OECD: US must address income inequality problem

Somehow the problem of income inequality keeps getting worse, yet few in Washington bother to discuss it. The repugicans still cling to the belief that Reaganomics or whatever you want to call trickle-down is working and still relevant. The Democrats are too owned by many of the same corporate interests to care much about the plight of the middle class, since they can't fund a campaign.
The repugicans have an obvious racist and bigot problem that they need to resolve for the future. At the same time, if the Democrats want to remain viable in the future, they're going to have to start addressing the very serious problem of income inequality. It's killing the middle class and so far, the Democrats have barely been committed to even talking about the problem.

At one point in American history, such a story would have been an embarrassment and caused immediate action by Washington. In this climate, it barely causes a ripple.

The OECD, which produces reports every two years, says that the US recovery is gaining momentum but remains fragile, with the country facing problems such as record long-term unemployment, income inequality and lack of investment in education and innovation.

The report is more bullish on the economy than Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who recently downgraded his forecasts for the US economy.

But it points out that poverty is worse in the US than in Europe. "Income inequality and relative poverty are among the highest in the OECD," the report says.

Only Chile, Mexico and Turkey among the 34 member OECD countries rank higher in terms of income inequality.