So true, so true. But expect to be labelled a smear merchant for saying it.

Donald J. Boudreaux is a libertarian...it's not surprising that he would back a "conservative" for President. As a matter of fact, ALL of the economists that you list with him are on the Right side of the political spectrum...what a surprise eh?

"which Obama has proclaimed is his ultimate goal"

Wrong...he's never said that.

By what measure is George Mason even a middle of the road econ university? US News doesn't even bother to give them a ranking.

Anyway that aside, wealth has been redistributed up from the working and middle classes to the wealthiest Americans for 3 decades now. That type of redistribution is just fine by you apparently. It's only when the middle class dares to stand up for itself that you become worried about "redistribution."

That redistribution is fundamental to socialism does not mean that all redistribution is socialism. This is simple logic that any undergraduate could grasp and yet you struggle. All taxes are a form of redistribution, the government takes from all and reallocates the resources. Is it your contention that all forms of government are by definition socialist? That of course would be an absurd position but given your "logic" it's the rational conclusion that one must draw.

"if you are saying that wealth has been redistributed up by our tax system, that's obviously wrong."

Really?? According to the IRS, as of 2004, the top 1% of income earners earned 19% of all U.S. income, which was up from 15% in 1999 according to the CBO, and the top 10% of income earners earned 44% of all U.S. income, which is up from 39% in 1999.

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=1545&type=0

The results of "supply-side" economic policies are very, very clear now under two different GOP Presidents (and when Congress was controlled by either Party)...the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the federal budget busts wide open, period.

"If some people earn more than others, then yes that's fine with me."

NO ONE is saying that we all need to make the same amount of money...most people are not greedy & would be happy just being able to make enuff to get by and save something for retirement.

"Nobody need get poor for someone else to get rich."

So, the poor AREN'T exploited by the rich?? Please...

"The story about the middle class doing badly over the last few decades is a myth which I will explain/expose shortly in an article."

Don't bother...your hypothesis has already been debunked:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44361

"I support a flat tax and limiting government to its constitutionally authorized functions"

...which would be a HUGE tax giveaway to the rich and which no where near a majority of people in the USA will ever support, period.

"I don't care about the argument that the rich made a lot of money."

How did I know that you'd skip what the article that I posted was REALLY all about:
"High-rolling Wall Street executives have won pay bonanzas in recent years while the lives of millions of working poor families have gotten worse, a new study shows."

"About 42 million working adults and their children are too poor to meet their basic needs of food and shelter, according to Roberts. Put another way, 70 percent of poor families work, and half are two-parent families, the study says."

"Nationally, more than one in five full-time jobs pays less than 21,000 dollars"

"About 41 percent of working minority families are low income, compared to 20 percent of white families, the study found. One-third of U.S. children are in poor families in which parents work full time.

Between 2002 and 2006, *an additional 350,000 working families slipped into poverty*, mainly because of inflation, loss of good paying jobs and of social support programmes like housing and food assistance."

"The Centre on Budget Policies and Priorities, a Washington think tank, also found that *the number of poor in the U.S. has increased recently*, in its analysis of 2007 census data.

*'This marks the first time on record that poverty and the incomes of typical working-age households have worsened despite six consecutive years of economic growth,'* the centre says.

'The new data show that in terms of poverty and median income, *the economic expansion that started at the end of 2001 was the worst on record*. The data provide fresh evidence that *the gains from the expansion were quite uneven and flowed primarily to high-income households*,' the centre says.

'Corporate profits, by contrast, grew much more rapidly in the 2001-2007 expansion,' the centre says."

"'In the last six to eight months it's been especially bad. Families come into counseling and it's clear they can't avoid losing their home. We've seen a big increase in the people who come to our food pantry,' she said. Overall, the request for services at her organisation has increased 35 percent this year over last, she said.

According to the Institute of Policy Studies, *the rich have become richer and the poor poorer in recent years*. The CEOs of large U.S. companies last year averaged 10.5 million dollars each in total compensation, 344 times the pay of the average U.S. worker.

The top 50 private equity and hedge fund managers pocketed an average of 588 million dollars each, or 19,000 times as much as average workers.

During the past three years, the ultra-wealthy, most of whom live in the U.S., invested 1.9 trillion dollars in hedge funds, according to Reuters"

"The study used data only for the years 2002-2006. If the data included this year, 'you'd find these numbers going through the roof in almost every state,' Roberts said.

Low-income adults work more compared to the average U.S. worker, the equivalent of about 25 percent more hours, Roberts said. The percent of working poor varies greatly by state. In Mississippi and New Mexico 40 percent of workers are poor, the highest percentage among the states. In 13 additional states, 33 percent of workers are poor."

Like I've said before, two of the things that "supply-side" economic policies ensure is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, period.

"No, the poor aren't exploited by the rich."

LOL...you can't have a top without a bottom, period.

Let me rephrase that for you..."Yet another Right-wing opinion piece that you'll try and pass off as an actual FACT explaining why the Right has run out of legitimate, factual sources to back up their wild economic claims."

"Stock ownership is highly concentrated."

Gee, I thought we were *all* being affected by the recent economic crisis...it's boo-hoo for the ultra-rich eh??

"The government already redistributes much income, often for the good."

"And government properly redistributes income to reduce hardship and poverty."

So much for the "governments don't exist to redistribute income" argument eh??

"But that's different from attempting to deduce and engineer some optimal distribution of income."

Too bad that's NOT President Obama's goal, period.