CEOs Pushing Austerity Enjoy Taxpayer-Subsidized Pay

Washington, D.C. — Ordinary taxpayers are subsidizing exorbitant executive pay at the corporations leading the push for austerity in the budget debate, according to a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies and Campaign for America’s Future.

The report is the first to put a price tag on the tax breaks specific corporations have enjoyed from a loophole that allows unlimited deductions for executive stock options and other “performance-based” pay. It focuses on corporate members of Fix the Debt, a lobby group that is calling for “shared sacrifice” while quietly advocating for cuts to Social Security and more corporate tax breaks.

On May 2, the report became available online here.

“These CEOs are raking in huge taxpayer-funded bonuses at the same exact time they’re insisting on deep cuts in the government programs that benefit ordinary Americans,” said Sarah Anderson, a report co-author and Global Economy Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies.

“If Fix the Debt’s CEOs really wanted to fix the debt, they wouldn’t be lobbying for lower tax rates – even as they take advantage of tax loopholes that allow their companies to pay them incredibly lavishly,” said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future. “This study shows that Fix the Debt’s CEOs have gotten huge tax breaks, which calls into question their legitimacy. Clearly they want austerity for hard working Americans, but no sacrifices at all for CEOs.”