I just wanted to commend you, as you stand out for your honest, well-structured thoughts.
As shareholders, the only topic of discussion should be the state of CBAI, its board, its management, and how we plan to go from where we are now to where we need to be. Criticism of the company and its leadership team should be encouraged if it's warranted and presented in a constructive way. Instead, half the people on this board refuse to ever acknowledge anything negative, and if you try to point it out, they instead try to attack you personally.
"What have you ever done for the world?", is not an appropriate way to counter somebody's thoughts on CBAI. That's an attempt to deflect attention away from a point of view that they don't like. We should be focused on analyzing CBAI (both the positives and the negatives), making sure our investments are safe and that the company is growing and becoming profitable. If somebody doesn't think the CEO should be accepting raises at this point in time, when the company isn't yet profitable, that's an entirely acceptable point of view, whether you agree or not. And as for the definition of middle class, anybody making $150k or more is above middle class. For reference:
Economist Gary Burtless of Brookings Institution indicates that the middle class encompasses from one-half the median income to twice the median income. This would make the middle class income range $25,117 to $100,466. MIT economist Frank Levy believes that those in the middle class have enough money to afford the basic building blocks of a good life, including a house, a car and money to pay necessary bills. He suggests that families in their prime earning years are middle class if they fall between $30,000 and $90,000.
And from Wikipedia:
According to Leonard Beeghley a household income of roughly $95,000 would be typical of a dual-earner middle class household while $60,000 would be typical of a dual-earner working class household and $18,000 typical for an impoverished household.
As for my own thoughts, if I were Matt, I wouldn't be worrying about getting a raise (and I doubt he is either). My goals would be to close the Mexico deal, and try to sign on more contracts with AHIP members. These actions would increase the value of his shares, thus serving as a huge payoff, while simultaneously benefiting the shareholders.
AI
