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NEWS ABOUT: income inequality

In Today's America, Death of a Salesman Is Dead

Because we have no middle class to celebrate

(Newser) - Philip Seymour Hoffman gives a bravura performance in the new revival of Death of a Salesman, but as he watched, Lee Siegel wondered "why the play was revived at all," he writes in the New York Times . After all, Salesman is about the delusions of the middle class,... More »

Romney's Bain Pal: Rich Should Get Richer

New book 'may be the most hated of the year' New York Times predicts

(Newser) - If you're angry about the growing divide between America's rich and poor, former Bain Capital executive Edward Conard has a message for you: Get over it. Conard is a member of the 0.1%, a top Mitt Romney donor, and the author of Unintended Consequences, a book arguing... More »

Stay-at-Home Mom? Few Can Afford the Choice

EJ Dionne says it's not 'values' driving women to work, it's economics

(Newser) - Lost in the midst of the Ann Romney/Hilary Rosen "mommy war" was a simple truth: Most mothers today simply can't afford to stay home with their kids. "This is not about 'lifestyle' or 'values,'" writes EJ Dionne of the Washington Post . "This... More »

Buffett, Secretary on Her Salary: MYOB

Bloggers are missing the point, he says

(Newser) - So what does Warren Buffett's secretary make? Neither Buffett nor Debbie Bosanek are spilling, despite a flurry of speculation after her star turn at the State of the Union address. "They can't attack the facts, so they attack the person. It's ridiculous," Buffett tells the... More »

Obama's Buffett Rule: 30% Minimum Tax for Millionaires

Warren Buffett secretary Debbie Bosanek is there as a guest

(Newser) - President Obama made his expected pitch for the Buffett rule tonight, with Warren Buffett secretary Debbie Bosanek attending his State of the Union speech to hear it in person. After noting Buffett's complaint that she pays a higher tax rate than her billionaire boss, Obama fleshed out the details,... More »

Americans See 'Strong' Class Warfare

It now out-ranks racial, generational conflict

(Newser) - The number of Americans who think the rich and poor are in serious conflict has exploded over the past two years, with a whopping 67% now rating conflicts between the classes as either "strong" or "very strong," according to a new Pew Research poll —a 19-point... More »

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic... More »

Rich Guys: We're Not the Bad Guys, You Imbecile

Members of the 1% tell Bloomberg they're tired of the criticism

(Newser) - The business story grabbing most of the buzz today is unquestionably a Bloomberg piece by Max Abelson in which he rounds up quotes from various rich bigwigs on how they feel about being vilified as the evil 1%. Answer: They do not like it one bit. Some of the juicy... More »

Desperate Obama Resorts to Class Warfare

His policies have failed, so he's blaming the rich: Charles Krauthammer

(Newser) - President Obama's big speech in Kansas this week makes clear that he's going to resort to class warfare to try to win re-election, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post . With the economy in shambles, Obama is sticking to his simplistic stick-it-to-the-rich theme ("the breathtaking greed of... More »

Don't Raise Taxes on Rich; Redirect Money to Poor

Raising taxes would only create stagnation: Barone

(Newser) - "What should be done about income inequality?" This question "underlies the arguments hashed out in the supercommittee and promises to be a central issue in the presidential campaign," writes Michael Barone in the Washington Examiner . Barone's answer, based on a recent paper by Republican lawmaker Paul... More »

Bloomberg, Cops Underscore Occupiers' Point

OWS about occupying the national agenda, not city parks

(Newser) - With harsh police crackdowns against Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country, it's enough to make you wonder if Michael Bloomberg and the nation's police chiefs are actually on the side of the protesters, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . Of course they're not really,... More »

US Becoming 'Democracy in Name Only'

Income inequality threatens 'whole nature of our society': Paul Krugman

(Newser) - A new CBO report tells the same old story, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times : The very rich are getting much richer at the expense of everyone else. Cue the think tanks and "obfuscators" who say it ain't so for all kinds of reasons. They're... More »

Taxing Rich Won't Help Middle Class

Government has hurt Americans, not the rich, says Ross Douthat

(Newser) - You can raise taxes on the rich to fight inequality, but that will only "trim the tallest poppies" and won't do anything to help the middle class, says Ross Douthat in the New York Times . "True social mobility and broadly shared prosperity are not so easily achieved,... More »

Income of Top 1% Shot Up 275% Since 1979: CBO

And in the process more than doubled their share of all income

(Newser) - The top 1% of income earners saw their after-tax income shoot up a whopping 275% between 1979 and 2007, and in the process more than doubled their share of all income, jumping from 8% to 17%, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office . The rest of the... More »

Occupiers Are Democracy's 'Primal Scream'

From Tahrir Square to Wall Street, protesters feel society rigged, says Kristof

(Newser) - Don't underestimate the parallels between Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . He's interviewed plenty of protesters in both locations, and he says that people's responses were largely the same, the feeling that a small ruling elite is rigging the... More »

US Should Copy Model of Its 'Lefty' Military

It stresses people, education, and income equality: Nicholas Kristof

(Newser) - America is desperate to find ways out of its funk, and Nicholas Kristof thinks it would do well to copy a liberal-sounding model from an unlikely place—the US military. "The United States armed forces knit together whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics from diverse backgrounds, invests in their education... More »

Dear Top 1%: Payback Is a ...

Richies are going to regret shafting everyone else: Stiglitz

(Newser) - Revolution is raging in the Middle East, in societies that all have one thing in common: 1% or less of their population controls the lion’s share of the wealth. “As we gaze out at the popular fervor in the streets, one question to ask ourselves is this: When... More »

US Is Worse Than Banana Republics

Yet somehow we need to give the rich tax breaks?

(Newser) - It’s tempting to say that the US now has a banana republic-level income inequality, but that’s not fair—to banana republics. “The truth is that Latin America has matured and become more equal,” writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times , even as the US has... More »

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