Letter: Corporations are destroying the middle class

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

I'm still reeling from the amount of money - $210 million - given to failed Home Depot Chief Executive Robert Nardelli. This golden parachute was negotiated up front before he had proven that he could perform. The board of directors says that this is a common practice to lure chief executives of a certain caliber to their company. All that these corporate failures have proven is that they themselves do not deserve the fat-cat salaries and perks that they receive.

In most businesses, when someone is hired, there is a period of probation, after which a raise is given. But these corporate board members gave away too much up front.

Home Depot would have gotten more bang for its buck if it had given pay raises and improved benefits to all of its hardworking store employees.

Corporations are destroying the American middle class. They don't create good-paying jobs. Instead, they outsource them or hire undocumented immigrants for little or nothing, while paying nonproductive chief executives 400 to 500 times what the average worker makes.

A strong middle class provides the stability that allows corporations to prosper. Corporations are reducing the status of the middle class. They get away with this because they have lobbyists in Washington who write the laws that benefit them.

Whenever anyone criticizes the privileged status held by corporations, they are reminded that everyone benefits because most Americans own stock through 401(k) plans. Well, I do not know any middle-class person whose 401(k) is doing that well.

Nadia Romeo, Las Vegas