Citigroup, Bank of America and AIG are among the financial firms that have received exceptional aid in recent months, though the new rules won’t apply retroactively. Current rules bar such companies from taking a tax deduction for compensation above half a million dollars, but don’t restrict how much executives can receive in salary and bonuses.

But the new rules will also cover the supposedly healthy firms that have received money under the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program capital purchase plan, unless the firms take action to be exempted.

The president has come out with some strong words on CEO pay for the leaders of the companies that has asked for and received help from the government.

Though it would be a drastic paycut for some CEOs, the real issue isn’t the $500,000 salary but the fact that if a company is in such dire straits that it needed to ask for funds from the taxpayers, then the CEOs and other executives shouldn’t gouge the people who are paying for them to stay in business. This could also signal to company leaders that they need to straighten up their business practices so that their salaries won’t have to be regulated.

The salary cap would only affect a few companies. Considering that there are rules for other organizations that receive government fund this is not unreasonable. For those who need government assistance on a personal level, they aren’t receiving enough to have a great living, but just something. For a CEO to be paid $500,000 that is a small amount for a large corporation. Though if the company didn’t need “financial aid” from the government then the salary and compensation wouldn’t be as great of an issue.

The president’s stipulation that companies should not reward their executives with exorbitant salaries on the backs of the American taxpayers isn’t out of line with other options that people have on a personal level. An individual, when seeking assistance must have an income below a certain threshold in order to be eligible. Some grants for organizations require that all the monies spent be itemized or have some money of their own (for a matching grant).

On CNN, some Wall Street workers are not happy about this because it can cut into their livelihoods which for some are more lavish than others could imagine. I know that if I earned $500,000 as an annual salary, I could spend more than a do now. Though if I got a job that only paid $1,000 as my total compensation this would mean hard times. Much like if you were receiving $14M, received a taxpayer bailout and then your monetary compensation were cut to half a million.