Timothy Noah, a writer for Slate.com, has produced an extensive series on the income gap in the United States. According to his research, wealth inequality has been growing at a rather alarming rate. As he reported, in 1973, one percent of the population held 8 percent of the nation’s income.  Today, the richest 1 percent account for 24 percent of the nation’s income.

America is the land of opportunity, built on free market principals. And in a free country, we celebrate success. The accumulation of wealth is, of course, not a bad thing.

But a free market economy — indeed our entire society — is stronger when more people are successful. The concentration of wealth into too few hands can limit the overall growth of an economy and can stifle the creativity that produces wealth.

We need leaders who will work across party lines to rebuild our economy. And we need representatives from South Carolina who will put jobs and working people ahead of rigid ideology. That why I’m hoping to earn your vote in November.

I was reading Robert Reich’s thoughtful column this morning and was struck by this sentence:

“In the late 1970s, the richest 1 percent of American families took in about 9 percent of the nation’s total income; by 2007, the top 1 percent took in 23.5 percent of total income.”

Let me repeat:  Only 1 percent receive almost a quarter of U.S. income.

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http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100531/OPINION/305310018/Military-teaches-teamwork

This nation needs to pull together. On this Memorial Day, we need to consider the power of teamwork represented by our military veterans’ efforts to keep us safe.

I learned this firsthand. I am veteran from a family of veterans. I served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. My husband, John, is highly decorated Vietnam War pilot. My stepson has served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an A10 pilot. My father served in World War II, as did an aunt and uncle. Another uncle served in Korea.

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Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will retire this June, as court observers have anticipated for some time. According to the Washington Post,

Aides and Democrats close to the process named three people as likely front-runners for the job: Solicitor General Elena Kagan, whom Obama appointed as the first woman to hold the post, and two appellate court judges, Diane Wood of Chicago and Merrick Garland of Washington.

I'm relieved to know that the Senate will be able to confirm a successor while Democrats still have a sizable majority. We are likely to lose 3-8 Senate seats this November. Any comments or predictions about the upcoming SCOTUS nomination are welcome in this thread.

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Last night was amazing for the Obama campaign and fans all across the country. I was one of the lucky 9000+ army strong volunteers that blanketed the  state to help turn out the vote in SC for Barack Obama.

I was stationed in Orangeburg, SC. This small town of about 13,000 people was clearly a harbinger of what happens last night. The field organization was very strong and a lot of us college kids drive from Gainesville, FL to SC to help with the GOTV operation.

On Friday night, we[myself, my friend Nathan and Blake] left reminders to vote to hundred of voters  in the rural part of the town. It was dark but we used flash lights to get the job done. It was fun but scary at the same time. In some houses, dogs were not very happy with our effort.

D-day: Saturday early in the morning, we took to the streets and knock on as many doors as we can. At around 4Pm, we returned to the to headquarter to get ready to drive to Columbia to celebrate the expected victory.Once we got there, the news couldn't be worse. We learned from our field organizers that the race was close[I told my friends it must be a motivational trick so we can get a big margin of victory]so we run back to knock at a few more doors with a lot of intensity. We returned to a few houses we thought people were less likely to hit the polls at around 6:20 PM , 40 minutes before the polling station closed. And not surprisingly, they didn't go to vote. We made a last minute plea and tell them that the race was neck and neck and we really need their votes  .A young lady[with four kids] decide to leave the house and took her neighbor with her to the polls. Although we had influence hundreds of people to hit the polls, these last last two voters were our proudest get.

We got to Columbia at around 7:40, 10 minutes after the doors have been open at the Convention Center where the victory rally was held. Lines were longs and kept getting longer. By 8:40, we were 10 yards away from the door and we learned the room was full and we wouldn't be able to watch him speak in person. Gee,we hat to punt in the red zone.

We were clearly[what]stupefied but still fired up. Thousands of us run to the nearest bar to watch his amazing speech. This is history in the making and the Clintons will have to " get with it" sooner or later.

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