T h e R i c h R e a l l y

H a v e B e e n G e t t i n g R i c h e r
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I.------=-,---, thy havesomuchmoremoney quateeducational opportunities,
I thantherest ofus.Therichreal- adequatehealthcare.
I lyhave beengettingricher.In10 Eventhemiddleclassisnot
years, the richest 1percent of exemptfromthesetrends. "The
I Americans saw their average share of the national income
I wageand salary incomemore going to the middle class
I than double, rising by over declinedduringthisperiod,"the
I $130,000in real, inflation-ac- study concludes. "For thevery
I counted-fordoUars.an addition, wealthy, the story is quitedif-
I capital gains for the wealthy ferent. If the richest 1percent
morethan doubled, increasing hadthesameshareoftotal after
I by$88,000.) tax incomein 1988as in1977.
I Whathappenedtotheincom- these [weal thyI households
I es of the bottom90percent of wouldhavehad$188billionless
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Americans in this period? While in income."
ByU.S. Rep. Bernard theincomesoftherichdoubled What Reagan and theCo~-
I Sanders, 1-Vt. their real incomesdeclin ed by gress didinthe '80s wassh,ft
I S 3.5 percent. Instead of making massiveamountsofmoneyaway
lome ofyoumayrecaUthat moreinsalaryandwages,they fromthemiddleclassesandthe
foranumberofyearsI have made$800less per year. And . ac
I beenpointingout that the poor and into the savmgs -
their capital gainsfeU$47toa cou t d' estment port
1980swasadecadeof greedin n s an mv .
total of$252peryear. ' li f th lthy An add,
whichtherichgotricherandthe ,0lOS0 ewea .
poorgotpoorer. tional $200billiondollarsayear
A newatudy dramatically nowgoestothosewhohaveno
documents this reality. Re- needforthemoney,rather than
searchers for the Center on going- as it didformerly- t~
Budget and Policy Priorities hard-strappedworkingmenan
carefully examined figures pro. women who have an increaS
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vided by the Congressional ly difficult time supportlOg
Budget Officeand the Census themselvesandtheir familieS.
Bureau. What they found is Atthesametimeastheyhave
shocking. madethe rich so muchricher,
In 1988,therichest 1percent thepresidentandCongresshave
of our population earned as shiftedthetax burdenontothe
muchasthetotal incomeof the middle classes while cutt~n;
bottom40percent. Put more taxes dramatically for thetiC .
graphically, the wealthiest 2.5 Whilemiddle-classcitizenssaw
millionAmericansreceivedas thepercentageof their i
ncom
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muchincomeastheleast weal- What aresomeof themani- theypayinfederal taxesstayt ~
thy100millionAmericans. festationsof thisextremelyun- same, therichsawanIBperce;.
This is incontrast to 1977 fair distributionofwealth?The declin e intheir effectivetaX fain:
whenthatotal after-taxincome studyreportsthat intheUnited As your congressman, to
of the bottom 40 percent of States, the child poverty rate tendtofightfortaxfairnesS~ur
Americans was more than stands at 20.4percent, ascom- askthewealthiest people,.n ir
doublethetotal after-taxincome paredtoarateof4.8percentin countrytostart payingthelff~p
oftherichest1percent. other industrialized nations. share of taxes_ andtode
ve
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~W'd G Thismeansmillionsofourchil- policies that will make. forf
0' 'Ilarw:tWlJ'ustfh~t'd( ...~.o.~, J~~w.>-.M~,IF?~~\!P,without moreequitab)lI distributIon~
eweai- a-cre"quate nourISnmetrt;~--ottt"ftfttienat ltttdth:~