New CBO Figures Verify Income Inequality

A couple of days ago the Congressional Budget Office released figures that showed that the gulf between the richest 1% of Americans and the rest of America has grown much larger since 1979 (about the time that "trickle-down" economics was instituted). It shows that the after-tax income of the richest 1% has increased by 275%, while the bottom 80% had less than 50% growth (and the bottom 20% grew only 18%).

The CBO said, " As a result of that uneven income growth, the distribution of after-tax household income in the United States was substantially more unequal in 2007 than in 1979."

When you check the rate of inflation (using the LaborDepartment's figures based on the Consumer Price Index) you find that what could be bought for $10.00 in 1979 now costs about $27.54 in 2011. That means while the richest Americans have more buying power than ever, most other Americans have less buying power than they did in 1979 -- the rich have moved forward substantially while everyone else has gone backwards.