Transcripts

Commentary: The Have's & The Have Nots

SUSIE GHARIB: In tonight`s commentary, the growing disparity between rich and poor. Here`s Myron Kandel, president of the New Hampshire Initiative for Corporate Responsibility and Investor Protection.

MYRON KANDEL, PRESIDENT, NEW HAMPSHIRE INITIATIVE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: I`m a big believer in the free enterprise system, so I take a bit of pleasure when people get very rich from brains, talent, hard work or even just plain luck, as long as they did it honestly. I`m not one of those who believe that some other person`s good fortune diminishes my own chances. There`s plenty out there for everyone. Or is there?

I`m dismayed at the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots. All kinds of figures demonstrate this trend. The incomes of most working Americans are barely keeping ahead of inflation and in many cases are falling behind. And while the net worth of the richest Americans keeps rising sharply, the net worth of those at the bottom are actually falling. This is happening while the economy has been growing briskly.

So much for the concept that a rising tide lifts all boats. They do get lifted, but the yachts in the middle of the harbor rise a lot more than the rowboats stuck in the sand flats. I am disturbed by two other events that happened in the last couple of weeks. One was the turndown of an effort to raise the minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade. The other was a study of CEO compensation from the Business Roundtable, which represents the fattest cats of corporate America. It contends -- big surprise -- they don`t get paid as exorbitantly as many of us believe. But wouldn`t it be nice if, instead, those giant corporations tried to help the folks at the bottom achieve a decent standard of living? I`m Myron Kandel.