America goes to the polls tuesday, and the economy remains the overriding concern for voters. A poll finds job creation and Economic Growth are the most important factor for 41 of voters in congressional elections. This is the highest of any single issue out there. Lets assume you just arrived on earth from mars, and i tell you since the last election, the u. S. Unemployment rate has dropped to 5. 9 . America has created a fairly healthy 192,000 jobs every month since then, but you the martian might reasonably think that americans are happy. And Economic Growth 3. 5 . This all looks pretty good, but welcome to america, martian, the same poll shows that just 36 of americans, of registered voters are satisfied with the state of the economy. 64 are not satisfied. The reason for this gets to the heart of what is happening in america now and what has been happening for the last several decades. It is a story of continued growth in income inequality that this chart makes clear. Since about 1970 the paths of the rich and the rest of us have diverged. The top 5 has seen their income grow at a rate that has vastly outpaced the median. Look another the difference since about 1970. All the way back from 1970 and back, peoples income was growing at about the same rate. The reason for this growing disparity include huge pay gains for highly educated workings in technology, and the loss of goodpaying jobs in manufacturing. This happened as america outsourced jobs to lowerwage companies. And wages have stagnated. Median Household Income in 2015 was 8 less than it was in 2007, right before the recession once you adjust for inflation. But the rich dont rely only on wages. In fact many of them dont rely on wages at all to create wealth. And they have made out great as the stock market surged. Nothing explains it better than this chat. It shows that americans in the top 10 , thats this green bubble, the top 10 of the income pyramid control 63 of all financial wealth. So they are the ones who have raked in the lions share of the 22 trillion gain in net worth from Financial Assets like the soaring stock market since the end of the recession. The top 10 control all of financial wealth, this 63 , as financial wealth include increases as well. So thats why so Many Americans remain dissatisfied with the economy. Joining me now is kevin haset, he has served as an Economic Advisor to several president ial candidates from george w. Bush to mitt romney. He joins me now from washington. Kevin good to see you. I want to give my viewers a sense as they as they head to the polls of what you know, in these elections it all becomes about a horse race, we dont hear as much about policy as we would like to. What is good conservative policy to deal with the issue i just discussed . Right. Well, i think the history of economics shows wages can only go up if you make people more productive. If we try to pay people way more than their productivity, our business is going to go out of business, so if you see if stages are stagnating, then you have to ask yourself the question, well, why are the wages stagnating . And the answer is that the workers are not getting enough capital to work with that they are way more productive which drives up their wages. And that gets back to why isnt the capital really soaring here enough to drive wages higher, and the answer is were the highest Corporate Tax place in the developed world, so people are putting their machines in other countries. And i think you are exactly right. Its kind of interesting. Its almost a puzzle that except for that winter quarter, we have had gdp growth in the 4s or 3. 5ish, so gdp is looking great, yet people are really really unhappy. And they are going to punish democrats for sure. Wages arent keeping up, and they current keeping up, because the democrats are willing to let earth. That this has been going on for administration after administration. Are you suggesting to methot the concern i have though, is there seems to be inequality in rate creation than it has been in the past. If you have access to capital or credit you have done fine in the last five years. Right. But when you are talking about inequality, if you look at income before taxes and transfers, then that is getting much much more equal, president obama increased marginal taxes a lot on Small Businesses and peoples wages, and transfers have gone up enormously. And youll find it is not getting more unequal, but we are doing it with lots of taxes that may not be sustainable. So that a different way. You are saying that in fact when you deal with all of the things that are in place to ensure that some of the lowest earners in our society have been certain benefits that the wealthy dont have, that it looks more equal than the chart i just showed . Yeah, the tax rate for people on the top has gone from 35 all the way up to 44. 6, and we have really really expanded our transfer programs and over the decades expanded things like the earned income tax credit, so all in, if you look at what the government does, you find inequality isnt getting worse because of all of these transfers. So the right thing to say is are we doing enough transfer . And if you are going to assess that, then you need to look at what the distribution of income looks like. And knowing you, ali, youll have this chart ready for people in 30 minutes. The issue i have got is im not as worried about the least among us, because i think we have policies in place that deal with them. Where i see the problem is families who are roughly around the median. They are not wealthy enough to benefit from the idea of having their assets grow in the same way, and having a Big Stock Market gain and im showing my viewers that right now. That is the yellow chart. They are not the worst among us, and they are not the wealthiest among us. If you are in the middle, thats where i see the most dangerous stagnation. Thats the middle class is what worries me. Right. And you are right to be worried about that. And thats exactly why the democrats are likely to get trounced in this election, because its the median guy w whowho decides go whose to washington, and the median guy is unhappy. If there is an industry that is doing well, you see the wages in that industry start to go up. For example, if you are in a booming industry and you are a janitor, then you make more than if you are in a failing industry and you are a janitor. So even within jobs the booms profits can help everybody. But right now were chasing all of those profits overseas, so those booms industries that could be driving up the wages, are throwing their profits overseas, and maybe helping the middle wage of the country that is the target of their transfer. But the guy and gal is a person with a job, a person who needs more capital. And its exactly correct that Neither Party has made it their top priority to cut that Corporate Tax rate. One can hope that if the Senate Changes hands to the republicans that well have a chance for a grand deal, where the white house will have a Republican Congress that wants the corporate rate lower, president obama says he wants the corporate rate lower. He heir harry reid wont passing anything. Kevin haset thank you for joining us. I want to continue this discussion with peter koy joining us now to discuss how income inequality may be aggravating the situation. You heard kevin say that inequality is not getting worse. And that chart is misleading in that it is pretax, pretransfer income. If you show after taxes, and after transfers, if you show what their wealth is, it doesnt show the same gap. It doesnt but there is still a major problem. Janet yellen said that inequality is one of the key concerns she has as chair of the central bank. And it is a key concern. I do care about the people at the bottom. I feel their they are at the bottom. They are struggling the most, and, you know, here were coming up on the holiday season, we have thanksgiving, christmas, some of those people are going to find jobs, they are going to be the jobs with the awful hours and awful working conditions, and when the holidays are over, they will be out of work again. Right. They cant get by. They literally cant get by. Poor health. I just read a book by a woman who talked about her awful teeth. She cant even afford a dentist. And she goes around with pain in her mouth. We have one in five or one in six foods insecure in this country. So were showing 192,000 jobs created every month for the last several years, and Unemployment Rate under 6 . Interest rates remarkably blow, the stock market is up almost 40 . It looks fantastic. Where this is rising tide that is supposed to raise all boats . In exactly. Part of it is we need the tide to rise higher. Growth. If you get strong growth, good things will happen. By kevin is putting a big emphasis on the supply side of the economy, which has to do with taxes, lower taxes, you increase the supply, people will put machines he kept coming back to the idea give the workers more machines and they can be more productive and make more money. The problem were having right now is more on the demand side. We have a shortage of demand. Sometimes people describe that as overcapacity, too many workers, too many factories exactly. I have a cover story in Bloomberg Business week talking about how the economist died in 1946, and yet his prescriptions remain relevant today. So going back to kevin haset, he makes a lot of good points, but if you are a business and somebody says were going to cut your Corporate Tax rate, i will say fine, ill pocket the money. Right. Im not going to take the store shop. Exactly. And what we have right now is a problem of oversaving. The amount of savings we have in the economy exceeds the amount of desired investment. In order to bring those in line, you have to increase demand, and when the business sector is hoarding, when consumers are struggling to pay down debt rather than consuming, then the government needs to fill in the gap, and one of the obvious ways to do that is through infrastructure spending. I know you have addressed that in your program. At a time when theres no interest, we would benefit from this for 50 to 100 years, but we dont do it. Exactly. Theres a thing that says that stimulus is just pork barrel government spending. Which is a shame, because it can be. Theres no question there has been money wasted on projects here and there, but the idea that we should give up on the whole idea when there is a crying need to fix our roads, bridges, tunnels, water systems, and sewer systems, and were going to have to do it eventually, why not do it when you can borrow money for nothing. Exactly. Peter koy good to talk to you. Wfrjs all with all of the cutthroat campaigning, why would anybody want to run for office. Ill tell you why. You are watching real money. Tell me what is on your mind, by an election day midterms marathon. Its gonna be close. Several swing state elections are up for grabs. Are you kidding me . Dont miss filmmaker a. J. Schnacks unprecedented. If i can drink this, i dont see why you shouldt be able to smoke that. Behind the scenes look. Are you gonna do this . At what it takes to win. Its certainly something that doesnt exist elsewhere in politics on television. Midterms election day marathon. Today, 1 00 eastern. Only on Al Jazeera America. Up for grabs in this Midterm Election are 36 senate seats and all seats in the house, and vying for these positions are candidates who have to engage in countless debates, untold stump speeches, exhaustive handshaking and end less baby kissing. Running for congress looks like an absolutely gruelling experience. Which begs the question, why would anybody want to do it . Being a member of Congress Seems like a thankless job. You are constantly being criticized. Why would anybody want the position . Well, one reason may be the perks. First is the annual salary. For almost all members of congress, it was 174,000. If you are the speaker of the house, your compensation jumps to 223,500 dollars. Not bad considering the median Household Income in america is only about 52,000. The hours arent bad either. Consider this, the current 113th congress is scheduled to meet and conduct business for only 159 days this year. Though that doesnt include the time a Congress Person will put in at that home district. The average american is required to punch into work 250 days a year. And each member of congress receives between 1. 2 and 4. 7 million in annual travel and office expenses. Theres even a 40,000 allowance just for furniture. Theres pretty Good Health Care and Retirement Benefits too. Members of Congress Must use the obamacare insurance marketplaces but can receive up to a 75 contribution from the federal government towards the cost of those plans. And if they retire after putting in only five years of service, members could receive as much as 80 of their final salary. More than half of the members of congress receive an annual average pension of more than 71,000. Of course there is special free Parking Spaces at Washington Air forts, exclusive congressional dining room, and members only gym access for life for current and exmembers of congress. Even the death benefits are good. If a member dies while in office his or her family receives a full year salary of 174,000 as compensation. All in all its a surprisingly sweet deal for a job where you are only required to report back to the boss every couple of years. Forget everything you just heard, because someone who follows members of congress closely says it is far from a dream job. You are nominated to do a job that everyone hates you for at the cost of your family says emily. You have a very, very different story to tell my viewers than the one i just painted. You are talking about congressmen who spend countless days away from their family in dwellings that you would not in. If you are a freshman member of congress, if you didnt come with heavy means, to have a rent here in washington, d. C. Is very expensive. There is a member of congress who lives across the state line who said earlier this year, that members of congress, some of them dont make enough money. He wasnt very popular after he said that, but if you live in california, and you have to have two residences in l. A. And d. C. It is not enough money to have a lavish lifestyle. But a lot of these members of congress dont enjoy the popularity or loyalty that a local or state politician in their district would. No, you are so unpopular. Your average Approval Rating some horrible things are more popular than congress. You are not getting much done, you are not seeing your family very long, you are raising money every second that you are not on that floor. When you are here in town, you are spending long days in your office, working, voting when you are here, and you go back home and you are traveling sometimes around these sprawling districts. They are putting in a lot of hours that you dont hear about. Lobbyists make good money in washington, and sometimes these Congress People become lobbyists afterwards. Yeah, eric cantor lost his job unexpectedly in a primary. He was taking 174,000, and he lost his election, went to wall street, and he is now earning more than 3 million. You tell the story about nebraska congressman lee terry who sleeps in his office . Yeah, there is a number of them who do. If you didnt come to washington wealthy, the rents here are not cheap, so people will keep a cot in their office, and use the congressional gym which you may a membership fee for to shower and clean up at the end of the day. So some people here dont even keep a rent in washington, viable. Emily thank you so much. Coming up next, prohibition is still alive in parts of america at a time when many states are debating making pot legal, selling alcohol is on the ballot in one state. Ill tell you where the spirited debate is taking place when real money comes back in 2 election day stay with Al Jazeera America for live, indepth coverage focusing on the issues with expert analysis and updates from across the country. Midterm coverage thats serious, straightforward and unbiased. Tonight, 7 00 eastern. On Al Jazeera America. Prohibition ends in 1933, but there are ten states that still have counties with dry laws. Arkansas is one of them, and tomorrow voters will decide whether to make the entire state a wet one. 38 counties are dry, 38 are wet. A recent survey found 54 are against the amendment. Most of the states dry counties border on a wet one. So the wet ones are home to a large number of liquor stores. If the dry counties get wet, the Border Stores could find their revenue drying up. One is colonial wines and spirits. Its owner joining us now from little rock. Pass . We like the status quo, thats right. My store is not one of the ones that is directly on a count think line. But we have two counties that border up to where my store is located. Those directly on the county line will be more affected than we are. As you just heard, it seems like the no change side of this. Its well, were seeing really mixed numbers here. Just about every day, well see something different. What i saw latest today is actually showing that this is extremely close and that there is a good chance that it will pass, and furthermore i feel furthermore if it doesnt pass, tomorrow its not a dead issue. The next round well be right back looking at the same issue. What is your plan b . Whether it passes tomorrow or if it is not a dead issue and it comes back, what are you going to do about it . Im thinking about getting a tv talk show. [ laughter ] no, just kidding. Were not going to expand into a wet county if the state should go wet. We plan on continuing to focus on the things that we do best, which we think are provide excellent customer service, a great selection, and good pricing, and then were going to just wait it out and see. We think were going to be okay, as i said were not on a county line. What happens from a larger business perspective in terms of jobs created and the revenue that com