The RAND Corporation has revealed a staggering economic shift: from 1975 to 2023, $79 trillion in wealth was transferred from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. This massive redistribution was driven by policies favoring corporations and the wealthy, creating one of the most extreme levels of income inequality in U.S. history. The RAND report includes:

—      Median household income today would be double its current level if inequality had remained at 1975 levels.

—      If wages had kept pace with pre-1975 trends, the average full-time worker in the bottom 90% would have earned an additional $32,000 in 2023 alone.

—      If earnings growth had been more equitably distributed, as it was in the mid-20th century, workers would have collectively earned $4 trillion more in 2023 alone.

—      Between 1975 and 2018, the top 1% saw their real income grow by 321.6%, nearly three times the overall economic growth rate. Meanwhile, wage growth for the bottom 90% averaged less than 1% per year.

 

This cannot continue; we must vote out lawmakers who:

—      refuse to rescind the Trump and Bush tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

—      refuse to eliminate tax avoidance schemes.

—      refuse to raise the minimum wage.

—      are anti-union.

—      are against implementing a wealth tax.

—      are against our social safety programs.

 

This will enable us to return to a progressive tax structure rather than the current regressive one. We can grow the middle class rather than the billionaire class. We can reduce the power our oligarchy has over our economy and our government.

                                                                          Gloria Gralewski