outside of this boot licker, nobody in America sees current GM CEO Richard Wagoner, Jr. as the person to lead the company out of this mess. If CEO’s such as Wagoner are going to ask for the big bucks, either put up or shut up.

General Motors vice chairman and auto industry veteran Robert Lutz says saving America’s auto industry must be a joint effort, and he thinks GM chief executive Richard Wagoner, Jr., should not be made a “sacrificial lamb” in the process. Lutz was responding to weekend calls, notably from Sen. Christopher Dodd, for Wagoner to resign. Dodd said management changes have to be part of conditions for a bailout to help the companies restructure. Dodd is chairman of the Senate’s Banking Committee and a key architect of the bailout legislation being crafted in Congress. During a Sunday appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” he suggested that GM and Chrysler should probably merge.