Richie Rich

Rob Schofield at North Carolina Policy Watch has an excellent post today about the growing gap between the richest and the poorest in our country. Which should come as no surprise to anyone who actually has to work for a living here in North Carolina. Just this year, for example, when our state Senate had the chance to reduce sales taxes that would affect everyone, they chose instead to cut taxes only on the wealthiest.

So what's the net effect of these kinds of policies?

Between 2005 and 2006, the average income (before taxes) of the top 1 percent of households increased by $73,000 (or 7 percent), after adjusting for inflation, while the average income of the bottom 90 percent of households increased by just $20 (or 0.1 percent). (In 2006, the top 1 percent of households were those with incomes above about $375,000.)

2006 marked the fourth straight year in which income gains at the top outpaced those among the rest of the population. Since 2002, the average income of the top 1 percent of households has risen 44 percent, or $335,000, after adjusting for inflation. The average income of the bottom 90 percent of households has risen about 3 percent, or about $1,000.

It's no wonder there's a growing sense of worry among the 99% of folks who are falling behind as our government continues to stack the deck in favor of corporate and wealthy interests.

One commenter on Rob's post wrote this:

As long as the GOP is committed to the idea the wealthy people are better people, there’s going to be sizable population of rich folks who believe what is for them a convenient myth.

I wish I could say it's only Republicans who share this distorted world view, but there are a good number of corporate Democrats too. Our job is to help them see the error of their ways - or replace them with more progressive Democrats who understand the needs of real people.