Facts to Make you Angry

By Tom Kando

Inequality is progressing as rapidly as ever, and our reaction to this is as misguided as ever:

1. We learn now that median pay for top business executives in 2010 skyrocketed by 23% from the previous year, to $10.8 million (Sacramento Bee, July 10). The chief executive of Viacom made $85 million, one of Target’s executives made $24 million, etc.


Meanwhile, 9.5% of American workers remain unemployed. Those who have a job take home $752 a week, less than what they made a year earlier.

Executive pay is not even tied to company performance. Companies’ median revenue gain only rose 7%. Yet voting shareholders approved 98.5% of the fat executive pay packages.

2. California has adopted its budget. It is based 100% on cuts, with zero revenue enhancement. It’s a total Republican victory, even though both the governor and the legislature are democratic.
And within the dwindling state budget (down from over $100 billion a few years ago to $86 billion now), the priorities keep getting worse and worse. This is a long-term sickness. When I began teaching at the State University in the late sixties, the State spent 8% of its money on the University of California, and 4% on its prisons. Now, it’s 3% on the University and 10% on prisons! (Sacramento Bee, July 10). As I said, a sickness.

The tragedy, to repeat the obvious, is the progressive dismantlement of public education and of other public services.
Yet, the media and the population don’t have a clue, as the country’s lemming-like march to the right is accelerating.

3. Even a democratic paper such as the Sacramento Bee diverts a gullible public’s attention by continuing to harp on some of the excesses which take place in the public retirement system - for example the practice of “spiking.” This means that public employees approaching retirement sometimes receive 3% to 10% pay raises during their last 3 years on the job. Since retirement benefits are based on what you earn during your last 3 years at work, this can raise your pension check permanently. It’s done primarily by administrators who work for cities, counties, states, colleges, police and fire departments, etc.

It’s noteworthy that very few rank-and-file teachers, cops, etc. - in other words people in the trenches - can do this.

But, yes, there are some public employees with pensions in the six figures. Whoop Dee Doo!
In Sacramento County (Pop. 1.5 million), there are 14 Office of Education retirees whose pension exceeds $100,000. Whoop Dee Doo!

Is THIS the problem? Is THIS what should upset us? Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t like the fact that administrators always make more than the people who do the real work. I agree that “spiking” is bad.

But surely the REAL problem lies elsewhere, no?

As Alan Clark writes in the Sacramento Bee on July 10: the nation has a new fixation. There is a general attack on retired firefighters, teachers, public health workers. While corporate executives enjoy jaw-dropping raises, there is a push to obliterate retirement security for public workers. The average public worker collects $2,200 a month in state retirement! Yet, he is in the political bull’s-eye, due to the pandemic anti-government anger of private sector workers, caused by the disintegration of their retirement accounts (which they now want to foster on public workers).
Makes me angry. leave comment here