Its winter, which means it is also ski season. Any skier worth their salt will tell you that ice can turn a good downhill run into a treacherous obstacle course.

Following up on last weeks castigation of Wall Street bonuses, the Obama Administration is set to unveil tough executive compensation rules for companies receiving TARP funding. Today’s Wall Street Journal states that these rules may include a $500,000 cap on salaries for executives, with additional compensation tied to restricted stock or payments tied to the long-term health of a company. It was reported last week that the Administration was considering applying these rules to the top 50 most highly compensated employees of a company.

First, let’s be clear—the expenditure of tax payer dollars demand accountability. Outrageous behavior deserves criticism. However, Financial Week, yesterday, stated that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank may seek to expand these TARP executive compensation rules to all U.S. companies.

Secondly, when the taxpayer gives money to a business, we as a Nation are making a statement that we want that business to survive and thrive. The cash infusion cannot include rules that may kill a company.

Companies should be allowed to attract the talent they need to survive, grow and be successful. Government restrictions on pay and disclosure will force executives to work elsewhere and deprive companies of the talent when it is needed most. Turnarounds only work if smart people are allowed to do there job, just ask Lee Iacocca. Last fall, in reaction to the financial crisis, Germany proposed tough executive compensation rules and withdrew them so fast it would make your head snap. Why? The Germans realized that their best business minds would leave Germany and work elsewhere. Can we afford to have our best business executives?

Also, do we really want government mandating how much people are being paid? If we are going to regulate the pay of the top  5, 25 or 50 executives, what is to stop the government from mandating how much all employees are to be paid? The government came pretty close in the early 1970’s when they imposed strict wage and price controls on the entire economy. That failed experiment helped to touch off the debilitating round of stag-flation that wasn’t broken until then Fed Reserve Chairman Paul Volker dramatically raised interest rates to almost 20%.

The new Administration is putting the United States on the slippery slope; hopefully our fragile economy can survive the fall.