Letters: Executive Pay Cap, 'Che,' Economy Song

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Now to your letters.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

And Robert, we have to begin with the overwhelming response to your interview with compensation consultant Steven Hall. Mr. Hall was explaining the impact of President Obama's new $500,000 pay cap for Wall Street executives whose companies receive special government bailout money.

Mr. STEVEN HALL (Compensation Consultant): The reality is these people have built a lifestyle based on expecting that they were going to earn significantly more, and this is a real drag on how they're going to meet the obligations that they and their family have set forth.

SIEGEL: Well, that defense executive pay was indefensible to many of our listeners. Shocked, appalled, furious - that's what we read in our inbox.

BLOCK: My heart bleeds for the poor bankers who can't make more than $500,000 a year, says Quentin Westcott(ph) from Kenmore, Washington. I've been unemployed for five months and have no sympathy for bankers who got us into this mess getting their wages capped. Maybe they'll have to live like the rest of us, instead of spending money on gold-plated caviar and magic pony rides. He adds: Actually, my heart better not bleed, since I don't have healthcare either.

SIEGEL: And Russ Scheba(ph) of Bloomington, Indiana sends us this question. This was intended as a joke, right? Because if not, consultants like Steven Hall and the Wall Street executives they serve are far more out of touch with reality than any of us could ever have imagined.

BLOCK: Another story that sparked letters was my conversation with director Steven Soderbergh on Tuesday. He talked about his approach to making his new film about revolutionary Che Guevera.

Mr. STEVEN SODERBERGH (Film Director): In making the film, I have to tell it from his perspective. I'm telling his story, not mine, because obviously I don't believe everything that he believes. But I'm making a movie about a believer, and there's a big difference between those two.

SIEGEL: Well, several of you did not appreciate Mr. Soderbergh's approach. Adaleida Gaveria(ph) of Bodenham, Maine was blunt. She writes: I had my mother, my brother, my best friend, my greatest role model, my first love all killed or tortured unjustly and inhumanely in the name of the romantic ideal of the Latin American revolutionary.

BLOCK: Ms. Gaveria goes on: The real heroes of the last 50 years in Latin America have been the millions of people who have remained true to peaceful and democratic means in the path of social progress. Their lives, she says, are obscured by those who through film are, in her words, erecting false heroes for blockbuster audiences to get lost in.

SIEGEL: And finally, yesterday we broadcast an original song about the economic crisis.

(Soundbite of song, "Times Is Hard")

Mr. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III (Singer): (Singing) You're losin' your job, your house and your car. Hittin' rock bottom don't feel that far. Nothin' good is gonna come along. All I can do is play this song.

SIEGEL: That is "Times Is Hard" by Loudon Wainwright III.

BLOCK: The lyric struck a chord with many of you. Not with Barbara Vaughn(ph) of Fort Worth, Texas, who writes: Your first clue that it wasn't worthy of NPR airtime was when you had to preface the introduction with: this song is not intended to make you feel better. Well, congratulations. It didn't.

SIEGEL: Well, however we make you feel, feel free to write to us at NPR.org. Click Contact Us at the top of the page, and as always, please tell us your name, how to pronounce it and where you're from.

(Soundbite of song, "Times Is Hard")

Mr. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III (Singer): (Singing) …Alan Greenspan to come along. All I can do is play this song. They want your gold, and they'll pay cash. The only silver lining is the price of gas. Money's short and the odds are long. All I can do is play this song.

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