No average income gain during Bush years

[Ted King]

The top 10% income earners in the US stayed relatively flat at having about 30% to 35% of the total income earned in the US since WWII to the 1980's. In the 1980's the top 10% income earners share of the total income rose to about 40%. During Clinton's years (most of the 1990's) their share rose to about 45% (on average - it was kind of erratic). Since the turn of the century the top 10% income earners now have 50% of all the income earned in the US.* IOW, it doesn't seem like it mattered whether it was a Republican or a Democrat as President, since the early 80's the wealthiest people kept getting more and more of all the wealth created by the country. What it means is that all the gains that have come from increases in productivity have all gone to the wealthiest people in the country. What BushII did manage to do, though, was decrease the tax rate on the wealthiest people so that even as they were taking up all that increase in wealth, they paid proportionately less and less taxes. And our national debt went up by trillions of dollars as a result under BushII.

*This comes from an Excel file posted at this site:

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/20...ost-decade