Ain't We Got Fun: The Income Gap Widens

Gap Between Rich, Poor Growing In California

In the morning
In the evening
Ain't we got fun
Not much money
Oh, but honey
Ain't we got fun...

(AP) SACRAMENTO The income gap between the richest and poorest Californians is growing while the growth in middle-income jobs is slowing, according to a report (PDF file) released Wednesday by the California Budget Project [a nonpartisan organization based in Sacramento].

The CBP's executive director, Jean Ross, cited several contributing factors to the widening gap between those at the top and those at the bottom, including federal tax policies. Surprise, surprise.

In addition to the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, the report shows that those in the middle are hurting too, with less growth in mid-level jobs--which also has consequences for lower-income folks, who, Ross said, "may end up trapped at the bottom of the ladder. It's hard to move up the rungs. Traditionally people move up step-by-step over time."

In the winter
In the summer
Don't we have fun
Times are bum and getting bummer
Still we have fun...

Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, said the report demonstrates the need for federal tax policies that reward companies that keep jobs in the U.S.

He also said corporations should rethink their policies and shift more of their wages to lower- and middle-income workers.

"The middle class is disappearing," he said. "We're losing out on wages and somebody else is gaining, and that somebody else is primarily the executives and businesses. The good jobs are being sent overseas, and more and more what we're seeing is service sector jobs, which tend to be lower-wage jobs."

The California Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on the study, predictably spouting its panacea, "enterprise zone programs that give businesses tax breaks." Color me less-than-impressed.

There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get laid off
In the meantime
In between time
Ain't we got fun

(Ain't We Got Fun, by Richard A. Whiting, Raymond Egan and Gus Kahn.)

[NOTE: No original analysis here, really--just threw this together after hearing about the report on today's noon news, because I couldn't help but be reminded of the old song.]