Replying to I heard a great point today

The general public needs to stop complaining about TARP recipient firms executives getting high compensation. Right now the entire economy is dependent on how well the financial sector is doing, whether or not these companies will survive. The underlying problem is not that the firms are wasting money on retreats or private jets etc, but rather they have assets that were once a very large portion of their balance sheets that are essentially now worth 0. While these firms still hold these worthless assets like CDOs and MBSs they have no cash and that is what is causing the stock prices to plummet.

Thus, i think the executives of these firms should be compensated HIGHER if they can get their companies out of this mess. These executives should be compensated multiples of billions of dollars if they can save the economy from collapsing under obamas watch. In other words, the execs shouldnt get their salaries topped off just because theyre tarp recipients. We should be trying to draw talent to these positions, not shun it. After all, 20 million here or 50 million there is nothing compared to the problems these firms are facing.