Obama a hypocrite for asking CEOs to reduce their salaries

Editor,

Recently, President Barack Obama came out in support of legislation that would implement restrictions, limits and caps on the salaries of CEOs of major corporations and businesses. Why is it OK for Obama to demand CEOs from large businesses "limit" their salaries and pay taxes when the highest CEO in the U.S., the president, gets whatever he wants at taxpayers' expense?

The president gets free rent at a mansion on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C., $400,000 yearly pay, a private jet, free food, free security and free lodging. It really irritates me. There is a word in the dictionary for this: hypocrisy.

The taxpayers are being taken to the bank for miscellaneous expenses and a luxury lifestyle on the same level as the controversial bailout is doing. However, when it comes to Main Street and Wall Street and the capitalist society, Obama demands businesses to limit their salaries and take one for the team.

Taxpayers don't have recourse since we have a duty to pay taxes and thus pay for the luxurious lifestyle of the president - a position that has driven the nation into trillions of dollars in debt. But when it comes to private businesses and corporations, the revenue in these companies comes from the private, free-will sector and consumers that support the supply and demand economics that support the decisions of corporations. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. In the future, when making economic decisions that affect real people, perhaps Obama should look in the mirror.

Daniel Martinez

UNM alumnus