Letters to the Editor
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Interesting
Most coverage is on the concentration of wealth, not income. Both figures are naturally going in the same direction. Time to elect a Democrat. Even if they didn't make it better, they would definitely not let it get as bad as it will continue to get under the disastrous Republican/conservative/neoliberal policies.
Why the hell isn't anyone paying attention to John Edwards? I'm looking at you, Salon.
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Pay More If You Get More
The wealthy live in bigger houses, drive larger and more gas consuming vehicles, and have access to lawyers and tax accountants to help them get access to breaks and government programs.
This involves the use of more natural resources and it often diverts tax dollars into things like farm subsidy programs for huge farms.
A widening gap between the middle class and the wealthy is a bad sign. Something is not working. A healthy economy should be a boost for everyone - not make the rich richer.
This unbalance must be corrected. For example, why is the Social Security payroll tax capped? If it were to apply to all income levels the program would be solvent for many more years.
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My rich friends have NO problem with this
Democracy? The Bill of Rights? Don't worry, be happy.
The "creation of wealth" is all that matters.
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Absolutely correct
"Such concentration of income is unsustainable in a democratic society"
No kidding. That's why Bush and his cronies are working so hard on destroying our democracy. A feudal society would be much more to their liking.
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Interesting quote: "Such concentration of income is unsustainable in a democratic society"
Cause I have a feeling that given the choice of (1) democratic society with less concentration of income or (2) non-democratic society with concentratiion of income, the smart money will be betting on #2.
Can we have a roll-call vote in the Congress, please?????
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What about buying power? Is everyone getting richer?
Can these numbers be contrasted with inflation or actual buying power? In other words can the poorest fifth actualy buy more or less than before -- in no relation to the rich.
This is an important point. Standard right wing economic thought is, one way or another, trickle down and believes that it's OK if the rich get richer faster than the poor get richer as long as the poor are indeed getting richer. It better to have all boats rise at different rates than all to sink together.
While you might dismiss their argument on the bounds of fairness or their being a better way it's an argument that must be addressed.
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Trickle Down, Down, Down
To me, this growing inequality smacks of 25+ years of the "trickle down" economics mantra.
I understand the theory; you want to encourage people with resources to invest in projects that will create jobs and boost the economy, and not hamper or punish them with crushing taxes. But like many right-wing ideas with a nugget of truth behind them, this gets over-extended and held aloft as some magical axiom that solves every problem and must not be questioned.
In the real world, basic human nature does not allow for such unbridled magnanimity; corporations are still headed by people, and people tend to me more interested in hoarding and collecting and amassing wealth rather than spending it or giving it away. Even as they invest they will be looking at ways to increase their bottom line, be it by cutting wages and benefits or laying off employees or exporting jobs overseas. There needs to be some safeguards against this to maintain a democracy; otherwise the eventual result of "free market" will inevitably be a feudal oligarchy of some kind, with a handful of people holding all the power and resources.
My father, a staunch conservative, has a favorite saying: "I've never been hired by a poor man." I often would like to retort: "I've never been laid off by a poor man, either."
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@Mike J Y Wood
"Can these numbers be contrasted with inflation or actual buying power?"
That might be difficult to do. The government deliberately omits items with prices that climb the fastest (energy, food) when it calculates the "core inflation rate". If you use their numbers, you might conclude that the poor are doing better but your values will not reflect actual costs of living.
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Just wait ...
Next year these figures will look good. Although everyone will take a hit to income, the least among us will be hit the hardest.
For some real data on GDP :
http://www.shadowstats.com/cgi-bin/sgs/data
According to shadow stats we have been in a recession for over two years. What the press is talkiing about is the recession for the plutocrats and the inflation push depression for the working class.
for econo bufffs:
And while you are at it , look at M3
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Trickle Up Economics
With the advent of 401K programs, every Joe Palooka in the US is investing money in the stock market and throwing the prospectuses in the bin. Since Joe Palooka and the AARP want their 401Ks to do well by any means necessary, manufacturing and pink collar jobs get exported and high-priced management in the US comes in and takes all the money. There is no real gain. What money is not spent on US salaries does not go back to the shareholders, it goes to the executives, who justify their insane salaries by saying, "Look how much money I made for the company!" They neglect to add "and I'm taking it all!"
Its funny that I know a lot of grey haired boomers who insist they are eco-friendly, and yet they do not read the prospectuses of their 401K funds to fully understand how much of their money is in the hands of the planet-killing, job-exporting, child-labor-supporting profiteers.
You want change? Read your prospectus and invest like an intelligent person who gives a damn.
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Slouching to Fascism
I find it interesting and appalling that neither Andrew Leonard nor any of the posters have drawn the obvious conclusion from the damning data on income inequality. The real significance of the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, the Military Commissions Act, and the gutting of the Bill of Rights is to set up the requisite police state infrastructure to deal with the fact that such concentrations of wealth are unsustainable and have historically lead to uprisings. Capitalism in crisis turns to fascism.