Wealth Disparity

If Only it Were 99 Percent -- or Even 80 Percent -- Versus the Rich

Bernard Starr | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Economy, Occupy Movement, 99 Percent, Corporate America, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Protests, Wealth Disparity, Shrinking Middle Class, Wealth Gap, Politics News
Bernard Starr

Without the restoration of middle class jobs for Americans, the lights will not go back on and support for education will continue to fade.

Read Post

Chris Christie: The Heartless, Smug, Bullying Embodiment of Today's Republican Party

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Gop, Chris Christie, George W. Bush, Unemployment Figures, Jobs, Inequality, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Richard (RJ) Eskow

Chris Christie isn't the Republican Party's "bad boy." He's its Id. He expresses the emotions they all feel but which most of them are too judicious to say out loud. That's clear by the way the party has embraced him.

Read Post

Reducing Income Inequality Is the Key to Economic Growth -- Time to Pass the Buffett Rule

Robert Creamer | Posted 04.10.2012

Read More: Mitt Romney, Buffett Rule, Economic Inequality, Obama Buffett Rule, Tax Fairness, Dilma Rousseff Barack Obama, Buffett Rule Vote, Warren Buffet, Brazil, Wealth Disparity, Elections 2012, Brazil Economy, Tax Reform, Inequality, Business News
Robert Creamer

We must mobilize Americans to reject economic inequality -- to vote for a society where we all stand together, where we have each other's backs -- and where we return the goal of reducing inequality to center stage where it belongs.

Read Post

Failing States

Christopher Holshek | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Wealth Inequality, Governance, National Security, Economy, Wealth Disparity, Failed State, Liberia, Civil Society, Corruption, International Development, Globalization, Human Security, Fragile States, United Nations, United States, Racism, Nation Building, International Relations, World News
Christopher Holshek

Failing states are failing states. The difference between over there and over here, however, is that we have been stacking the deck against ourselves.

Read Post

Think Again: Money Talks, Media Balks

Eric Alterman | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: 99 Percent, Wealth Inequality, Uscs, One Percent, Media Criticism, Wealth Disparity, Income Disparity, Classism, Media Critique, Class Warfare, Media Bias, Income Inequality, Media News
Eric Alterman

Instead of seeking remedies to this ongoing problem, the putative guardians of our democratic principles, rights and responsibilities -- the United States Supreme Court -- has chosen to vastly exacerbate the situation.

Read Post

The Golden Years: One Step Forward or Several Steps Back?

Gerry Hudson | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: African-American Voters, Wealth Inequality, Retirement, Economic Crisis, Seiu, Black Unemployment, Wealth Disparity, Pensions, African American Unemployment, Labor Unions, African American Women, Wealth Gap, Working Poor, Labor, Senior Citizens, Senior Living, Economic Recession, Saving for Retirement, Working Families, African-Americans, African Americans, Bv-Life, Black Voices News
Gerry Hudson

While the recent drop in unemployment numbers is great news, I wonder about how it will impact older African-American baby boomers. Our looming retirement security crisis, disproportionally affects African Americans, many of whom are retiring in poverty after a lifetime of work.

Read Post

"Losing" the World

Noam Chomsky | Posted 04.15.2012

Read More: America Decline, American Decline, Noam Chomsky, Wealth Disparity, Income Gap, U.S. Manufacturing, Wealth Gap, China America Relations, U.S. China Economy, Politics News
Noam Chomsky

American decline is real, though the apocalyptic vision reflects the familiar ruling class perception that anything short of total control amounts to total disaster.

Read Post

It's Not Envy, My Friend

Jim Worth | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Mitt Romney, Politics, Republicans, Middle-Class, Envy, Class Warfare, Income Inequality, Candidates, Wealth Disparity, Romney Campaign, Romney Quotes, Romney 2012, Politics News
Jim Worth

It's pity: pity of your desperation, of your personal purgatory over the issues, your lack of true understanding, of your feckless attempts at convincing the American people you're the answer to their struggles.

Read Post

Dispatch From a High-Temperature Republic

Peter Mandel | Posted 03.28.2012

Read More: Strip Malls, Revolution, Tax Rates, Suburban Blight, Wealth Disparity, Banana Republics, Gun Ownership, Death Penalty, Big Box Stores, National Disunity, Job Training, Occupy Movement, Tea Party Movement, American Decline, Politics News
Peter Mandel

Prices may be low, but the Republic's economy is slow and there are hundreds of thousands who can't keep up. "Jobs exist," insist local experts. "But our workforce isn't trained." In fact, many high school graduates here have a hard time reading and doing basic math.

Read Post

America's Problem With "Progress"

Jonathan D. Moreno | Posted 03.07.2012

Read More: Career & Money, U.S. Career Mobility, U.S. Mobility, Class Mobility, Wealth Gap, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Jonathan D. Moreno

Ultimately, the current debate about more or less government is a distraction from the real question: What combination of government and industry is most likely to restore Americans' sense of a shared future?

Read Post

What Congress -- And All of Us -- Could Learn From Tim

Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 02.19.2012

Read More: Child Tax Credit, Child Poverty, Wealth Disparity America, Poor Children, Child-Homelessness, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Marian Wright Edelman

Too many of those playing a partisan game of chicken are turning a deaf ear and cold eye to child suffering. It is time to let them hear from us with our voices and votes.

Read Post

The Making of the American 99%

Barbara Ehrenreich | Posted 02.14.2012

Read More: The One Percent, Liberal Elite, Wealth Disparity, We Are the 99 Percent, Occupy Wall Street, Politics News
Barbara Ehrenreich

Occupy Wall Street could not have happened if large swaths of the 99% had not begun to discover some common interests, or at least to put aside some of the divisions among themselves.

Read Post

Washington Disconnect Perpetuates Wealth Shift Upward

Michele Swenson | Posted 02.08.2012

Read More: Jack Rasmus, Supercommittee, Robert Reich, People's Budget, New Deal & Great Society Program Cuts, Wealth Disparity, Jobs Crisis vs. Deficit Crisis, Schakowski Jobs Bill, Simpson-Bowles Deficit Commission, Gang of Six, Depressed Wages, Denver News
Michele Swenson

Instead of presenting a grand vision for job creation and economic stimulus, President Obama has consistently capitulated to Republicans' faux deficit narrative.

Read Post

Six Walmart Heirs Worth Same Amount As Almost A Third Of Americans

Posted 12.09.2011

Read More: Income Gap, Video, Walton Heirs, Income Inequality, Wealth Disparity, Business News, Walmart Heirs, Walton Net Worth, Walton Family, Walton-Family-Fund, Wealth Gap, Business News

The Occupy Wall Street movement has brought increased focus on the disparity between the top one percent of earners and everyone else in the United St...

Read Whole Story

Take Our Children, Please!

Steve Fraser | Posted 01.29.2012

Read More: Bond Market, The One Percent, Income Inequality, Wealth Disparity, We Are the 99 Percent, Sacrifice, Occupy Wall Street, Income Disparity, Jonathan Swift, #Occupywallstreet, New York Stock Exchange, Politics News
Steve Fraser

In 1729, Jonathan Swift's idea was simple: the starving Irish should sell their own children to the rich as food. I want to suggest that we put in motion a similar undertaking. The basic idea is that we offer ourselves up as a sacrifice to the bond markets.

Read Post

Where Is the American Dream Today?

Tiziana Dearing | Posted 01.16.2012

Read More: American Wealth Vanishes, Wealth Inequality, American Poverty, US Poverty, Wealth Gap, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Tiziana Dearing

The poor are getting poorer. They are increasingly being isolated into ever-poorer neighborhoods, which makes it that much harder to break out.

Read Post

Restoring the American Dream

Rep. Adam Smith | Posted 01.09.2012

Read More: Warren Buffett, Education, Income Inequality, Tax Code, Financial Reform, Infrastruture, We Are the 99 Percent, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Rep. Adam Smith

We must look closely at the policies most responsible for leading us to this economic position. Then, we must make specific proposals for how to change those policies and reverse the current economic trends.

Read Post

The War Against the Poor

Frances Fox Piven | Posted 01.07.2012

Read More: Poverty, Unemployment, 99ers, War Against the Poor, Obama Campaign, We Are the 99 Percent, Wealth Disparity, Occupy Wall Street, Politics News
Frances Fox Piven

The Occupy Wall Street movement has already made the concentration of wealth at the top of this society a central issue in American politics. Now, it promises to do something similar when it comes to the realities of poverty in this country.

Read Post

Pro Occupy Wall Street; Against a 2-Tiered Society

Cynthia Kounaris | Posted 01.02.2012

Read More: Bank Fraud, Ows, Unemployment, Income Inequality, Occupy Wall Street, Income Inequality America, Wealth Disparity America, Wealth Disparity, Politics News
Cynthia Kounaris

What I hear Occupy Wall Street saying is "We will follow the rules. But let's make the rules fair." The system is rigged. It wasn't designed to be rigged but has bit-by-bit, step-by-step, become rigged.

Read Post

Throw Them Out With the Trash

Barbara Ehrenreich | Posted 12.24.2011

Read More: Squatting, Unemployment, Homelessness, Wealth Disparity, Occupy Wall Street, Politics News
Barbara Ehrenreich

Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It's where we're all eventually headed -- the 99%, or at least the 70%, of us -- unless this revolution succeeds.

Read Post

Eric Cantor's Know-Nothing Wealth Disparity Speech: "Every Man a Billionaire"

Paul Abrams | Posted 12.23.2011

Read More: Steve Jobs, Infrastructure, Education, Freddie Mac, Housing, Freedom, Wealth Disparity, Va, Fannie Mae, Democracy, 1930s, Public Education, Real Estate, Eric Cantor, Politics News
Paul Abrams

Even more egregious than Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) cowardly retreat (because it was open to the public) from delivering a speech on wealth disparity is what this undelivered speech actually said.

Read Post

Wait, Aren't Family Homes Off-Limits?

Jacoba Urist | Posted 12.12.2011

Read More: Parenting News, Politics News, Millionaire's March, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street Protest, Right to Privacy, Wealth Disparity, Occupy Wall Street, Jaime Dimon, Ruport Murdoch, New York News, Income Disparity, New York Protests, New York News
Jacoba Urist

Under all of Occupy Wall Street's signage, there's a fundamental truth we can't afford to ignore: the growing income gap in this country is a big problem for everybody. Yesterday, though, they crossed a line in the sand.

Read Post

Flat-Lining the Middle Class

Andy Kroll | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Ethnic-Wealth-Disparity, 99ers, Unemployment, Middle Class Economy, Double-Dip Recession, Wealth Disparity, Middle Class, Jobs, Economic Recovery, Politics News
Andy Kroll

The question on many economists' minds is: Will the U.S. slump into a double-dip recession? In the meantime, the middle class has flat-lined. Life support is nowhere close to arriving.

Read Post

I Hope Obama's Veto Threat Is the Start of a New Effort to Fight Back Against the GOP

Mitchell Bard | Posted 11.21.2011

Read More: Medicare Cuts, Debt Ceiling, Spending Cuts, Faa, Payroll Tax Cut, Wealth Disparity, Goverment Shut Down, President Obama, Jerry Brown, Mike Lofgren, Ben Bernanke, Millionaires Tax, Democrats, Tea Party, GOP Letter to Bernanke, Republicans, Politics News
Mitchell Bard

I understand that President Obama is very interested in appearing above the fray, avoiding partisan battles. But the current GOP is interested in nothing but partisan battles.

Read Post

Latino Losses Jeopardize America's Economic Future

Janis Bowdler | Posted 10.25.2011

Read More: Latinos, Wealth Inequality, Economy, Affordable Housing, Wealth Disparity, Latino Voices News
Janis Bowdler

We cannot afford to overlook the racial wealth gap or its consequences for our nation's economy. If we act now, we can stop the bleeding in the housing market and concentrate on economic recovery for the hardest hit―the unemployed workers and vets, retirees, and communities of color.

Read Post