"An economic policy which does not consider the well-being of all will not serve the purposes of peace and the growth of well-being among the people of all nations."(Eleanor Roosevelt) In case you are tempted to feel sorry during these troubled times for the corporatocracy, the CEOs who fired the most workers during the current economic recession also rewarded themselves with the highest pay. Take Action: Stop Executive Excess. Tell your friends that you won't stand for injustice. Together we can shame these companies and stop executive excess.

Top managers at the fifty corporations with the greatest number of layoffs were paid an average of $12 million in salary, bonuses and other perks -- 42 percent more than the average for the Standard & Poor's 500. To make matters worst, at most of these companies -- a whopping 72 percent in fact -- layoffs were announced at a time when earnings were increasing. This according to a study by the Institute for Policy Studies that covered the period from November 2008 to April 2010.

Isn't it comforting to know that while we are experiencing the worst economy we've seen in our life-times, with jobless claims rising to 500,000, the CEOs are thriving? They are purchasing luxury cars, yachts, new homes, and even buying off foreclosed properties at fire-sale prices. Perhaps we should sleep better at night knowing that they are working so hard to offset their ruthless firings of employees by trying to revive the Rolls Royce dealerships and mortgage companies.

Not only are some of the world's richest CEOs getting richer off the backs of laid off employees, but they're doing it at the same time profits rise and shareholder cigars are lit with martinis in hand celebrating the companies continued reign of predatory capitalism. These same 50 top layoff leaders' companies also enjoyed a 44% average profit increase in 2009. And many of them paid little or no taxes (e.g. Exxon, with over $45 billion in profits, recorded no U.S. income taxes and GE generated $10 billion in pretax income and took a tax BENEFIT of $1.1 billion).

In fact, the Institute for Policy Studies report estimates that CEOs in the U.S.'s largest publicly traded corporations earn an average compensation 263 times higher than the typical American production worker.

WHAT WE CAN DO

We can change the future for the better by taking action now. Demanding accountability and regulations that protect workers and stop the excessive payouts, golden parachutes and layoffs. A list of the companies is available here.

Only through expressing our discontent will we make a difference!

We must demand a completely new economic policy that benefits all not just the wealthiest in our country.