CSX and CEO Pay

Two different hearings on Capitol Hill last week pointed in two very different directions.

On Wednesday, the subcommittee on railroads -- a panel of the Transportation Committee -- held a hearing chiefly for the purpose of excoriating activist investors, especially the UK based fund TCI, who have lately been agitating for management changes at CSX. The general attitude of the solons doing the questioning (especially the subcommittee's chairwoman, whose district includes CSX's headquarters) was that the railroad has been doing a fine job, employs a lot of people, and how dare these Londoners come into this picture to mess things up.

On Friday, another house committee -- this time a full committee, Oversight and Government Reform -- held a hearing about CEO salaries. It turns out they're shockingly high. The general attitude of these solons was that managements get out of control, grant themselves salaries not checked by market forces, and it would be good to have some more activist investors holding them in check.

Do these two sets of committee members never even talk to each other?