Gap between haves, have-nots expands

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

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.

Cut to

More than a million jobs have been added back to the 2.6 million lost since Bush took office, but they pay less and offer fewer benefits, such as health insurance. The new jobs are concentrated in health care, food services, and temporary employment firms, all lower-paying industries. Temp agencies alone account for about a fifth of all new jobs.

Three in five pay below the national median hourly wage -- $13.53, said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist for Wells Fargo.

And

"This really has nothing to do with Bush or Kerry, but more to do with the longer-term shift in the structure of the economy," Sohn said.

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"Shift in the structure of the economy." Man, economists say these things as though such changes spring from the forehead of Zeus fully grown. The economy doesn’t change simply because it mysteriously decides to do so. Uncontrollable events such as the weather or natural disasters play a major role, as do events like wars. More importantly, the economy also changes because of specific governmental and corporate policy decisions. This current "shift in the structure of the economy" is due to decisions like these. Sohn is quite correct when he says that what’s happening right now cannot be blamed on Bush, although the President is doing everything he can to push things further in this direction. No, this goes way back, starting with Reagan, continuing with George H. W. Bush, going through the Clinton administration: Republican championing of and Democratic capitulation to neo-liberal economic philosophy is slowly turning the United States into a third world country. That is, tax cuts for the wealthy combined with heavy deregulation of business have resulted in a huge erosion of the middle class. Soon, most Americans will be poor, and electing Kerry will merely slow the process down slightly.

Sometimes, I really don’t understand why Democrats are so pissed at people who voted for Nader in 2000.

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