COTW: The Middle Class is Falling

Another chart, more evidence that the middle class in 'Merica is on its way out. According to the latest economic data the middle class suffered its worst decade in modern times as wages stagnated, the cost of necessities went up and their share of national income fell:

Pew Research noted that income disparity in the US is comparable with those notable democracies, Pakistan and Ivory Coast. In the last twelve years incomes for the wealthiest 400 quadrupled as their tax burden halved. So go ahead get mad and vote Repugnant for revenge. Just so you know what you will be voting for, Jeb Bush's favorite author, Charles Murry, rejects democracy and believes the United States should return to a colonial-like state with the hyper-rich in power instead of a hereditary aristocracy. Are you really ready for "mon argent et mon doit" or is socialism that abhorent?  I was not in the first half of the 20th century, when middle Americans had leaders like Robert 'Fighting Bob' LaFolette, and Eugene Debs to represent them.  Today we have a psuedo-populists spouting resurrected southern accents that are enslaved to Wall Street and willing to sell the middle class out at the drop of a foreign donation.

The richest 1400 Americans who filed taxes in 2012 had an average income of about $161 million for that year.  The lowest qualifier for this exclusive group made $62,068,187 in adjusted gross income, that is after tax credits and exclusions!  Ninety-five percent of the decline in the tax rate for the very top of the income pile is explained by the Bush-era capital gains tax cuts.  In Detroit, the water department shut-off water supply to 1,000 poor residents, despite the City Council's plea to stop.  Baltimore is following suit, shutting off water to 25,000 households owing $250 or more.  Yes Hannah, capitalism is just grand!