Americans today are very worried about income inequality.
A Gallup poll this month found that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S. The disappointment goes across party lines — 54 percent of Republicans are dissatisfied, as well as 70 percent of Independents and 75 percent of Democrats:
And a growing number of people are worried that they can no longer get ahead simply by working hard, suggesting that inequality is becoming more entrenched.
azizonomics 
QE made it easier for those who had enough money to invest with risk to make money.
QE made it impossible for those who had little money or no stomach for risk to make money.
Obama domestic policy failed to create enough jobs paying a livable wadge, failed to instill confidence and created more uncertainty with health care takeover.
Things may only get worse for Obama (if that is possible). US media now taking a critical look at Obama leadership and policy. The Obama coalition of special interests is beginning to fall apart and 65% of voters are not pleased.
John, you are correct that neither Republicans or Democrats deserve sole blame for the plight of the middle and under classes. But, GOVERNMENT does! See today’s column by Thomas Sowell on the 50th anniversary of The War on Poverty:
“Both President Kennedy, who launched the proposal for a ‘war on poverty’ and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, who guided the legislation through Congress and then signed it into law, were very explicit as to what the ‘war on poverty’ was intended to accomplish.
“Its mission was not simply to prove that spending money on the poor led to some economic benefits to the poor. Nobody ever doubted that. How could they?
“What the war on poverty was intended to end was mass dependency on government. Kennedy said, ‘We must find ways of returning far more of our dependent people to independence.’
“The same theme was repeated endlessly by President Johnson. The purpose of the ‘war on poverty’, he said, was to make ‘taxpayers out of taxeaters.’ Its slogan was ‘Give a hand up, not a handout’. When Johnson signed the landmark legislation into law, he declared: ‘The days of the dole in our country are numbered’.
“Now, 50 years and trillions of dollars later, it is painfully clear that there is more dependency than ever.
“Ironically, dependency on government to raise people above the poverty line had been going down for years before the ‘war on poverty’ began. The hard facts showed that the number of people who lived below the official poverty line had been declining since 1960, and was only half of what it had been in 1950.”
Grass Roots Americans — tea party, libertarian, voters independent of racial and single-issue herds — are wakening to this and other colossal failures of the Washington entrenched powers that be. The Democrats, especially since the Clintons and Obama, are the biggER government party, buying votes with our, and our descendents’, money. But Republican party and congressional leadership are often “an echo, not a choice”.
Inside the Beltway, it’s Democrat vs. Republican. Outside the Beltway, it’s Washington vs. the people!
Don, Thank you for fleshing out the big picture as we enter the second phase of US governments power grab. The income inequality debate will ignore the truth and both Democrat and Republican elected cronies will do and say anything to hold onto power and influence. Obama State of the Union speech will set the stage. Sadly most main stream media type will fall in line and rewrite history to support government growth and redistribution of wealth.
No doubt, El Z, you are correct tthat Obama’s speech tonight will remove any doubt about his intent to become dictator, recalling:
How the Roman Senate, after a look at Julius Caesar’s army, changed the Roman Republic to an ultimately disastrous monarchy.
France’s Louis XIV’s answer when asked how his actions would benefit the State: “I am the State!”
That Adolph Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) Party, once democratically elected to power, proceeded to legislate an absolute-power dictatorship.
Not to mention the dictatorships emerging from from the French, Bolshevik, Mao, Castro, and myriad other revolutions.
Back to Aziz’s topic: the US government’s role in curing the low and middle class plight is to stop doing what it’s doing, and get out of the way!
I’ve been having some thoughts about how we solve this income inequality problem – feel free to let me know what you think. It’s on Politicoid