AP: Income Gap Up Over Two Decades, Data Show

[Behind the Aegis]

WASHINGTON - 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 (news - web sites). 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 (news - web sites) touts a strong economy that is growing, but polls find that Americans have doubts and think jobs are scarce. John Kerry (news - web sites) is trusted more on the economy, with Democrats talking regularly of "two Americas," divided between the rich and everyone else.

This is my first post, so I hope I did this right!

I guess when the Shrub said he would make people richer he was telling the truth! He just left out that it would only be rich people who would become richer! This article actually points so interesting things out. This may be a linchpin to get some voters to see that they are not better under Shrub, but are getting poorer!

[apnu]

1. good job, but a link would be nice.

We like to have the external links in these things 'cuz we DU'ers are fact and source based animals.

[OKNancy]

2. Here is a link

Here is a link. THe news from this link is actually more than 12 hours old, but I'll let that pass.

Be sure to post a link when you post latest breaking news.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4426964,00.html

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Link, please

Otherwise, you did good.

Notice that the data really goes back 30 years to 1973.

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 that time, 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.

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate

Don't worry, you'll do better next time. Keep posting!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=755561