XPost: alt.politics.bush, sci.econ, alt.politics.economics   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats.d   
   From: @   
      
   "Bob Eld"  wrote in message   
   news:jmc7sb$geo$1@dont-email.me...   
   > On 4/14/2012 8:24 AM, William F. Clinton wrote:   
   >> "Let me count the ways."   
   >>   
   >>   -- Mitt Romney   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> "In 2010, the top 1 percent of Americans on average saw their incomes   
   >> rise 11.6 percent, according to a recent study by Emmanuel Saez, an   
   >> economist at the University of California at Berkeley. By contrast,   
   >> the rest of the country inched up 0.2 percent. In other words, writes   
   >> Saez, 'the top 1% captured 93% of the income gains in the first year   
   >> of recovery.' ”   
   >>   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> ===============================   
   >>   
   >> "Obama, Romney tax plans for ultra-rich offer window on disparate   
   >> economic views"   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> By Jia Lynn Yang   
   >> April 13,  2012   
   >>   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> PERHAPS no one has more at stake in this year’s presidential election   
   >> than the ultra-wealthy.   
   >>   
   >> If Republican front-runner Mitt Romney reaches the White House, he   
   >> will push for the top 1 percent of American earners to save an average   
   >> of $150,000 in taxes, according to an analysis of his tax plan by the   
   >> Tax Policy Center. In a second Obama administration, these Americans   
   >> would pay about $83,000 more than they do now.   
   >>   
   >> For the top 0.1 percent, the difference is even more stark. Romney’s   
   >> plan would save them an average of $725,000. President Obama would   
   >> raise their taxes by $450,000.   
   >>   
   >> Romney and Obama’s tax proposals for the rich offer a window into how   
   >> differently the two men understand the economy: what makes it tick,   
   >> what the government can do to encourage wealth and how to rebuild the   
   >> middle class.   
   >>   
   >> Both men seek to assuage a growing anxiety among Americans about their   
   >> economic security. But they use different language to describe the   
   >> problem and offer different cures.   
   >>   
   >> Obama has repeatedly called income inequality “the defining issue of   
   >> our time.” He has proposed raising taxes on millionaires, saying on   
   >> Tuesday that “broad-based prosperity has never trickled down from the   
   >> success of a wealthy few.”   
   >>   
   >> Romney, by contrast, waves off Obama’s talk of income inequality as   
   >> the “politics of envy.” He says the best way to lift people out of   
   >> poverty and raise wages is to help businesses become more successful.   
   >> Ease regulations on businesses and lower taxes, Romney argues, and   
   >> people’s fortunes will rise.   
   >>   
   >> Neither candidate has a strong record of stemming a decades-long trend   
   >> in this country of widening fortunes between the wealthiest Americans   
   >> and everybody else.   
   >>   
   >> Obama has overseen a recovery that has overwhelmingly benefited the   
   >> wealthy. A recent study showed that the top 1 percent of Americans   
   >> enjoyed 93 percent of the income gains from 2010, the first year of   
   >> the recovery.   
   >>   
   >> In Massachusetts, Romney did little to reverse the trend of income   
   >> inequality that was happening in his state. And his work at Bain   
   >> Capital embodied a pure distillation of American capitalism in which   
   >> higher returns for investors, not worker pay, were the highest   
   >> priority. If elected, Romney has pledged to curb deductions and other   
   >> tax benefits for high-income households, but he has not been specific.   
   >>   
   >> The Occupy Wall Street movement brought a new level of awareness to   
   >> Americans of the growing income disparity between the richest 1   
   >> percent and the rest of the country. Obama is betting that a longer   
   >> national conversation about inequality will help him win reelection.   
   >> Romney, whose own income puts him in the upper reaches of “the 1   
   >> percent,” thinks that strategy will backfire.   
   >>   
   >> “I think it’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and   
   >> discussions about tax policy and the like,” Romney said in January on   
   >> “The Today Show.” “But the president has made it part of his campaign   
   >> rally. It’s a very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach, and I   
   >> think it will fail.”   
   >>   
   >> Romney’s record   
   >>   
   >> When Romney was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, his   
   >> state, like many others, was experiencing growing inequality between   
   >> top and bottom earners.   
   >>   
   >> Massachusetts was still reeling from the bursting of the tech bubble.   
   >> It was also in the midst of a decades-long bleeding of manufacturing   
   >> jobs. Under Romney, manufacturing payroll employment dropped more than   
   >> 14 percent, giving the state the third-worst record nationally during   
   >> that time, according to analysis by Andrew Sum, director of the Center   
   >> for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.   
   >>   
   >> Average weekly wages for workers rose slightly more than they did   
   >> nationally while Romney was in charge. In Massachusetts, wages went up   
   >> 4.1 percent from 2002 to 2006, adjusting for inflation. Nationally,   
   >> they rose 3.2 percent.   
   >>   
   >> But those gains were not spread evenly. Those who worked in investment   
   >> banking and securities trading saw their average weekly wages rise 60   
   >> percent, from $2,707 in 2002 to $4,852 in 2006, according to census   
   >> data adjusted for inflation.   
   >>   
   >> Meanwhile, weekly wages for employees in retail dropped 3 percent.   
   >> Manufacturing workers saw a rise of 5.5 percent.   
   >>   
   >> Sum says the loss of manufacturing jobs helped exacerbate income   
   >> inequality by making it tougher for blue-collar workers to find   
   >> employment.   
   >>   
   >> The trend continued after Romney left.   
   >>   
   >> “I don’t think there’s any evidence to suggest he made it worse,” said   
   >> Michael D. Goodman, associate professor and chairman of the Department   
   >> of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.   
   >> “This is a long-term phenomenon that continued under his watch. He’s   
   >> not the only governor who’s presided over this trend.”   
   >>   
   >> Romney frequently touts his work at Bain Capital as evidence that he   
   >> knows how to lower the country’s unemployment. Yet many of the jobs he   
   >> cites as having helped to create have salaries that would be unlikely   
   >> to pay enough to support a middle-class family.   
   >>   
   >> Their relatively low pay highlights how hard it can be to generate   
   >> jobs that pay well enough to close the income gap.   
   >>   
   >> His campaign says Romney helped create 100,000 jobs while at Bain,   
   >> including 15,000 at the Sports Authority and 89,000 at Staples.   
   >>   
   >> There are no public data on the average pay for a Sports Authority or   
   >> Staples employee, but data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics offer   
   >> some hints.   
   >>   
   >> According to government data, the median hourly wage at “sporting   
   >> goods stores” such as Sports Authority is $10.44 an hour; the average   
   >> annual salary is $26,470.   
   >>   
      
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