BUSH BOOM!

Curiously, still affecting mostly other people:

On Wall Street, the rich keep getting richer.

For a fourth consecutive year, year-end bonuses are forecast to be highly lucrative, with the payouts rising 10 percent to 15 percent from 2005, according to Alan Johnson Associates, a leading executive compensation consultant.

Investment bankers, who give advice to corporations, are expected to experience the biggest percentage jump, about 20 percent to 25 percent this year, from 2005.

But it will again be the traders, who make investment bets for their firms, and those who operate in the complex world of structured products and derivatives that will take home the biggest checks this year, with top-end estimates in the range of $40 million to $50 million, Wall Street executives say....

...And Wall Street giants' compensation still pales in comparison with their hedge fund counterparts. In 2005, the top hedge fund manager took home $1.5 billion in pay....

I seem to recall that the press was being accused of suppressing marvelous news when it didn't shout from the housetops a few days ago that wages and benefits for ordinary workers have gone up a whopping 3.3% in the past 12 months. It was the first report in two years that showed workers' pay-and-benefit increases exceeding the rate of inflation.