The rich keep getting richer in today’s America of not making them pay their fair share of the load. It helps when our politicians protect their interests and not the interests of the lower and middle classes.
If you feel like you’ve been working harder, paying more for services, and making less, it’s not your imagination. Click on the links for the math.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph
End of rant.
The Unknown Cystic 
I think we are on the same page with our heart, bro, but these numbers are for the small-minded, easily-swayed people by tugging on their heartstrings instead of their logic bones.
Some of those numbers are maddening while others are exactly as they should be. Those who have worked hard their whole life to stay out of debt and use their largest wealth-building tool (their income) should not be punished by taking it away and more than those who choose to stay poor by not making anything out of themselves or contributing to society by getting a stinking job, all the while taking my hard-earned money so they can live in the projects with cable TV, 2 cell phones, and eat… and get a unearned tax credit. Unearned – they actually named it appropriately.
It’s important to remember who these top 1% are: the business owners who put their necks out in the economic area called risk and hire a bunch of people who may or may not do a good job. The higher-ups are investors, entertainers, professional athletes, software geniuses, and people like Oprah who have worked 3 decades to earn that much by working 12-15 hour days.
I’m ticked at injustices, but I don’t see any here. I’m not in that bottom 90% or I couldn’t afford my insurance, but I was as a single person 4 years ago. You own a house in CA with a family and a successful career, so I doubt you’re in the bottom 90%, either… so I’m not sure why your knickers are in a bunch. Expecting change from a Chicagoland bully – a city where everyone is in each other’s pockets making the elite richer and more powerful in hopes that they will protect them and give them handouts – who campaigned on change and brought us more debt and deficits while preaching restraint on the stump every chance he gets?
Jesse,
You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. We’re not on the same page with our hearts. I will never feel sorry for the rich or feel like just because they worked hard they deserve to keep more of their money than any hard working American working on a factory line or in a coal mine or in a retail store who didn’t strike it rich at the level they did. And I’m not saying we should take a large portion of the rich’s money. But the rich have the best accountants money can buy and ways to avoid paying taxes (read about how much tax was paid by Frank and Jamie McCourt, owners of the Dodgers). The rich have monetary advice/help, deductions, and breaks the average man and woman don’t have. Even the government helps them out with a 15% tax rate on dividends.
I don’t think the numbers posted are for the small minded. We live in a country now with the rich promoting why we shouldn’t let them be taxed and how much that would hurt everyone. And many hard working Americans are buying into a message that actually works against their best interests. Meanwhile, we owe our future to China, who is buying up all of our debt. Our deficits are crazy. And I’m tired of hearing it’s a free market economy. That argument didn’t hold much water when the banks in this country took too many risks and the government had to bail them out. Again, more protection for the rich who pretend to say they don’t want gov’t handouts, but put their hands out when they get in trouble.
We have become a country of “the bottom line” with each person looking out for him or herself. My “knickers are in a bunch” because no one wants to pay their fair share anymore and we simplify human behavior and success into those who work hard and those who are lazy. Many of the successful people already had money to start their businesses or lived in an environment/city/neighborhood that gave them more opportunities to succeed. I give them full credit for their success, but that doesn’t mean they deserve an excessive piece of the pie.
I expect change will come from a population without good jobs, health insurance, and the safety nets that have made this country a place where much of the world wants to live.
Thanks for posting a good comment for debate.
UC
Any time, fibro.