RUSH: We’ve got some of the funniest Barney Frank sound bites I’ve heard yet. He was on Neil Cavuto yesterday I’m going to play one of them for you before the break. Barney has got this idea, and I told you about it back in November after the election, Barney is going to go to corporations and he’s going to offer them a deal, less regulation for higher benefits, health care, and all that. He also now is getting excited about limiting CEO salaries, giving stockholders more say so in what the CEOs make, not just the compensation committee of the board of directors. So Cavuto says, ?In the Home Depot case, the shareholders, they complained enough. Finally the board said, ?You know what? This is awful.? So is that something that can be done privately and at the company level??
FRANK: Yeah, they said this is awful, please take $210 million and go away. I think the shareholders ought to have the right to say we’re unhappy without having to bribe someone with $210 million. That’s a lot of money.
CAVUTO: Where would you draw the line? Would you put a limit —
FRANK: Neil, Neil, Neil, Neil —
CAVUTO: Congressman, would you put a limit — would you put a limit on all CEOs’ pay?
FRANK: If you’re going to interrupt every five words, we don’t have a show.
CAVUTO: No, all I’m asking for is an answer, congressman.
RUSH: It gets better. Sit tight.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Back to Barney Frank with Neil Cavuto yesterday. We last left these two, Cavuto was trying to get Barney to admit that he wanted to limit CEO pay, and Barney is saying, ?Look, if you’re going to interrupt every five words, we don’t have a show,? refusing to answer the question. We now pick it up with Cavuto saying, ?What I’m asking you is where do you draw the line, congressman, on pay? On all CEOs, on basketball players, on who??
FRANK: Will you please let me answer the question.
CAVUTO: Go ahead. You had it.
FRANK: The answer is whenever the shareholders want to. It’s the shareholders’ corporation. And I believe that what we need to do is to step in and amend the law, because in some states, many states where corporate law is set, shareholders who want to have a vote can’t get one.
RUSH: So Barney is whining some more here, admits that he wants to legislate corporate salaries, but actually he’s doing this under the guise of shareholder power. Cavuto says, ?So when the shareholders of a company see that the company is now in the search for a new CEO, and the board’s empowered to find a new CEO for Home Depot who they might have to pay top dollar for, what would you be, for or against that??
FRANK: I’m for the shareholders deciding that. Why is that so hard for you to grasp? I don’t —
CAVUTO: Congressman, is it always so incumbent upon you to be so condescending, or do you just want to answer my question? All I’m asking — no, no, no. Congressman —
FRANK: No, no, no — don’t give me —
CAVUTO: Is it right for the shareholders —
FRANK: Neil, I’m —
CAVUTO: — to demand the board to do that? Yes or no.
FRANK: You’re not going to run this like a junior high school class. I’ve answered the question. You asked me the same question again in a distorted way.
CAVUTO: No, it’s not distorted, congressman. The fear is that you want to put a cap on CEO pay. I want to be clear that you do not. You do not, right?
FRANK: I never suggested that. The fear is put in their minds by people who pose questions like this.
RUSH: This is a technique Barney uses all the time when he doesn’t want to answer the question. He accuses the host of manipulating him or running a high school program or something. He then accuses Neil of running the show like a junior high school class.