They make a fortune on ppl's hard earned salaries and then moon the public when it comes to politics.

These were order-takers, whose employees earned salaries, not commissions, and where customers got neither advice nor sales pitches.

They soon earned salaries unthinkable to their blue-collar parents, hopping planes to postcard vacations in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cancún and Spain.

Technology consultants earned salaries that were, on average, 60 percent higher than those of full-time employees in their field, according to a recent survey by Dice Inc., an online recruiting service.

Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.

Nearly every session since November has been adjourned because as few as 65 members made it to work, even as they and the absentees earned salaries and benefits worth about $120,000.

But at a news conference yesterday to discuss his sudden resignation last week, Chief Anemone, 53, said that despite his vitriolic, often unforgiving style, he believed that the officers he commanded had earned salary increases with their hard work.

With the good sense and sturdy independence that characterized him, he refused Mr. Laurence's more generous offers, and accepted the place of book-keeper, feeling better satisfied to begin with an honestly earned salary than by running any risks with borrowed money.