http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2006/10/democrats-should-talk-about-inequality.htmlThere’s a debate brewing in the Democratic Party about whether to talk about the nation’s widening inequality. Some Democratic strategists say that’s too risky. Most of America’s vast middle class wants and expects to be rich some day themselves. Talk about widening inequality and you risk sounding too negative.
That conventional wisdom is wrong. In September’s Wall Street Journal- NBC News poll, inequality ranked as the second most important economic issue, right after the cost of gas and energy.
A few months ago when Congress was debating whether to raise the minimum wage, polls showed 85 percent of the public in favor. And about 80 percent of Americans polled by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg said CEOs are overpaid.
Remember what happened last year when Congress debated the Central American Free Trade Act? Despite a heavy lobbying blitz from the White House and business, it squeaked by with a margin of just two votes in the House. Polls show most Americans no longer favor of free trade because they think it’s hurting the wages of average people.
The fact is, we haven’t experienced inequality on this scale since the 1920s – by some measures since the age of the Robber Barons in the 1890s.
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