The rich just keep getting richer
The whole of 2014 was one long happy New Year for the 1 percent, but don't take my word for it.
A little more than a year ago President Obama appeared before U.S. business elites at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council and gave the following reassurance: "When you go to other countries the political divisions are so much more stark and wider. Here in America, the difference between Democrats and Republicans ... we're fighting inside the 40-yard lines. ... People call me a socialist sometimes. But no, you've got to meet real socialists. (General laughter) ... I'm talking about lowering the corporate tax rate. My health care reform is based on the private marketplace. The stock market is looking pretty good last time I checked."
The president could have added that during his tenure in office 95 percent of all income gains has gone to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans while everybody else's income is either stagnant or declining. But, of course, in deference to his working-class base in the Democratic Party, some things are best left unsaid.
Roger Fraser
Rolling Meadows