We Need an Economy that Works for Everyone - Sen. John Edwards

We Need an Economy that Works for Everyone

"We've moved to a star system."

--Treasury Secretary John Snow explaining why CEO
pay skyrockets while workers' wages stagnate in The
Wall Street Journal 3/20/06

I was fuming when I read Treasury Secretary Snow's defense of President Bush's bungled economy. To hear Bush and Snow tell it, the widening gap between rich and poor in this country is nothing more than the free market rewarding more deserving people. Sometimes I wonder how these people sleep at night.

Over the past few years, CEO and top executive pay has gone through the roof - often regardless of whether they are doing their jobs well. In just ten years, the average compensation of a CEO at the largest corporations jumped from $3.7 million to $9.1 million. That's an increase of almost 150%, and yet economists say the pay hikes haven't meant these companies performed any better.

It's wrong for the privileged few to keep getting raises while their companies aren't reaching their goals - or while their workers don't get a fair share of the pie. Some of these CEOs have even slashed pension funds, but found a way to reward themselves with massive pay hikes. This is wrong.

And as CEO pay shoots through the roof, the minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 per hour for ten years -- which means someone can work full-time and still raise their kids in abject poverty. So CEO pay goes up 150% in just a few years, and minimum wage worker pay goes up 0% in 10 years. Whatever happened to getting a fair day's pay for a hard day's work? How can Snow think this is just or fair?

But Snow's skewed excuses get even worse. He also claims that the average income has increased since Bush took office. He's fudging the numbers -- his figures rely on averages, so massive gains from a few ultra-wealthy people throw off the whole picture. Median family income, which takes the temperature of the real lives of many millions of families, has actually fallen under Bush, and the incomes of the poorest families fell even further.

The only group to gain under Bush's economic policies was the top 5% of the wealthiest families in this country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Are we supposed to applaud a President whose economy benefits the 5% who need it least, and hurts the millions of Americans who need a strong economy the most?

Tell Secretary Snow it's time to create an economy that works for everyone - not just those at the top. http://ga3.org/campaign/lettertosnow

The same day that Snow was explaining away his boss's reverse Robin-Hood policies, The New York Times reported that conditions for African American men in the United States are rapidly declining. The share of young African American men without jobs has increased, and more than half of African American men in the inner cities do not finish high school. This report was deeply troubling, but not at all surprising, in George Bush's America.

Instead of just assuring that the rich will get richer, we need to create an economy that works for everyone. We should have policies that encourage and reward work like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC reduces the taxes of low-wage workers and helps supplement their income, but 3 million Americans who are eligible for it don't claim it. We must change that - smart, effective programs like the EITC can encourage more young men to work and do more to provide for their families.

We should be reaching kids early with pre-kindergarten and Head Start. Nineteen thousand children stand to lose access to Head Start because of Bush's budget. It makes no sense to go after programs that have proven to be effective, just so we can give more tax cuts to the people who need help the least. It's time for policies that strengthen families and support all of our kids. Smart, effective policies would focus on the importance of the two-income family, of the involved father. And where fathers don't live with their kids, we need to enforce child support; yet the President has cut child support enforcement.

Please take a moment to tell Secretary Snow he has his facts - and his priorities - all wrong. http://ga3.org/campaign/lettertosnow

Thank you for taking action and for all that you do.

Your friend,

John