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For Immediate Release
March, 25 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Sam Quigley
317-752-9150
OBSCENE: Patriotic Millionaires Slam Senate Bill Provisions on CEO Compensation
"It takes an utter lack of humanity to ignore the plight of millions of needy Americans and instead hand out millions to corporate CEOs"
WASHINGTON
Today details were released of the near-final form of the Senate's coronavirus stimulus bill. Despite the addition of some conditions on the corporations set to receive billions of dollars in assistance, the bill still does almost nothing to limit excessive executive compensation, putting the American taxpayer on the hook for multi-million dollar compensation packages for the CEOs of bailed-out corporations.
According to an analysis done by the Institute for Policy Studies, the CEOs of American Airlines and Delta could still be paid $7.5 million and $9 million respectively annually under the conditions set on airlines and other corporations receiving bailout money.
In respose to this news, the Patriotic Millionaires released the following statement:
"It is obscene that lawmakers - led by Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans - are using a deadly global pandemic as an excuse to hand already overpaid CEOs millions of taxpayer dollars. They had to be browbeaten into including reasonable provisions to help working people, but are apparently thrilled to hand huge corporations millions of dollars with essentially no strings attached."
Members of the organization added their own thoughts:
Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., said "Most taxpayers agree the CEO of American Airlines should not receive millions of dollars from American taxpayers in the middle of a global pandemic. It is appalling that Senate Republicans disagree with that."
George Zimmer, Founder of Men's Wearhouse and Founder and CEO of Generation Tux, said, "This entire $2 trillion dollar bill is a con on the American people. Just like the 2008 bank bailout, it hands enormous sums to big companies who could likely get it from Wall Street or other sources and gives relatively little to the millions of employees who desperately need help. It's unbelievable."
Stephen Prince, Vice-Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and Founder and CEO of Card Marketing Services, said, "It takes an utter lack of humanity to ignore the plight of millions of needy Americans and instead hand out millions to corporate CEOs. But I guess poor people don't make big political contributions."
Scott Nash, founder and CEO of MOM's Organic Market and Patriotic Millionaire, said, "Even in a global pandemic, one should never underestimate the Republican Party's loyalty to its political donors. Protecting the vast wealth of corporate CEOs through the bailout legislation is morally and economically repellent corporate welfare."
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
(202) 446-0489LATEST NEWS
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"This action is not only morally indefensible, but also wasteful, strategically shortsighted, and completely counter to the entirety of your work while in the Senate."
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More than 50 congressional Democrats on Friday condemned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to withhold and destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid for Afghanistan and Pakistan—a move that came a month after the Trump administration's State Department abolished all overseas positions at the United States Agency for International Development.
The USAID emergency food aid—which has been stored in a warehouse in Dubai for months and will expire before the end of July—is enough to feed around 1.5 million children for a week. The aid consists of high energy biscuits that are used primarily to satisfy the immediate nutritional needs of children enduring food crises. It is now set to be incinerated.
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Secretary Rubio is planning to withhold 500 metric tons of vital food aid that could feed 1.5 million starving children… and then incinerate the food once it expires. UNACCEPTABLE!
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— Rep. Mark Pocan (@pocan.house.gov) July 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
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U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce attempted to justify Rubio's decision during a Thursday press conference.
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While many observers expressed surprise over the impending destruction of so much food aid, some contended that it tracks with the Trump administration's wider attitudes toward poor people.
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According to The New York Times:
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A report issued last week by New America noted the disproportionate impact the cuts would have on low-income students:
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The administration held up the funding for weeks, causing a building panic among educators and families. A group of 10 Republican senators even sent a letter on Wednesday urging a top Trump official to let the money flow to their states.
Then, on Friday, the administration announced that it would allow $1.4 billion worth of funding to be released to states beginning Monday, though they would still reserve the right to choke it off once again should any of it be used to violate the president's executive orders.
The administration said it will continue to withhold the remaining $5.5 billion and provided no timeline for when it might be released.
According to Education Week, schools around the country had been "banking" on that money for teacher training, English-learner services, migrant and adult education programs, and academic enrichment being delivered on its expected due date of July 1.
David Schuler, executive director of AASA, an association of school superintendents, said that while he was happy to see some of the money released, withholding the rest was still putting severe strain on schools.
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Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced Friday that she would block the fast-tracking of a Trump appointee for the Department of Education until Trump releases all the funds.
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