As Obama hammers ‘income inequality,’ gap grows under his presidency

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

Income inequality -- the gap between the rich and poor -- is an issue U.S. presidents of both parties have spoken of for years.

 

President Clinton touted, toward the end of his term, that wages were rising "at all income levels" for the first time in decades. President George W. Bush, toward the end of his, pondered the best way to respond to income inequality, noting some policies "lift people up" and some "tear others down."

 

But perhaps no president has hammered the issue as emphatically as President Obama.

 

In his 2012 State of the Union address, Obama said: "The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."

 

But a look back shows that income inequality has grown, not shrunk, under the current president.

 

"All told, income inequality has tended to get worse under President Obama," American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks said.

 

The gap between rich and poor has fluctuated greatly over time, but there are signals that the country is going back to a divide not seen in a long time.

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Obama's Great Divide.