Income Inequality in the US

There is a new study released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that shows the inequality in income is at levels not seen  since the great depression of the 1930s, and increasing at a dizzying rate, in fact over 90% of income gains since the last crash has been concentrated in the top 10%, with the remaining folks seeing a large decline.

The subject is huge and complex enough that it can't be analyzed or explained by buzzwords or simple talking points, and some would possibly argue it isn't a problem that government ought to be paying attention to.  It's a problem because the American Reality is that hard work and education are not having the impact on 90% of people's lives that they're supposed to according to the American Dream.  Now the top 10% earns about half of all wages, leaving the remaining 90% of us to subsist on the other half and the top one percent hold 50% of all wealth, leaving the other half to the remaining 99%.  This situation is steadily worsening which raises a real prospect of civil unrest somewhere down the road.

The middle class is being squeezed by globalization and it's companion - offshoring, soaring health care costs, competition from immigrants, declining home values and the astonishing cost of a college education, funded by tens of thousands of dollars in debt by graduation.  All the middle class hears is the sound of slamming doors, and with the unlimited spending unleashed by the Citizens United decision, it won't get any better it seems.  Our government is gridlocked and unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks.