You're never gonna be among the super-rich. Now deal with it and stop voting against your own interests

Interesting front-page story in the New York Times today about the widening disparity of income in the U.S., demonstrating that yes, it's true -- the hyper-rich are benefitting hugely from the Bush tax cuts, at the expense of, yes, you and me.

The people at the top of America's money pyramid have so prospered in recent years that they have pulled far ahead of the rest of the population, an analysis of tax records and other government data by The New York Times shows. They have even left behind people making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Call them the hyper-rich.

They are not just a few Croesus-like rarities. Draw a line under the top 0.1 percent of income earners - the top one-thousandth. Above that line are about 145,000 taxpayers, each with at least $1.6 million in income and often much more.

The average income for the top 0.1 percent was $3 million in 2002, the latest year for which averages are available. That number is two and a half times the $1.2 million, adjusted for inflation, that group reported in 1980. No other income group rose nearly as fast.

The share of the nation's income earned by those in this uppermost category has more than doubled since 1980, to 7.4 percent in 2002. The share of income earned by the rest of the top 10 percent rose far less, and the share earned by the bottom 90 percent fell.

Here's what this means. It means that hard work alone is NOT going to get you to the top. It means that voting Republican doesn't mean you'll have a chance to join those ranks. It means that that the Bush tax cuts aren't for you -- in fact, only the top 0.1% saw their taxes decline in 2001 and 2002.

So it's time to stop deluding yourself that these people are waiting with open arms to welcome you into their club once you really apply yourself diligently. They aren't. They don't want you in their club, and it's THEIR financial support of candidates like George W. Bush that are going to ensure that you never get there. So put away the old Horatio Alger stories and start working for candidates who DO believe hard work, not your family name, are what should be rewarded.

UPDATE: Bob Herbert has more in the Monday New York Times.