The Joys of Stock Ownership  I happen to own shares in Bank of
America, so I’ve just received a proxy statement for the
upcoming annual meeting. The Board of Directors recommends that
I authorize them to vote my shares FOR an uncontested slate of
candidates for the board. Usually I go along with such proxy
requests.  But this time I thought: Why should these people get
something like $250,000 a year to take orders from President
Obama and Secretary Geithner? It’s become pretty clear that the
Obama administration intends to use the bailout money to control
private companies. He intends to tell companies what cars to
make, how much to lend, how much to charge for credit cards,
what to pay their executives, what kinds of bonuses are
acceptable, and other crucial management decisions.  So I
decided to write in “Barack Obama” for all 18 positions on the
Board of Directors. However, neither the paper ballot nor the
online ballot allowed for write-ins. I guess the official slate
will win. But make no mistake. Obama’