A Tale of Two Americas’ Paychecks

CEO of a government-financed bailout recipient? You’re styling.
Minimum wage worker trying to pay for basic necessities?
You’re screwed.

The Institute for Policy Studies reports today on CEO compensation for financial firms receiving the government largesse of the bailout, and the numbers, although sadly not surprising, are still shocking.

Bloomberg reports:

Lenders including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. paid CEOs an average of $13.8 million last year, topping the $10.1 million for S&P 500 leaders…

How unfair can life be? That $3.7 million difference is the helipad for the yacht and the gold-plated bidet.

Cut to… those who clean the bidet:
The NY Times reports on a new study of minimum wage workers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Seems that labor violations are more common than Prada in the Hamptons:

In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay…The study found that 26 percent of the workers had been paid less than the minimum wage the week before being surveyed and that one in seven had worked off the clock the previous week. In addition, 76 percent of those who had worked overtime the week before were not paid their proper overtime, the researchers found.

Don’t worry ’bout the riff raff tho, the Gulfstream is idling on the tarmac for a quick getaway.