Cool bit - narration is awful.

Worked at RadioShack on and off from 1999 (I think) through 2007.

Management was generally nice people, though a bit thick. Would pass over any ideas generated by the in-house creative department, only to pay external agencies millions for the exact same concepts. Anything you've seen on paper or on TV is warmed over concepts from years gone by.

We tried for years to convince them to embrace their roots, only to have them snuggle up to cell-phones (a highly-saturated market) or the cue-cat (boodoggle! Execs lost their shirts by investing heavily in it!)

In the end, they're about as relevant as a company specializing in hoop skirts and petticoats. Sad for the good people (under C-, E- and V- level) still working there.

Not a bad idea. This whole bailout is just the last administration raiding the candy jar one more time before they left office — with Congress driving the getaway car.

@Evean. When you say, "they would all have no incentive to stay in the industry." Who cares? These guys obviously didn't do anything good when they were making billions, so let them go be failures elsewhere.

So many conservative friends have said that executive salary caps are a bad precedent — yet these same people argue for salary caps for line workers.

I think I think the executive salaries ought to be capped at something like 3X the line workers salaries – bonuses included.

Was the ceremonial scepter Sarah Palin commissioned for when she took over for King George?

I think the tiara used baby seal teeth.

I would say an early numbering stamp. Looke like maybe squeezing the grip advances the numbers, so you could sequentially label items?

Or maybe a hand-held 99-year time machine?