indexAs the President prepares for his “State of the Union” address, next week the theme of his address will surely revolve around income inequality.

In his State of the Union address in 2012, the president stated, “The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

Again, last month the president revived income inequality as a challenge of our time.  In every statistical analysis the gap between rich and poor is at its highest in decades and gotten worse under President Obama.  

The rise in income inequality is not solely the fault of the president, but Washington in general.  Failed policies have contributed to this income inequality gap.  Both sides complain about the unfairness of the U.S tax code but have done nothing to remedy the situation and only exacerbated the problem.

Far too often major corporations pay little or no federal taxes and enjoy benefits that small business owners rarely benefit from.  President Obama repeatedly chastises the wealthy in his populist vendetta, but has never submitted a comprehensive tax reform proposal; except the wealthy must pay their fair share.      

Republicans failed to muscle the political courage in last month’s budget deal, only just to “kick the can down the road.” Rhetoric alone will not solve this problem!

At an event last month, the president spoke at the Center for American Progress; he revived income inequality as a “challenge of our time.”  To begin ending income inequality is to raise the minimum wage, quality education, and continued implementation of the affordable Care Act.

The president completely misses the point in regard to reversing income inequality.  I agree with the president that the facts prove there is a vast income inequality in this country, but his solution will only magnify the problem.

Raising the minimum wage will only raise the income of those employed and raise the cost of unskilled labor, and will reduce the number of unskilled labor businesses will hire.

The surest way to end income inequality is to ensure every American gets a quality education.   Unfortunately this is where rhetoric does not match reality.  The president regularly criticizes the wealthy but he has chosen to send his children to the private school of Sidwell Friends School in the District of Columbia.  This is where many of the power elites send their children.

Rhetoric often does not trump reality.  One of the first official acts of the Obama administration was ending a voucher program for inter-city Washington D.C. students to attend any private school they chose; some chose the very school the president’s children attend.

Unfortunate for them the president cancelled the program, private school is good for his children just not someone else.  The president’s former Chief of Staff, now the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanual sends his children to the exclusive University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park.

This is the same school private school his children went before they moved to Washington D.C. I am not bemoaning the mayor and president for choosing to send their children to a private school, but why deny other parents the option for their children to get a better education.

If you believe in the public school system then send your children like the rest of the masses not where the elites send their kids.  

The final aspect is the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable.  The new health care law is hurting middle class Americans the hardest and employers are offering few full time positions.

Last year, over 60% of all jobs created were part time employment, hardly a way to end income inequality. 

Washington is the real impediment to reducing income inequality; both parties need to end the partisan brinksmanship!  If Tip O’Niel and Ronald Reagan can work together, both with different political philosophies then why cannot Republicans and Democrats today work together! 

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]