Fresh analysis of household income growth from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirms what most of us are already aware of, but gives it a solid numerical value.
The top 1 percent of earners in the United States saw their average household incomes grow a whopping 279 percent from 1979 to 2007, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study (PDF) published this week.
For the lowest earners, what the CBO described as the poorest fifth of America, average incomes grew just 18 percent in that same period. The middle class — comprised of about three-fifths of Americans — saw incomes grow about 40 percent. [...]
All told, the gap between rich and poor in America more than tripled in just under 30 years, marching in line with government policies that have increasingly tended to rely on regressive taxes on the poor and working classes, and less on taxing the top earners.
Income for the top 1 percent has increased nearly 300% since 1980, which would give even the casual observer pause to ask the question -- where are the jobs?
If the 1 percent represent the sacred "Job Creators," and they're doing better now than they ever have, where are the jobs? What are they waiting for?
Taxes are the lowest they've been in 50 years. Profits are up. Half of congress is in their back pocket.
What else do they require before they start creating jobs?
This is the point where the notion that people only wish to "punish success" falls apart. No one wishes to institute punishment, they simply expect those who have benefited the most from society to return the favor.