"I wonder if the congressmen backing this legislation would propose similar laws governing their own compensation," Steve Hafner, CEO of travel search engine Kayak, told USA Today. "I'd love to vote on congressional pay and perks."

While it's not surprising that executives dislike the idea of Congress interfering with their pay, "what is surprising is that they are willing to go so public in their opposition, even though passage of a so-called ‘say-on-pay' law is likely,"  USA Today reports.

President Obama, congressional Democrats and many in the public support a White House-backed plan that would give shareholders an annual up-or-down vote on the compensation of the top five executives of publicly traded companies. The vote would not be binding, leaving the final decision to boards of directors. But because shareholders elect directors, a shareholder vote against a pay package would probably convince directors to rethink the package.

CEOs and the companies they run tend to avoid statements at odds with public sentiment, for fear they may upset customers. Instead, they typically make their sentiments known through trade associations and lobbyists.

But on the say-on-pay legislation, USA Today found plenty of CEOs and former CEOs willing to speak forcefully against it.

"Say-on-pay is just another government regulation and intrusion into free enterprise," said Howard Putnam, former CEO of Southwest and Braniff airlines.