Inequality Doesn't "Just Happen"
And that's what President Obama needs to talk about tomorrow night.
How We Got Economic Inequality and Why the President Needs to Talk About It
On Tuesday night, President Barack Obama is going to give his fifth state of the union address. The president is likely to call for policies that will help working people, like an increase in the minimum wage and the extension of unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed workers.
But what will his larger message be? In December, he gave an exceptionally blunt and powerful speech about economic inequality. But the speech had two serious problems. He described inequality as a problem affecting the poorest Americans, while in reality the majority of America's workers are no longer advancing economically. Second, the president described inequality as something that just happened without anyone making it happen—a piece of bad luck or an act of God.
But for the kind of people who pay the bills in Washington, the fact that the president used the word “inequality” is too much, and the chorus of insiders urging the president to back off is growing.
So the president faces a choice of rhetoric on Tuesday night—but that choice is not just about political gamesmanship. It will have serious policy implications. But there is also an issue of simple credibility. The American people are watching, and they are furious about inequality. Large majorities in poll after poll want a more progressive tax system, accountability for bankers, less power in public life for corporations and the rich and, most of all, higher wages.
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