Wendy Sherman: “What if stock options were given to a health insurance company in return for providing health insurance to the…”

“What if stock options were given to a health insurance company in return for providing health insurance to the employees? Everyone in this hall agrees that would be listed as an expense. What if a company issues stock in return for employee services or stock in return for supplies? Everyone agrees that would be listed as an expense. Again and again, when a company is getting supplies, when it is rewarding its rank-and-file employees, when it is providing health care, everybody agrees you list that as an expense, even if no cash leaves the treasury of the company. And, yet, we are asked to make one exception, and that is for executive compensation. Keep in mind the vast majority of these options are going to top executives. Thirty percent of the options are going to just the top five individuals. Now, there is a compromise that is set forward by the authors of this bill, and that is that at least the options going to the top five are going to be expensed.”