Ford Motor Company is alone among its Detroit peers in not having accepted bail-out funds. Even so, let's be clear: the company is not doing well, with the need for government assistance not out of the question and its stock down more than 50% over the past year.

The question is then, why did Ford CEO Alan Mulally get compensation valued in a company filing at $13.7 million last year? Sure, his compensation dropped by 37% from 2007 (a year in which Ford shares also lost money), but it is still unjustifiably high.