The Wall Street wealthy get wealthier and the American Working Poor get poorer.
By Michael A. Memoli
A Texas judge blocked President Obama's (click here) bid to expand overtime pay protections to millions of Americans on Tuesday, thwarting a key presidential priority just days before it was set to take effect.
The Labor Department rule would have doubled the salary level at which hourly workers must be paid extra for overtime pay, from $23,660 to $47,476. Siding with business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III halted it.
The rule, finalized in May, represented the first such change in more than a decade and was hailed at the time as the most consequential action the Obama administration could take for middle-class workers without congressional involvement.
Plaintiffs had argued the Labor Department acted beyond its authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The administration said more than 4 million salaried workers stood to benefit from the change when it took effect Dec. 1....
