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search.  white men with money  Pay Czar Throws Wall Street a
Bone  When Treasury Department pay czar Kenneth Feinberg cut
executive compensation at seven companies that accepted bailout
money, a collective groan rose from Wall Street. Surprisingly,
it wasn't ignored. Instead, Feinberg revisited the issue and
decided to increase base salaries for execs at those companies.
As a result, average salaries rose to $437,896, up 14 percent
from last year. The move was largely seen as an effort to help
these seven companies retain their top brass, though not
everyone is buying what Feinberg is selling. "I don't think it's
a good thing," one analyst told the Wall Street Journal.
"Politically, it's odd. In terms of messaging, it's odd. From a
business perspective, I prefer to align compensation with
performance objectives and not a fixed rate."  Meanwhile,
Feinberg is stuck trying to please both the populists who want
to see companies punished for their mi