But what Obama conveniently leaves out of his sermons is that income inequality has grown faster on his watch than any time in the past two decades, at least.
Research by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez shows that since the Obama recovery started in June 2009, the average income of the top 1% grew 11.2% in real terms through 2011.
The bottom 99%, in contrast, saw their incomes shrink by 0.4%.
As a result, 121% of the gains in real income during Obama’s recovery have gone to the top 1%. By comparison, the top 1% captured 65% of income gains during the Bush expansion of 2002-07, and 45% of the gains under Clinton’s expansion in the 1990s.
The Census Bureau’s official measure of income inequality — called the Gini index — shows similar results. During the Bush years, the index was flat overall — finishing in 2008 exactly where it started in 2001.
It’s gone up each year since Obama has been president and now stands at all-time highs.
Read More At Investor’s Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/073013-665705-income-gap-grew-sharply-under-obama.htm#ixzz3F1o4MnZS
Growing income inequality under Obama has been caused, not surprisingly, by Obama’s policies. Obamacare, higher taxes, environmental extremism, regulatory excess, and largely unchecked and even encouraged illegal immigration have had the effect of suppressing the demand for, and increasing the supply of, labor in the United States. Therefore, those who depend almost entirely on their own labor for their sustenance have not fared well during the Obama years. On the other hand, those with significant equity portfolios have participated indirectly in the broader global economy and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies and therefore have done comparatively better. Bring investment and jobs back to the United States by reversing the policies that Obama and his enablers in the Democrat Party have foisted on us, and we will then see a reversal of the trend toward greater income inequality.