Edwards Offers a Corporate Reform Plan

MANCHESTER, N. H. -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Monday unveiled a broad plan aimed at restoring integrity to a corporate America buffeted by scandal with the eventual goal of boosting the economy.

Making his appeal on populist terms, the North Carolina senator proposed a series of business reforms, arguing that “what’s holding our economy down is the callous view of a few at the top in Washington and in the corporate world that the values that got us here can now be left behind.”

The ex-trial lawyer who often plays up his working-class roots (his father was a textile mill worker) made his case for corporate accountability in terms of the effect on employees. As part of the day’s events in New Hampshire, Edwards addressed the Manchester Rotary Club and held a town hall meeting.

Under his corporate accountability plan, Edwards would require companies to count stock options as expenses against their bottom lines.

“The abuse of stock options that are hidden from balance sheets has been central to the corporate scandals,” he said. “This is about honest accounting. It is a fundamental tenet of economic reform. If we’re going to restore values to our economy, we need to do the right thing here.”

The spectacle of Enron executives and others cashing out millions of dollars worth of stock before their companies collapsed has spurred the stock options debate. A board that sets standards for corporate accounting favors changes, but business interests, especially high-tech companies, have been vocal opponents.

Edwards’ plan would strengthen laws that require a chief executive’s pay to be linked to performance, would eliminate tax breaks for executive pensions that are disproportionately larger than rank-and-file workers and would give shareholders greater control over corporate boards.

Edwards also would make it harder for companies to hide their money in tax shelters by requiring them to explain why profits they report to the Internal Revenue Service differ from the amount reported to shareholders.

Republicans countered that President Bush has worked with Congress on laws to crack down on corporate wrongdoing.