The following statistics are from “Free Lunch, How the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves at government expense” by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston:
In inflation adjusted dollars, “The average income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans in 1973 was $31,248. This is $590more per year than this group’s average income in 2006.”
“And for the very top, the best-off 1/100 of 1 percent [one in 10,000], the threshold rose from $2.4 million to $10.5 million. Looking at the average income of the top group provides an even more startling figure. Their average income was $5.1 million in 1998, but more than $29.7 million in 2006, a record…after adjusting for inflation.”
If you are in the top 2% or fantasize somehow jumping to that level, then there is rationale economic reasons to support Republican politicians who want to renew tax cuts for the top 2% and do away with estate taxes for amounts over $2.5 million.
In 2007 President George W. Bush said “I know some of our citizens worry about the fact that our dynamic economy is leaving working people behind. We have an obligation to help ensure that every citizen shares in this country’s future.” If a Republican leader made that statement today, he likely would be pilloried.
But if you belong to the vast majority of the population and are likely to remain there, then you should be supportive on Nov. 2nd of the President and his party.
