A quantum of umbrage: It's official

We're in the Second Gilded Age.

Tell me again why we should revere “job creators” who don't create jobs? The next time an Oregon politician suggests a whopping corporate tax break to get corporations to stay or relocate here -- in the name of job creation, always in the name of job creation -- this should be stapled to their nose:

With the Dow Jones industrial average flirting with a record high, the split between American workers and the companies that employ them is widening and could worsen in the next few months as federal budget cuts take hold.

That gulf helps explain why stock markets are thriving even as the economy is barely growing and unemployment remains stubbornly high.

With millions still out of work, companies face little pressure to raise salaries, while productivity gains allow them to increase sales without adding workers.