as someone aspires to be the next bill gates, oprah winfrey, warren buffet or charles schwab we shouldtell them this guy is the limit, go for it. not we are the congress, you will not be allowed to go beyond the tenth floor and by the way, take the stairs. i will be first to admit compensation and for holding this hearing. this issue promises to be one of the most important regulatory reform legislation. recently there's been a number of characterization's of efforts to reform executive compensation structures on wall street in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the great depression many financial industry leaders have insisted ceo compensation is self correcting. the urge inaction on reform existing shareholder media scrutiny has moderated pay for leaders of poorly performing companies. they claim if we enact stronger reform our financial talent will be driven overseas and economic recovery will be delayed. what is missing from the argument is clarity and reason. for the 175 executives whose companies helped fuel the current economic crisis that required hundreds of billions

if someone aspires to be the next bill gates, oprah winfrey, warned buffet or charles schwab, we should tell them the sky is the limit, go for it. not where the u.s. congress, you will not be allowed to go beyond the 10th floor and oh, by the way take the stairs. i will be the first to admit that many compensation arrangements strike me as risky, illogical, unreasonable if not downright defensive. but the solution to any concerns regarding executive compensation practices is four, number one, the shareholders to vote for a change in management or to take their investment dollars elsewhere. and for congress to re-examine the tax code which probably helps drive a lot of these arrangements in the first place, and even more importantly to quit bailing out companies who fail in part due to flawed compensation systems. ila, i hope, i hope that in america determines systemic risk is not now being used the way the term internal securities was once used as a former soviet bloc. a justification for almost any and all government intervention. for those who truly want to reduce systemic risk, i sug