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<\/p>\nIn a speech , House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) claimed that President Obama created \u201cclass resentment\u201d by calling for slightly higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. At the same time, Occupy Wall Street protesters continue to speak out in favor of an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top of the income scale.<\/p>\n
Could their frustration be a\u00a0product of the increasing inequality rather than Obama\u2019s \u201cdivisive rhetoric?\u201d\u00a0Absolutely. In fact, a New York Times\/CBS News poll released yesterday found that two-thirds of Americans believe \u201cthat\u00a0wealth should be distributed more evenly in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
As noted by the Half in Ten Campaign\u2019s new report, \u201cRestoring Shared Prosperity: Strategies to Cut Poverty and Expand Economic Growth,\u201d the hourly wage of a typical worker grew from $14.73 in 1973 to $15.96 in 2009, for a raise in real terms (after accounting for inflation) of $1.23 over 36 years. Yes, you read that right. Only $1.23, an 8.4 percent increase over the last 36 years.<\/p>\n
Top earners, meanwhile, saw a gain of $12.70 per hour gain (30 percent) over the same time frame. The growing gaps between the wealthy and everyone else could not be more stark.<\/p>\n
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Even\u00a068 percent of millionaires, according to a survey from the Spectrem Group, agree that the rich should get taxed more. It\u2019s not in the interest of America to have people fall out of the middle class and into an increasing population living in poverty, as the economy continues to suffer through a slow recovery. The middle class is the engine of America\u2019s economic growth.<\/p>\n
A report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office found that between 1979 and 2007, income\u00a0grew 275 percent for the richest one percent of Americans, but by just 18 percent for those at the bottom. The federal government\u00a0can do something about this \u2014 from investing in our infrastructure to improving education. It can help bolster demand and the Half in Ten Campaign offers some good ideas to get us started.<\/p>\n