60 days, 60 stats - #20

With part 20 in the series, I am starting a segment on the middle class. Today's number is 281% - that's the starting point for this discussion.  Since 1979, the top 1% have seen a 281% increase in their after tax income, 10 times what the middle fifth has seen, and triple what the top 80% of families have seen.  Put simply, the rich are getting MUCH richer while the middle class is getting screwed. The GOP will tell you that Obama and the Dems talk in terms of class warfare. That's an exaggeration of course, but it's not entirely inaccurate, and there's a reason. Take a look at this chart. The red line at the top is the income gains of the wealthiest 1% of Americans since 1979:

Over the past 30 years, the wealth gap in this country has increased dramatically. We all know that money runs modern politics, and if you look at this chart and don't think that the top 1% are using their money to protect the status quo, you're just nuts. Of course they are, because they're rational, self-interested humans. I'm not even blaming them for it, or suggesting they should not be doing it. Life isn't fair, and some people will make more money than others. But if you wonder why the GOP is saying "stop framing our economic challenges as class warfare," this chart explains it. Class warfare exists, the top 1% are winning it, and we all know the top 1% is the official sponsor of the GOP (just ask porn star Jenna Jameson).

The GOP wants you to think that the Democrats are advocating some socialist redistribution of wealth, but the redistribution is already taking place.  Don't think so? The top 1% have more than doubled their share of the nation's after-tax income in the last 30 years, and they've taken that share from the bottom four fifths. It doesn't get any clearer than this:

So let's have a discussion about the middle class, the rich, and the poor. Let's talk about effective tax rates and the productivity of the American worker. Let's talk about our deficit, job creation, education, taxes, and Obamacare, but let's talk about them all in terms of what will help or hurt the middle class. Because I think we can all agree that a strong middle class is critical to Americas future.