There’s something seriously whacked when twenty-five CEO’s earn more than their companies paid in taxes.

This month, 40,000 Verizon strikers went back to work without a new contract. But their strike hit a nerve. Most Americans cannot understand why Verizon workers should have to spend up to $3,000 more for their family’s health care while the company’s top five execs have walked off with a quarter-billion dollars in personal pay over the past four years.

If that seems outrageous, just wait. Verizon Inc, got a refund in corporate income taxes in 2010, paid for by U.S. taxpayers. That makes Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg one of at least 25 chief executives in the country who earned more in compensation than their company paid in corporate income taxes in 2010.

Today, the Institute for Policy Studies released a report on CEO pay in America. Our research this year uncovered an astounding fact: Of last year’s 100 highest-paid chief execs, 25 took home more in CEO pay than their company paid in 2010 federal income taxes.

I don’t begrudge someone earning a decent salary. Hell, I don’t begrudge someone earning a really decent salary, especially if they work hard and provide jobs for other people. What I begrudge is a tax system that is so obviously titled in their favor that they and their company end up basically getting a free ride. Not only that, they have the wherewithal to influence their elected representatives to cut their taxes even more… all the while whining about “class warfare.”

The only people who complain about “class warfare” are the ones who are winning.

HT to CLW.