The Virginian-Pilot
©
The gap between wages at the top and bottom ends of the income scale in Virginia has reached a 30-year high, according to a report released Tuesday. Virginians in the top 10 percent of the income scale now make, on average, at least 5.7 times more than those in the bottom one-tenth of the scale, according to the report by the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, a think tank based in Richmond. Among other states, only New Jersey has a higher gap, the study said.
The averages were more than $8 an hour for the bottom one-tenth and above $46 for the top one-tenth in Virginia. Median wages for individuals rose to $17.83 an hour last year. That was 11 percent above the national average and eighth-highest among states.
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Statistics can be cooked any way you want
Statistics always must be taken with a grain of salt. Virginia is a diverse state. Most of the highest wage earners live in NOVA - which coincidentally has the highest cost of living, the highest percentage of college educated preofessionals, and the highest level of government employees. Comparing NOVA and the coal belt is crazy. So even though the statistics paint one picture, that picture can be viewed under different light. So one could say, "that's so unfair, we must take that money away and redistribute it" - oh wait, people are already saying that......or one could say, "I'm happy there are people that are doing well in this economy since they still are able to create jobs". The bottom line is if you want to get ahead, you still can.
And the top ten do the least amount of work
They get better benefits, more vacation time, and most are salary so they come and go as they please.
Don't expect it to change any time soon either - most aren't in a big hurry to give up the luxury pay.
Being on Salary vs hour wage is not always rosy
Contrary to belief, being on salary is not always that rosy. You managers who normally are on salary put more hours of work in for the pay then the average hourly worker. Yes, there are more benefits but the work load is higher. A manager has to worry about his work and all others under him/her. Hour wage earner gets paid for hours turned and not by product produced. For salary, in most cases the job is not done until the job is done. There are goods and bads on both sides. Salary workers are guaranteed pay no matter what the workload is. Hourly wage earners have opportunities for overtime. Whatever side you are on, it is not good to spit out venom and class warfare comments. Each of us adds to the economic growth.
Define work
Please define work. Are the top 10% digging ditches? No. However, in many cases the top 10% are the ones taking the risk (personal and financial), thinking big, creating new ideas and businesses, keeping shareholders happy, paying most of the income taxes (top 10% pay 69.94% of income tax revenue, IRS 2008), and keeping others employed. I think that is work too. Contrary to popular opinion, most of these people got there by "working" hard.
or at least
working the system hard.
I am gasping in utter surprise (sarcasm).
A statement as to what the median hourly rate for the bottom 10% versus the median hourly rate for the 10% at the top would paint a better picture. For some reason I feel it would more realistically show the true gap. The highest paid worker in the bottom 10% probably doesn't even come close to an hourly wage of $17.83. The difference in the annual rate for the same population would probably have me in tears.
Moreover, I would like to know what the gap is for those Virginians who have had wages previously and now have no wages at all. It is almost a no-brainer that the rich are getting richer. The real issue should be how much more impoverished others are. And subsequently, dire need for a viable jobs bill of some proportion to pass.
"to an hourly wage of
"to an hourly wage of $17.83. "
Are You Kidding.....83 per hour is HUGE!
You obviously do not have your own company, or maybe you are getting your 2 YEAR unemployment checks?
Yeah...just like the Millionaire NBA players...we WANT the Owners profits!
Hmmmm...22 of the 30 Teams took a loss last year! Will the Players "share" in that hit?
Reagan and the two Bushes created 93% of the National Debt
Reagan and the two Bushes created 93% of the National Debt by lowering taxes for the rich. Go to reaganbushdebt.org to see the numbers. Now we have one of the widest income inequality gaps of any country in the world. The bottom 50% of workers control only 2.5% of the wealth. The top 10% control 90% of the wealth. All this while Wall Street ran a $516 trillion dollar derivatives Ponzi scheme. Occupy Wall Street gets it. The treasonous Tea Party doesn't.
Treasonous?
I've asked you before and I'll ask you again - and will keep asking until you answer: What is treasonous about the Tea Party movement?
I agree - "Treasonous" was a harsh choice of words.
It is not "treason" to put party interests ahead of the national interest. It just sometimes feels like it. It is not "treason" to have been totally misguided and misinformed by cynical monied interests even when such misguided and misinformed people have been more effective than any terroist group could even imagine in harming this country's efforts to recover from the Bush debacle. The role of the Tea Party has been and continues to be very harmful. But that is not "treason."
Whoever called the Tea Partiers "treasonous" should retract as should those rightwingers who blissfully and very routinely throw that word out (and worse) with respect to liberals and progressives and even the President.