Week in Review: Goldman Sachs Bonuses vs. Burger King Workers

Published February 22, 2009 @ 10:37AM PT

It's been a busy week here, especially since Bertha Lewis's post ran on Thursday. I like it!

Maybe this will incite your passions as well:

Goldman Sachs received $10B in bailout funds and paid $6.5B in bonuses in '08. Did you know Goldman has one of the largest ownership stakes in Burger King? BK employees working full-time earn an average of $14,000 annually. These employees "cost taxpayers an estimated $273 million a year because workers lack access to affordable employer health coverage, are paid sub-poverty wages, and must rely on publicly-funded healthcare, income support, and food stamp programs." Consider instead if the Goldman bonuses have been given to BK employees - it would have been a pay increase of $18,000 per employee, "contributing to a meaningful economic stimulus by putting discretionary income in the hands of hundreds of thousands of American families." Courtesy of SEIU; check out the original post for more info on bailout funds and what you can do to help American workers.

Here's a wrap-up of other poverty stories and actions you might have missed:

During the "boom" times under Bush (i.e., pre-economic collapse, leading up to it, frankly), "the average median income in the country fell by $2,000, that 7 million Americans lost their health care coverage, that 6 million Americans fell out of the middle class and into poverty and that 3 million lost their pension benefits."

Led by hedge-fund gazillionaires, a wealthy, connected view gear up for dismantling Social Security. Worse, Obama may be listening.

75% of ex-offenders are still jobless one year after being released.

Immoral anti-government attitudes contribute to the problem of hunger in America.

"Wal-Mart eyes 12 Chicago 'food desert' sites." (via)

The family poverty rate for restaurant workers is nearly 3 times the rate for the entire workforce.

Mayors hope the stimulus is the first step towards realizing Obama's "ambitious urban policy agenda."

Does busing or targeted funding work better to close the racial achievement gap among school kids? Does class size matter? In South Carolina, rising poverty impedes efforts to improve schools. (Have you checked out our Education blog?)

Rural poverty in America; one student reviews the recent 20/20 special on Appalachian poverty.

Annual Homelessness Marathon focuses on post-Katrina poverty.

Photo by tedmurphy.

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Comments (1)

Hi Leigh! I am burning mad at Goldman's and their bonuses!

Posted by Mary Acosta on 02/23/2009 @ 10:43AM PT
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Author

Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.