What the Hell is Wrong with Corporate America?

Today several top Wall Street firms announced what many of their associates would be receiving as Christmas bonuses. Most of these "associates" will be rewarded with sums of money in the six figure range, with some receiving as much as 25 million dollars or more.

How can these companies justify giving millions of dollars to stock broker/trader scumbags who make their living by manipulating the earnings of the working class?

Who exactly do these companies consider worthy of these bonuses you might ask? Does "Willy" the janitor, "Juanita" the commissary worker, or "Thomas" the doorman receive a Christmas bonus any where close to those working on the upper floors of these outstanding examples of corporate American greed? They probably consider themselves lucky to get a bonus in the three figure range.

"Here you go Willy, it's a $45 dollar gift certificate to Applebee's, treat your family to something nice. Merry Christmas, oh and by the way Willy, the men's restroom on the 63rd floor needs more urinal cakes. Happy Holidays."

It should make the middle class of this country sick to their stomachs to know that the day after these bottom feeders of business receive their bonuses they will be on the telephone to automobile dealerships, realtor's, and travel agents arranging to add to their lives some luxury at the expense of thousands of Americans who work hard daily, hour after hour, in the hopes that they too can have a small part of the "American dream".

Willy, Juanita, and Thomas work the hours. They work the overtime. They do the manual labor, and they do this hoping that maybe if they budget, and they save a little each week, they too can afford to have a nice Christmas. They can have a beautiful dinner with their family, they can get little Tommy the new Xbox, and they can afford to send Maria off to the prom in the dress from Macy's. These are the people who earn their bonuses. Most of these people don't expect a Christmas bonus, and if by some act of unheard of generosity they do get a bonus, you can bet that they're not shopping for a new condo on the Upper West side, a trip to South Beach or Aspen, and certainly not a brand new Lamborghini. They're giving it back to their families, their churches, and their communities.

Corporate America should take some lessons from these people. It's a sad day when a stock trader gets a holiday bonus of millions of dollars, while a teacher, someone in whom we put our trust in to educate our children receives little or nothing in the way of a bonus. When the unexpected occasion that some grateful parent does say thank you occurs, it's more than likely in the form of a twenty dollar gift certificate to Bed, Bath and Beyond. And even more likely, it's probably from a stock trader.