Gap between haves, have-nots gets wider

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5726153/

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Over two decades, the income gap has steadily increased between the richest Americans, who own homes and stocks and got big tax breaks, and those at the middle and bottom of the pay scale, whose paychecks buy less.

The growing disparity is even more pronounced in this recovering economy. Wages are stagnant and the middle class is shouldering a larger tax burden. Prices for health care, housing, tuition, gas and food have soared.

The wealthiest 20 percent of households in 1973 accounted for 44 percent of total U.S. income, according to the Census Bureau. Their share jumped to 50 percent in 2002, while everyone else’s fell. For the bottom fifth, the share dropped from 4.2 percent to 3.5 percent.

Jobs and the economy top the list of voter concerns this election year. President Bush touts a strong economy that is growing, but polls find that Americans have doubts and think jobs are scarce. John Kerry is trusted more on the economy, with Democrats talking regularly of “two Americas,” divided between the rich and everyone else.

[tom_paine]

1. Of course it has. Imperial Amerika is a Third World Nation

When lookng at this against the nations we are now more directly comparable to, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia (and is THAT a coinkydink or what?), etc, we still look pretty damned good.

If compared with Free World Nations unlike ourselves, of course it looks bad.

It always looks bad when a Totalitarian Third World Nation compares itself to the Free World.

[DS1]

2. Adjusting for inflation, are they not twice as poor?

:shrug:

[Warpy]

3. At least the major media are finally starting to report this stuff

Now if they will only start admitting what needs to be done about it, a return to a progressive tax that takes hoarded wealth off the top and recirculates it down at the bottom, where people spend it. That's the only way to keep the money pump functioning in an economy that's 2/3 consumer spending driven, and it's also the only way to grow a large and stable middle class.

Rich people never gave anyone a job. Poor people who spend their money on goods and services are what drive job creation.

It's high time the major media wised up to that fact. Just playing "aint it awful" over the concentration of wealth won't do it.

[dakine]

6. Wealthy?

Like all the politicians...

[burrowowl]

4. Not LBN

but needs repeating. The working class have never recovered from Raygun.

[DaveFL99]

5. But will it matter that this is covered.

The sheeple aren't worried about the bottom 20%. Hell if those people are even worse off than they were then it gives the 80% someone to feel even MORE superior too. Plus, we all know that if we work hard we'll be rich some day too. I can't wait till I live next to Paris Hilton or maybe Nick and Jessica Simpson.

[daleo]

7. "You are the haves and have-mores"

"Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." George W "Chimp" Bush.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. This trend must not be merely slowed, but reversed

One of my reasons for voting for Nader four years ago was what seemed to me to be the Clinton administration's failure to effectively address this problem. The rate of increase of the income gap was slowed during the nineties, but it still headed in the wrong direction. It needs to be reversed.

Handing out tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and encouraging the off-shoring of jobs is not the way to close the gap. If most Americans think jobs are scarce, it is because a data information specialist who had his job off-shored, ran out of unemployment and is now stocking shelves at WalMart probably does not consider himself gainfully employed. When the Republicans try to tell such a person to get over it, he should tell them to fly a kite and then vote for Kerry.

Nevertheless, part of Kerry's future success as President ought to be judged by whether or not he can reverse this trend.