Jim Webb wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal today titled Class Struggle.  And damn if he didn't hit the ball out of the park on this one.  His statements are dead-on accurate and clearly outline the basic problems of economic inequality in the US.  Thank-God he wrote this editorial.

There are a ton of excellent points in the editorial.  I want to highlight just a few.  However I encourage you to read the whole editorial for yourself because it is that good.

The most important--and unfortunately the least debated--issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.

The US Gini index -- which measures wealth inequality -- has  steadily risen for the last 35 years.  In other words, the rich are getting richer.

Here's one of the prime reasons, at least in the latest expansion:

In the age of globalization and outsourcing, and with a vast underground labor pool from illegal immigration, the average American worker is seeing a different life and a troubling future. Trickle-down economics didn't happen. Despite the vaunted all-time highs of the stock market, wages and salaries are at all-time lows as a percentage of the national wealth. At the same time, medical costs have risen 73% in the last six years alone. Half of that increase comes from wage-earners' pockets rather than from insurance, and 47 million Americans have no medical insurance at all.

Here is a chart of median US income from the Census Bureau.  I should note that median income rose a little over 1% last year, but that was the first time it did so in 5 years.

Manufacturing jobs are disappearing. Many earned pension programs have collapsed in the wake of corporate "reorganization." And workers' ability to negotiate their futures has been eviscerated by the twin threats of modern corporate America: If they complain too loudly, their jobs might either be outsourced overseas or given to illegal immigrants.

Yep.  Here's an ugly chart for you

I would add high-tech to that as well:

Ladies and gentlemen -- I am pleased to have this man in our party.  He is talking about what the basic problems are.  I hope the Dem majority starts to address these issues.