"Yer doin' a great job, Rummy!"

Despite Condoleeza Rice's claim that there have been no strategic mistakes made in Iraq, the recent chorus of calls for Rumsfeld's resignation by high-ranking, retired generals leads us to a different conclusion.

Rumsfeld has blown several strategic decisions that have produced the current quagmire in Iraq: He pushed the invasion campaign with too few troops, failing to secure critical munitions and installations; he failed to secure the country when Saddam's government was toppled, allowing the destruction of critical resources; he failed to occupy the country with enough troops to establish security and order; he failed to anticipate and adequately prepare for the insurrection. Currently, his philosophy of minimal troops levels is allowing our progress in Afghanistan to dissolve as the country devolves into greater violence.

Face it, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush have no experience in or respect for the military. Our generals have been educated in military theory and the experiences of past war. They have trained in preparing for and executing war. Their opinions should not have been ignored in the planning for Iraq and they should not be ignored today.

What's Good for the Goose...

Have you ever had to pay a plumber or auto mechanic $75 an hour and thought, "Gee, wouldn't I like to make that much money in an hour?" Did you ever wonder how anyone's time could be worth $4,800 per hour? Can anyone's work be that valuable?

Well, that is how much Pfizer paid CEO Henry McKinnell every hour of the workday if you compute his $9,706,000 compensation package (2004) over a standard 2020 hour work year. $4800 per hour. That is $14 every second!

But wait! It gets better! Guess how much they will pay him to NOT work? When he retires, McKinnell will receive approximately $3275 dollars an hour to go fishing! Yes, he will receive a retirement package yielding $6,518,000 per year, about 2/3 of his annual salary, after 35 years with the company and 5 years as CEO. That will buy a pretty nice gold watch, huh?

Now, the few retirees in this country who still have a "defined benefit" plan might well receive 2/3 of their salary after 35 years with a governmental organization. Yet, very few employees still participate in a defined benefit plan. Why? Because years ago corporate executives did away with such plans, turning to Congress to establish 401K plans in which a small percentage of the employee's salary is matched by the employer and invested in a private investment account.

For example, McKinnell might get a 5% matching contribution from his employer, receiving about $450,000 per year from the company during his five years as CEO. If he had made his $9million dollar salary for 30 years, Pfizer would have contributed about $13,500,000 over his career. BUT, dont forget that for 28 years he did not earn anywhere near $9M per year so the company's contribution would actually have been much, much lower - probably much less than the $6million McKinnell will receive in just one year of retirement.

So, we can see that there is quite a double standard in the stratosphere of corporate offices around the country. Defined benefit plans are a terrible idea for employees, but a wonderful idea for corporate execs.

Well, if you ask me, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. But, the people that run our country, the corporate executives, don't seem to agree with me.

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Below you can find a list of the top 25 CEO pensions in the country, compliments of NPR and the AFL-CIO. If you want to get really outraged, you can go to Forbes.com's directory of executive salaries here.
http://www.forbes.com/static/execpay2004/LIREYQ9.html?passListId=12&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=EYQ9&datatype=Person

Top 25 Largest Annual CEO Pensions

• Pfizer Inc. - Henry A. McKinnell - $6,518,459
• Exxon Mobil Corp. - Lee R. Raymond - $6,500,000
• AT&T Inc. - Edward E. Whitacre - $5,494,107
• UnitedHealth Group Inc. - William W. McGuire - $5,092,000
• IBM Corp. - Samuel J. Palmisano - $4,000,000
• Home Depot Inc. - Robert L. Nardelli - $3,875,000
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. - Reuben Mark - $3,700,000
• Comcast Corp. - Brian L. Roberts - $3,600,000
• Bank of America Corp. - Kenneth D. Lewis - $3,486,425
• Union Pacific Corp. - Richard K. Davidson - $2,700,000
• Exelon Corp. - John W. Rowe - $2,600,000
• ConocoPhilips - James J. Mulva - $2,600,000
• Lockheed Martin Corp. - Vance D. Coffman - $2,591,856
• Robert Half International Inc. - Harold M. Messmer - $2,555,000
• BellSouth Corp. - F. Duane Ackerman - $2,512,300
• Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. - Patrick T. Stokes - $2,500,000
• Mattel Inc. - Robert A. Eckert - $2,500,000
• Coca-Cola Co. - E. Neville Isdell - $2,500,000
• Prudential Financial Inc. - Arthur F. Ryan - $2,456,000
• FPL Group Inc. - Lewis Hay - $2,430,134
• Eli Lilly and Co. - Sidney Taurel - $2,300,000
• General Electric Co. - Jeffrey R. Immelt - $2,300,000
• Valero Energy Corp. - William E. Greehey - $2,236,000
• Countrywide Financial Corp. - Angelo R. Mozilo - $2,171,358
• PepsiCo Inc.- Steven S. Reinemund - $2,170,870

A History Test

In the continuing international struggle against terrorism, the global community faces a new threat of unrestrained aggression. Many countries are intimidated by the "axis of aggression" led by one of the most violent bullies known in recent history. This country, backed by the world's largest military force, has a long history of toppling elected governments through covert action. Recently, however, it has turned to more blatent means, using its vast military resources to invade, conquer and occupy two sovereign nations and establish its own political regimes. These military campaigns were accompanied by thousands of civiliarn deaths as well as human rights abuses.

Its rehetoric and ambitions are unrestrained, with the nation's leadership implying that military action against another country is imminent. Given the fact that this nation controls the largest inventory of "weapons of mass destruction" and is the only country to use nuclear weapons, the threat of nuclear attack is a serious concern within the international community.

Can this blatent aggression be restrained? Will the invasion and occupation of other nations lead, as did Hitler's invasion of Poland, to an international effort to stop this aggressor and ultimately, World War III?

Can you name this country? Can you help stop it before it strikes again?

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

With poll numbers dropping, Bush, Cheney and Rove know that they need to create another threat to America to rally the base. Who better than Iran?

In a classic case of self-fulfilling prophecy, our rhetoric will turn Iran into the monster that Bush says that it is. Who would not want to develop and test weapons systems of every type when you have the world's greatest aggressor breathing down your neck? It doesnt take a rocket scientist (and yes, Iran has some) to figure out that Iran should feel threatened by our rhetoric.

All is takes is a quick tally of the score of US v. Axis of Evil. The US has attacked and toppled two governments. While one can make the case that Afghanistan was attacked in some form of self-defense, the War in Iraq was a case of unrestrained aggression. As Iran looks around, it sees that the other member of Bush's axis, North Korea, proceeds merrily along with its nuclear program and missle tests with no threat of attack by the US. The difference is obvious: North Korea has an effective deterrent - nuclear weapons.

If the US wants to deal with Iran effectively, the path is obvious - negotiation and cooperation. After 9-11, Iran actually cooperated with us in turning over information about terrorists, however the Bush hardliners terminated this cooperation. Now, we proceed with a strategy that threatens 10% of the world's oil supply, our troops in Iraq, stability in the region, and promises to produce even MORE radical Islamic terrorists.

All this to win a few seats in Congress in the '06 elections?