The current war of U.S. capitalism on the poor continues as it has for the last 40 years, a new study suggests. Half in Ten’s new report “Restoring Shared Prosperity” states that the average hourly wage in the United States has grown by only $1.23 per hour in the past 36 years, from $14.73 in 1973 to $15.96 in 2009. Top earners received an increase in pay of $12.70 per hour.
This comes as conservative forces in Washington are increasingly calling for higher taxes on the poor and lower taxes on the rich, typically in the form of a so-called flat tax. Food stamps have also become a target, despite the fact that the current economic climate has led to growth in the number of families needing help to have enough to eat. These attacks continue despite a New York Times/CBS poll showing that two-thirds of Americans believe that “wealth should be distributed more evenly in the country.”
