people care about. working class people don t care about the deficit, they don t care about ending abortion. they need a paycheck so they can support their family. and to listen to republican politicians and the talking heads at fox news bad mouth working class people, come on. we already know that the republican party is the party of mitt romney. could care less about anybody less than $250,000. for the president to come out and make this speech is extremely wise politics, because it s what people care about and that s how you win elections. he s got to stay on it. the democrats have got to stay on it. i think this is a winning issue. mike, how do you get the republicans to get into this discussion? the president talked about that earlier this week. you know, the big elephant in the room is the other party that obviously has no plan, that obstructs everything. but we have to engage in this discussion. i mean, it would seem to me that people who go to town huh meetings with republica
is. and we ve got to do something about this chart. you ve seen the vulture chart time and time again. this trend has been going on for decades. none of the republicans have a remedy for this. and it s only getting worse, income inequality hit a record high in 2012. the top 1% took home 1/5 of the country s household income last year. good for them! isn t that awesome? but what about the folks on the blue line? the gap between the 1% and the average worker in this country is the widest it has ever been. the bigger the gap, the harder it is for americans to climb the economic ranks of opportunity. this should concern anyone who believes in the american dream. but the folks on the right wing, the conservative movement, know that it s their own policies that really put this country where it is right now. so they re responding with the only way they know how by screaming about class warfare. he s playing the class
in this country that doesn t want to help out the down trodden, that complains about the possibility of a wage increase, yet wants to cut the food stamp program, where s that going to leave us? that s their remedy for the vulture chart? joining me now is our rapid response panel, mike pappen anton antonio, occupy wall street protester, jesse lagreca. good to have you with us tonight. all we re looking for is a remedy here. what turns this around? what do the republicans have that would turn this around for the middle class? doesn t even care about the middle class. and i guess my question to you, mike, what do we have to do, or what could be done to motivate corporations to really reinvest in our work force and turn this wage depression around? ed, i think that the answer is with what obama has already started doing. timing is everything in a speech like the one that obama gave. while hasselbeck and stossel,
our nation needs to stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves. how about buddhism? income inequality is one of the biggest issues out there in america. try to explain where we are, how we got there. the red liners, the vultures, they re just rolling. but we have to face the truth. good to have you with us ton, folks. thanks for watching. as we head into this thanksgiving weekend, it s important to keep the issue of income inequality on the front burner. many americans this thanksgiving will be forced to work and work for low wages. some won t even be able to afford a thanksgiving dinner. i ve shown you the vulture chart many times here on the ed show. since the early 1980s, income inequality has been an issue. that top 1% have really benefited. their wages have skyrocketed, while workers wages have stayed
line, our tax cut keeps on going down, and then stays down permanently. this is true of all earning brackets. one short week later, reagan s tax cut passed. it was the largest tax cut our nation had ever seen. everyone got a break. but the top tax rate fell from 70% down to 50%. no doubt, a major win for the top 1% income earners in this country. here s the vulture chart again. the green line marks the beginning of reagan s trickle-down plan. this is when his tax cuts passed. so just so happens, it is the same time income inequality started to sky rocket in america. this is proof, tricklel-down economics is a sham, it doesn t work. income inequality is becoming such a major issue, even with the pope. the pope is speaking out against it. making big news this week. the pope made, i think, a