Income inequality nonsense.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.
• Position: STATE OF THE NATION

IN GOOD TIMES, the America, public can be forgiving. During the so-called Roaring Twenties, the scandals associated with the Harding Administration did not interrupt a 12-year period of Republican domination. During the 1990s, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal did little damage to Pres. Bill Clinton's overall approval ratings. Since 1969, income inequality in the U.S. has been on a steady increase. For decades, the issue only has been on the margin of our politics. Income inequality that so angers the public today actually increased at a faster pace during the Clinton years. Neither political party made much of it.

Now it has center stage. Why? When most are prospering, as they were between 1983-2008, resentment against the very rich is muted. In fact, during that period, entrepreneurship was celebrated. New companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Google, Wal-Mart, Apple, and Comcast created jobs and reasonably priced goods for many. From Harry Truman to George W. Bush, no American president made an issue of excoriating the rich.

In today's difficult times, however, the rich are fair game. Pres. Barack Obama wants to tax millionaires and billionaires and their corporate jets. Even with its carnival atmosphere and bizarre personalities, Occupy Wall Street has found a resonating message with its talk of war by the 99% against the richest one percent of Americans.

Of course, the rhetoric of inequality abounds with irony. Tenured professors from prestigious colleges weigh in on the issue, many making well over $100,000 a year. At the same time, more of the teaching burden is undertaken by part-time instructors being paid only a couple thousand a course, if that. The income disparity between those at the lower end of the faculty scale has widened considerably in the last 45 years. For example, in 1975, full professors at Yale University were making about $30,000 and assistant professors were making $13,000. In 2010, full professors at Yale were averaging $177,030, while the assistants were averaging $87,000. What once was a $17,000 gap between the top and the lower rung is now a $90,000 gap. Of course, $87,000 is a handsome salary for an assistant professor, but what about the maintenance workers and food service people? Are those at the top, including university presidents making more than $1,000,000 annually, going serve the cause of income inequality by giving up some of their generous pay?

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