Former Obama Advisor: Obama Recovery Goes Entirely to 1%

Last Friday, former Obama economic transition advisory board official and Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich dismantled the supposed Obama economic recovery as a massive boondoggle for the rich:

According to an analysis of tax returns by Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the top 1 percent pocketed 93 percent of the gains in 2010. 37 percent of the gains went to the top one-tenth of one percent. No one below the richest 10 percent saw any gain at all.

In fact, most of the bottom 90 percent have lost ground. Their average adjusted gross income was $29,840 in 2010. That’s down $127 from 2009, and down $4,843 from 2000 (all adjusted for inflation).

In other words, the Obama “recovery” hasn’t leveled the playing field – it’s tilted it more. That makes sense, since most of Obama’s measures have been aimed not at providing jobs for working class people, but at subsidizing friends, allies, and union bosses. The rich continue to get richer – and much faster – under Obama, even as he claims the mantle of class warrior.