Of course the right wingers will blame Clinton for this. I wonder if the statistics for 2003 are out yet?
By James McCusker
Herald Columnist
Our feelings about the rich are usually a bit mixed. Jealousy, admiration, envy and pure fascination all swirl around in our conscious minds like ingredients in a botched crock-pot dinner.
Because of this emotional content, it is difficult under any circumstances to conduct a purely analytical discussion about wealth.
In an election year, it is probably impossible.
A new Internal Revenue Service report on personal income, though, certainly gives us something to think about even if this isn't the time to discuss it.
For two years in a row, 2001 and 2002, personal income reported to the IRS declined. This is the first time since World War II, when the present withholding tax system went into effect, that we have experienced back-to-back declines in taxable income. There was a one-year decline in 1953, but by comparison it was a minor, short-lived blip in our upward progress.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/08/08/bus_mccusker001.cfm