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Don't stop talking now

Presidential candidates should debate, and reassure the markets and public

September 25, 2008

Now is no time for the presidential candidates to suspend their campaigns. This is a moment to seize. Sen. John McCain should attend tomorrow night's debate, but instead of focusing just on foreign policy, the forum should address the ominous domestic financial crisis that threatens the world's markets.

Ultimately, the three leaders - President George W. Bush, Sen. Barack Obama and McCain - must support a solution that reassures the world that the crisis is under control. And it must give the average American a way of sharing in future profits of the rescued firms.

Yesterday, the American people won a round, besting the financial services industry's powerful lobbyists. Thousands of calls and e-mails pouring into Washington convinced leaders to limit the eight-figure payouts for executives who ran Wall Street into the ground.

Excessive compensation linked to short-term profits is partly to blame for this mess. That must change. One smart suggestion is that Wall Street executives and directors should agree to future compensation linked to a five-year average of a firm's profits. Golden parachutes should be eliminated for bailout participants and a "clawback" provision added, so the public can recover bonuses based on earnings that later prove to be inaccurate. These ideas are a start, and they surfaced because of public outrage.

Since we, the nonwealthy, will be asked to pick up the tab, maybe Washington is finally beginning to understand that it must listen to workers as well as moguls.