The problem with class envy is that it gets old and boring after a while. All of us would like to make more money, but that doesn’t mean we have to resent the people that do. If someone makes their money honestly, we should celebrate their success–not try to take it away from them.

Well, not everyone sees it that way. The Washington Free Beacon posted an article today about AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Mr. Trumka has been criticizing CEO pay, stating, “Runaway CEO pay isn’t just bad for our economy, it’s bad for the morale of working families, too. All workers, from the executive suite down to the shop floor, contribute to making a company successful. But these corporations are buying into the myth that the success of a corporation is the result of its CEO alone.”  He is absolutely entitled to his opinion, but do his words sound a little different when you realize that he earns more than eight times what the average American worker earns.

The article reports:

According to the Center for Union Facts, Trumka brought home a gross salary of $264,827 in 2010, plus another $18,513 in additional compensation, to represent his union. The union leader has earned well over $200,000 every year since he was promoted to Secretary Treasurer in 2003.

In 2011, Trumka earned $293,750.

Unions have been major contributors to democrat political campaigns. In the 2010 mid-term elections, the AFL-CIO gave almost a million dollars, 93 percent of those donations going to Democratic candidates.

Mr. Trumka’s statement might carry more weight if he practiced what he preaches.