Capitalism in danger

George Bush and Vladimir Putin don't see eye-to-eye on missile defense in Central Europe, but they found common ground on the widening gap between salary levels. Bush said that salaries of CEOs should be based on their success in improving their companies and bringing value to shareholders. Putin said that the widening gap in his country will be addressed by guaranteeing economic growth, not through forced redistribution of the kind used 80 years ago. The CR, too, wants to use this indirect approach. The coalition's planned tax changes would remove some of the "success penalty" associated with progressive income tax but would invariably benefit those at the top more than those at the bottom. The big fortunes have already been made, and no market-based measures will reduce them. Only a revolution could do that. Patrick Buchanan, a conservative American political commentator, said that exorbitant CEO pay is killing capitalism.