Obama says income inequality is worse, with 95 percent of income gains going to the one percent.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , a fight over a $10 minimum wage in California has the nation considering whether the Federal minimum wage should rise as well.
Discussions over income inequality are starting to peak as reports show the unemployment rates for the poor are reaching their highest levels since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate for those making less than $20,000 has topped 21 percent while the rich, or those making more than $150,000 per year, have an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, the middle class is being forced into lower paying jobs or stuck with working longer hours for the same salary.
Recently, Stephanopoulos talked with President Obama about a recent study from the University of California that found 95 percent of income gains from 2009 to 2012 went to the top one percent of the earning population. Since 2000, the median household income in America has dropped by $4,000, making President Obama agree that income inequality has only grown worse since he became president:
“The folks in the middle and at the bottom haven’t seen wage or income growth, not just over the last three, four years, but over the last 15 years.”
Obama believes the 95 percent income gain going to the one percent can be explained by several factors. Globalization, an internet-based electronic stock market, and automation via robots has led to a large shift in the job market and the economy that is mostly out of the control of politicians.
Meanwhile, the debt ceiling looms over the debate since government spending is controlled by the politicians. And, of course, Obama blames Republicans for income inequality:
“There’s no serious economist out there that would suggest that, if you took the Republican agenda of slashing education further, slashing Medicare further, slashing research and development further, slashing investments in infrastructure further, that that would reverse some of these trends of inequality.”
What do you think about Obama’s income inequality comments?