Imagine, if you would for a minute, living in a world where the average worker's salary was higher than the average financial industry employee's annual bonus.

Now you may scoff at such an absurd-sounding statement in today's economic climate, but it's no joke. In 1985, the average annual salary for all workers across the country was, if you can believe this, actually several thousand dollars higher than the average bonus: $19,000 to $13,970. [Disclaimer: I am not making this fact up, it just seems that way].

Over twenty-five years later, the average Wall Street bonus has soared almost 14 times higher. The ratio between average CEO pay and average U.S. worker pay is 319 to 14--meaning that the average worker's salary has essentially been stagnant since the mid-1980s.

It's gotten so bad that bonuses at many bailed out banks greatly outpace the amount of profit generated by the banks. For example, while Goldman Sachs earned $2.3 billion last year and received $10 billion in TARP funds, they paid out $4.8 billion in bonuses--an amount that is more than double their net income. Goldman Sachs has set aside more than $16 billion for bonuses, and big banks that were bailed out by taxpayers have set aside a record $140 million for 2009 salary and bonuses.

The reality is that skyrocketing CEO pay and bonuses have not slowed since our economic crisis hit.

Other facts and figures on wage inequality for Main Street vs. Wall Street that may make your eyes bug out like the crazy but lovable red-headed germ-a-phobic teacher Emma on hit TV show Glee:

• As of 2007, the top ten percent of American earners brought in 49.7 percent of total wages. This is the highest share of total U.S. income made up by the top 10 percent of earners in almost a hundred years, including during the Great Depression.
• During the economic expansion of 2002-2007, the top 1 percent captured two-thirds of income growth.
• Today, the average CEO today makes in one day what the average worker is paid in a year.
• The amount the top five executives at each of the 20 banks that accepted the most federal bailout money received in personal compensation from 2006 to 2008: $32 billion.
• A quarter-billion dollars: The total amount of compensation the 20 CEOs at these bailed-out companies made. When you break it down, the payout "rewarded" to each exec averages $13.8 million.

And last, but certainly not least, there are banksters who claim that big banks using taxpayer funds to pay out massive bonuses and create massive inequality is actually a good thing for the economy.

Don't believe me? Watch this, starting at around 2:50:

Goldman Sachs's Griffiths Says Pay 'Inequality' Helps Everyone

Yesterday the Federal Reserve announced a plan to cut executive pay by as much as 90 percent for CEOs at the seven biggest TARP recipients--companies like Bank of America, Citibank and AIG who have received hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts since their risky deals brought the economy to its knees last year. It's a good start, but it still leaves dozens of other banks that are still taking billions in tax dollars and paying out huge bonuses to their top execs.The sweeping move by the Fed comes right before the bankers' association meeting in Chicago from the 25th through the 27th, where thousands are going to gather in the largest demonstration against bank greed since the financial meltdown began.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that Citigroup is raising credit card interest rates on 15 million customers. Citigroup has received three taxpayer-funded bailouts totaling $45 billion and the latest plan to keep the failed bank afloat gives the government and taxpayers a 34 percent stake in the company.

Said SEIU's Anna Burger, "It's shameful that Citigroup would raise interest rates on millions of Americans during a time when record unemployment and home foreclosures are forcing families to rely more and more on their credit cards just to get by." This news comes a week after Citigroup announced it is also raising salaries by as much as 50 percent for investment bankers and other top executives, to accommodate for smaller annual bonuses. Citigroup needs to commit to give any new raises to front-line bank employees, who struggle just to make ends meet while dealing with the rising costs of healthcare, not top executives who have contributed to this mess.

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According to the New York Times, Citigroup is raising salaries by as much as 50 percent for investment bankers and other top executives, to accommodate for smaller annual bonuses.

The Times also reports on to whom the bonuses will go:

Legal and risk management employees, as well as those in the credit card and consumer banking units, whose pay is typically skewed toward salary, rather than bonuses, are expected to receive smaller increases.

Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union released a statement in reaction to the news:

Color us skeptical, but not surprised: The top dogs at a company who took three taxpayer-funded bailout packages worth $45 billion, while wrecking the economy and keeping the bulk of its employees at near-poverty levels, have decided to reward themselves once more. Unfortunately, not all raises are created equal.

Citigroup needs to commit to give any new raises to front-line bank employees, who struggle just to make ends meet while dealing with the rising costs of healthcare, not top executives who have contributed to this mess.

America's big banks stand out as a startling example of an era of corporate excess that needs to come to an end if we're going to rebuild an economy with strength that can last. By passing the Employee Free Choice Act, we can begin to build an economy that doesn't just work for people in the top floor executive suites.