An American Caste System In the Works? – Rich Make Significant Strides While Poor Fall Farther

A full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $5.15 an hour. (no raise since 1997)

Last year, the CEO of Wal-Mart earned $3,500 an hour. (679 times what the minimum-wage earner makes)

The CEO of Halliburton earned about $8,300 an hour. (1,611 times what the minimum-wage earner makes)

The CEO of ExxonMobil earned about $13,700 an hour. (2,660 times what the minimum-wage earner makes)

The salaries of senators and representatives have gone up by $31,600 since 1997, nearly three times the total yearly income of a minimum wage worker (only $10,700 a year).  Yes, they voted themselves pay raises which are three times what some people earn in a whole year, but refuse to give any increase to those people.

According to the AFL/CIO, “At the current minimum wage level, a full-time, year-round minimum wage worker in 2006 will earn $5,378 less than the $16,090 needed to lift a family of three out of poverty.”

According to The Nation, “With 86 percent of Americans in favor of an increase in the wage, this much is clear: no one wants leaders who turn a blind eye to people now forced to live out of their cars; working two and three jobs and still not making ends meet; and an increasingly squeezed middle class that is a stone’s throw away from financial ruin.”

Another entry for The Nation stated, “In the current climate–with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; a minimum wage frozen for eight years and a GOP-dominated Congress; deterioration of labor’s power in the workplace; and corporate-authored free-trade agreements that exacerbate these trends–it is heartening to hear Sherrod Brown make the case that ‘a hard day’s work should mean a fair day’s pay.’ But where are the other Democratic leaders who should be standing by his side?”

Regards,
Jim