Today, President Bush used mediocre monthly payroll figures to give himself a self-congratulatory pat on the back about an economy that is failing American workers. It is fitting that the White House chose to spin their skewed economic message at a FedEx facility in Washington, D.C., one of the most anti-worker companies in the United States.

FedEx has created a business model with a cutthroat mentality even Machiavelli would admire. CEO Fred Smith will collect over $10 million in compensation and dividend income this year alone, money that he earns by exploiting thousands of FedEx Ground drivers through an “independent contractor” model.

FedEx has abused this independent contractor status to shift risks and costs onto the drivers and taxpayers. The drivers take on costs that should be paid by the company, including trucks, uniforms and digital scanners.

 As a bonus, this model allows FedEx to avoid paying income tax withholding, unemployment insurance premiums and worker compensation contributions while dodging state labor laws and federal laws like the Family Medical Leave Act and Equal Employment Opportunity Laws.

The good news is that this model is unraveling as state and federal agencies expose this business model for what it is—a scam perpetrated upon the American workforce.

A California court ruled this business model to be illegal in 2005. California found that FedEx Ground owed nearly $8 million in back taxes. Since 1988, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled seven out of eight times that the FedEx Ground drivers are employees and not independent contractors.

The Teamsters won two such NLRB decisions in Massachusetts this year and drivers at three FedEx Ground locations are on their way to joining the Teamsters and securing their rights through collective bargaining.

With every record profit reported by corporate America and new stock market high, working men and women in America are reminded that they are expendable, a disposable part in a machine that is designed to make money in the most efficient manner possible.

The rich get richer, lining their pockets with profits earned on the backs of exploited workers, while the majority of Americans have not seen any appreciable increase in their income. It is fitting that Bush held his press conference at FedEx, a company that is blatantly violating its workers’ rights every day.

The White House should be more careful in selecting the company that represents our “healthy economy,” rather than choosing one as political payback because the CEO hosted a $2,100-a-plate fundraiser last week in Memphis, where Bush was the headliner.