Pew survey shows sharp partisan divide on combating inequality

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-na-sharp-partisan-divide-on-combating-inequality-20140122,0,3816067.story

Pew survey shows sharp partisan divide on combating inequality
By David Lauter
January 23, 2014, 4:00 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Americans overwhelmingly agree that the income gap between the rich and everyone else has grown in recent years, but they are divided sharply by party when asked what, if anything, the government should do about it.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans, regardless of party, agree that the income gap has increased in the last 10 years, compared with about 1 in 4 who believe the gap has stayed the same, according to a new Pew Research Center survey done with USA Today.

In this case, public opinion accurately reflects reality: Almost one-quarter of the nation’s income in 2012 went to the richest 1% of families, those with incomes of about $400,000 a year or more – the largest share since the 1920s, according to researchers at UC Berkeley.

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On a related question, 60% of those surveyed said the “economic system in this country unfairly favors the wealthy” while 36% said the system is “generally fair to most Americans.”