I don't think criminalizing stupidity is the answer.  We all do stupid
things.  Who's to decide which decisions are stupid and which are
criminally stupid?  (Now making a stupid decision and not admitting it
to the investors might qualify to a regulatory board.)
If they want some really bad CEO for the name, great.  Hire them.  Put
them in the f**king mail room and let everyone know you've got Mr. Blah
of AT&T/Enron/Microsoft/Colgate-Palmolive fame working for you.  But
don't let these people into places where they can direct the company
until they work their way back up.  They obviously missed a lesson the
last time (if they even had to work their way up, nepotism and the good
ol' buddy network are alive and well).

Todd Hought wrote:
> 
> Yep, the problem seems to be that no matter how big of mistake any CEO
> makes, they will still make money. Which leads to bad CEO's getting
> practically praised for making bad decisions. If I gave my dog a plate
> full of fresh bacon every time she pooped on the carpet, I would expect
> much the same results.
> 
> The REALLY stupid part is for some reason, there are companies out there
> who are already probably chomping at the bit to get a 'high-profile' CEO
> like Bob Allen of AT&T on THEIR executive team, just so that they can have
> CEO with a big name. Nevermind the fact that his track record as a CEO
> sucks like a Hoover, he's got a big name, right? that's all that should
> count, right?
> 
> Wrong.
> 
> I've seen so many bad CEO's run companies into the ground, I should get a
> freakin' medal for not hitting them with a LART on sight. Bad CEO's will
> continue to line their pockets at our expense until one of them ACTUALLY
> gets punished for making decisions that an average garden slug would have
> the better sense not to. And I'm not talking fines, people with money,
> will always have money for little piddly $10 million dollar fines,
> especially when they've got more socked away than any of us will ever
> know. I'm talking PRISON, Sheriff Joe style. Bad CEO's are criminals, no
> different than some doofus who goes in and robs a fedrally-insured bank,
> except they rob people, REAL people.
> 
> I think that everything happening in business (Enron, etc) should serve as
> a warning to bad CEO's everywhere. You can only trample on the employees
> that are trying to succeed just as much as you for so long. I'm not a
> superstitous or religious man, but Karma can be a serious bitch, and I
> hope that the good St. Karma shows the CEO's just as much compassion and
> respect that they have shown to their employees.
> 
> -T
> 
> On Sat, 23 Feb 2002, George Toft wrote:
> 
> > Hmm...
> >
> > CEO gets $4 million severence (Bob Allen at AT&T) for upsetting
> > the Board of Directors.
> >
> > Joe FTE gets 4 months severence and $205/week for 12 weeks
> > (friend at Amex) for upsetting his manager.
> >
> > Who's the idiot again? :)
> >
> > George
> >
> >
> > Digital Wokan wrote:
> > >
> > > I wouldn't hold my breath.  I think businesses will continue to do
> > > really stupid things for as long as CEO's get stupidly large bonuses
> > > when they get kicked out for their overly stupid decisions.  Companies
> > > shouldn't have to pay management to go the hell away and not darken
> > > their door.  Let them collect the $205/week unemployment like the rest
> > > of us.  (Adjust for whatever state the idiot lives in.)
> > >
> > > John Kloian wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I firmly believe in deregulation, but the boom in the CLEC market and
> > > > their practices seem to have been a death sentence.  Its really funny,
> > > > take a voice T-1 for example.  Qwest is forced by the federal tariffs and
> > > > the Arizona Corporation commission to sell it at a certain price, however
> > > > MCI and AT&T or any other CLEC can sell it for upto 35% less than the
> > > > ILEC and they do all the time.  Now granted the CLEC losses money on every
> > > > deal, but they figured they get vertical sales from the customer.  this
> > > > has been going on for some time.  Plus the CLEC's by billions of dollar of
> > > > service from each other.  this looks good on the books, but the minute one
> > > > decalres bankruptcy everyone suffers as a result.  this is what we are
> > > > seeing happen right now.  When Global Crossing declared bankruptcy they
> > > > force XO to right off 7.35 billion on their books, obviously that hurt and
> > > > is one of the reasons XO is about to file chapter 11.
> > > >
> > > > In the end this shakedown will probably be a good thing, but we'll more
> > > > than likely be stuck with one ILEC until some new players pop up.
> > > > Hopefully the business practices will change slightly.