Income Inequality

According to the Congressional Research Service, the income gap between the wealthy and the poor has grown even wider between 1996 and 2006. The report released by the Congressional Research Service points to the Bush tax cuts and the performance of the stock market between 1996 and 2006 as the primary reasons that the income gap grew between the rich and the middle and lower classes during that span.

According to CNN Money: "After-tax income for the top 1% of taxpayers soared 74%, on average, between 1996 and 2006. The top 0.1% benefited even more, nearly doubling their income over that decade. By comparison, the bottom 20% of taxpayers saw their income fall by 6%, while the middle quintile experienced a meager 10% gain."