who can't live on 168,000 a year? the president's spokesliar, that's who.

via crooks and liars:
Tony Snow told conservative media personality Hugh Hewitt that he’ll be stepping down in the not-too-distant future — and he won’t be alone.

HEWITT: Are there any other resignations upcoming, Tony Snow?

SNOW: I think that probably…as Josh said the other day, he thinks there are probably a couple coming up in the next month or so. […]

HEWITT: Your intention to go the distance, Tony Snow?

SNOW: No, I’m not going to be…I’ve already made it clear I’m not going to be able to go the distance, but that’s primarily for financial reasons. I’ve told people when my money runs out, then I’ve got to go.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that Tony Snow feels compelled to leave his White House job, which pays him $168,000 with a sweet benefits package, because he’s running out of money. If a guy can’t get by on $168,000, the economy can’t be that good.

"was there a spread on this in 'republican vogue'?"

the top ten % of u.s. income earners have reached a level of income not seen since 1928? oh, so we have nothing to worry about. it's not like there were any huge financial disasters anytime soon after 1928...

The income gap between rich and poor in the United States has increased significantly, The New York Times online edition reported Thursday. According to the report, new analyses of 2005 tax data shows that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans.

Per person, the top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, nearly doubling the gap from 1980....

While total reported income in the US increased almost 9 per cent in 2005, the most recent year for which such data is available, average incomes for those in the bottom 90 per cent dipped slightly compared with the year before, dropping 172 dollars, or 0.6 percent.

According to the report, the gains went largely to the top 1 percent, whose incomes rose to an average of more than 1.1 million dollars each, an increase of more than 139,000 dollars, or about 14 percent.

The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than 100,000 dollars, also reached a level of income share not seen since 1928, according to the report.