Well, thank you, Captain Obvious! Tell us something we DON'T know.
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., delivering his first public remarks since taking office last month, pledged today to work with Democrats to revamp Social Security and Medicare, and in a gesture aimed at Bush administration critics he said he recognized that the economy was not benefiting all Americans.
“Amid this country’s strong economic expansion, many Americans simply aren’t feeling the benefits,” Mr. Paulson said in a speech at Columbia Business School. “Many aren’t seeing significant increases in their take-home pay. Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health care costs, among others.”
It was a somewhat unusual concession from an administration that has spoken only glowingly of recent economic gains and has generally joined with Republicans in Congress in dismissing Democratic concerns about growing economic equality in the United States as “class warfare.”
Mr. Paulson made no reference to specifics, particularly the debate in Congress over tying an increase in the minimum wage, as advocated by Democrats, to sharp cuts in the federal estate tax, as pushed by Republicans. Democratic leaders in Congress accuse the Republicans of cynical politics in packaging the two proposals to get Democratic support.
cont'd...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/washington/01cnd-treasury.html?hp&ex=1154491200&en=016c9e81c07c2684&ei=5094&partner=homepage