Entitlement is a word with a very negative connotation. Usually we hear it applied to people on the government dole, but more and more it is being applied to corporate executives who believe they are entitled to corporate jets, multimillion dollar salaries, stock options and other perks.

Is there an entitlement mentality in corporate America? You can bet your declining dividend there is. The gap between corporate executives and average workers has escalated higher and faster than the last launch into space. A Business Week magazine article on corporate compensation reveals that in 1980 Chief Executive Officers made 40 times as much as what the average worker earned. By 1994 that spread had increased to 84 times what the average worker made. In 2000 it was 475 times as much.

How did this happen? Who authorized these exorbitant pay packages? Why haven’t we heard much about this?

If you want to start placing blame begin in the boardroom. It begins innocently enough. Who decides who is going to be on the board of directors of these corporations? You might be naïve enough to believe it is the shareholders but you would be wrong. The majority are hand-picked by the executives of the corporation or, in some instances, by other board members. To be sure they have to be voted upon at the shareholders’ meeting, but tell me the last time you heard of a recommended director who wasn’t elected.  Now it is the board that negotiates and agrees on executive salaries and other compensation. So the execs pick the board and the board pays the execs. Notice anything strange?

Who determines the compensation the board is to receive? And who determines where the corporate meetings will be held? And who makes available the corporate jet and other perks for board members to use at their discretion?

Board members and execs are claim they are being compensated for results. Short term results. Compensation has all been based on next week’s stock price and next quarter’s profit. Keep the profits coming in, the quarterly dividend up, and the stock price high and you’ve got happy shareholders, a happy board, and richly rewarded and happy executives and board members. Until we see this good ole boy club do something stupid like purchase some out-of-control mortgage company all the way across the country and nobody raises a hand to stop this disastrous decision. Or the corporation gets involved in decisions that threaten the long term health of the business. The checks and balances that are supposed to be in place don’t happen.

When times get hard the company lays off people. Not executives, mind you. And they beat their chests trying to impress us that the executive team didn’t get bonuses this year. Just their million dollar salaries.

What we want to know is why they weren’t fired? We’re told corporate talent is hard to find and you have to be competitive. Bullfeathers! I could put these companies in financial trouble for one-third what this “talent” is earning.

No wonder the average person doesn’t trust big business anymore. No wonder they are angry with the corporate executives of these large institutions who helped jeopardize all our futures. The executives are getting what they deserve.

Our hope is that the housing balloon isn’t the only one to burst. We hope corporate boards will get a clue and start filling the role shareholders put them there to fill….asking tough questions, holding executives accountable, and maximizing value to all the stakeholders, not just the executives.

Sadly, even if the execs are fired they have negotiated golden parachutes and are fixed for life. The folks they laid off are on unemployment insurance. Big difference.

Memo to corporate executives: The game is up. Bring your compensation back to 80 or 120 or even 200 times what your average employee earns then ask me to consider investing in your company.