Treasury Department pay czar Kenneth Feinberg last week announced big cuts in total compensation at the finance and auto companies within his control. While he cut total pay by half, he increased regular salaries, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The move reflects the complexity of regulating something that mixes politics and economics. Base salaries rose 14 percent to $437,896 a year, the paper said, adding that 89 of the 136 employees under the pay czar's review got a raise. Feinberg more than double cash salaries for 13 of 21 Citigroup Inc employees. Household income declined across all groups, but more sharply for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997. the median is the midpoint — half of households made more, half less. Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2%, an 11-year high.

On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman announced that he might join a filibuster against health care reform. It's not the first time he's turned against the Democrats. He Tried To Kill Clinton's Universal Health Care way back in 1993. Lieberman called Bill Clinton's health reform "too governmental, too regulatory and too costly." Now is October 2009 he is opposing a public Option Lieberman and may support a filibuster of health care reform if it contained a public option. Joe Leiberman a traitor to the Democratic party and average Americans or merely a shill for big pharma and big banking? Call his office in Connecticut 860-549-8463 or  800-225-5605 Washington 202-224-4041