BUSH IGNORES WAGE CRISIS HITTING MIDDLE CLASS

Over the last month, the Bush administration has cited recent jobs numbers
to claim that average workers' paychecks are increasing. Vice President
Cheney said, "real incomes and wages are growing."[1] But as new studies
show, wages have actually decreased for the average worker, even as
corporate profits and CEO pay have exploded.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, while corporate profits have
risen by more than 62%, workers' take home pay has dropped by .6%.[2] This
follows an earlier report which shows that industries currently adding jobs
pay 21% less[3] than industries that are slashing jobs. Despite this wage
crisis, President Bush is pushing to cut off an estimated 8 million workers
from overtime pay protections,[4] and supports efforts to outsource even
more well-paid American jobs.[5] Meanwhile, he refuses to raise the minimum
wage, despite new research showing a minimum wage hike would not adversely
affect businesses or consumers.[6]

The story, of course, is different for the president's wealthy campaign
donors. A recent study shows CEO pay exploded by 27% in just one year,[7]
all while the President lavished more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks on
the richest 1% of the population. To put the contrast into dollars, the
average worker takes home $517 a week[8] and will receive about $400 in tax
breaks from President Bush. At the same time, the average CEO takes home
$155,769 a week[9] and this year alone received well over $50,000 in new tax
breaks from Bush.[10]

Sources:

1. Vice Presidential Speech, White House Website, 5/21/04.
2. "Economic Snapshots: When do Workers Get their Share?" Economic Policy
Institute, 5/27/04.
3. "Economic Snapshots: Jobs shift from higher-paying to lower-paying
industries," Economic Policy Institute, 1/21/04.
4. "8 Million White-Collar Workers Could Lose Overtime Pay Under Bush Plan,"
AFL-CIO, 6/26/03.
5. "Exporting American Jobs," ABCNews.com, 2/13/04.
6. "Economist: Minimum wage boost could add a dime to meal tab," Associated
Press, 6/4/04.
7. "U.S. CEO pay rose 27 pct in 2003 -- study," Reuters, 5/12/04.
8. "Ratio of CEO Pay to Average Worker Pay Reaches 301 in 2003," United for
a Fair Economy, 4/14/04.
9. Ibid.
10. "Details on the Bush Tax Cuts so far (as of fall 2003)," Citizens for
Tax Justice, Fall 2003.