Report: Richest 7% got richer during recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The richest Americans got richer during the first two years of the economic recovery while average net worth declined for the other 93 percent of U.S. households, says a report released Tuesday.

The upper 7 percent of households owned 63 percent of the nation's total household wealth in 2011, up from 56 percent in 2009, said the report from the Pew Research Center, which analyzed new Census Bureau data released last month.

The main reason for the widening wealth gap is that affluent households typically own stocks and other financial holdings that increased in value, while the less wealthy tend to have more of their assets in their homes, which haven't rebounded from the plunge in home values, the report said.

Tuesday's report is the latest to point up financial inequality that has been growing among Americans for decades, a development that helped fuel the Occupy Wall Street protests.

A September Census Bureau report on income found that the highest-earning 20 percent of households earned more than half of all income the previous year, the biggest share in records kept since 1967. A 2011 Congressional Budget Office report said incomes for the richest 1 percent soared 275 percent between 1979 and 2007 while increasing just under 40 percent for the middle 60 percent of Americans.

Other details of Tuesday's new report:

?Overall, the wealth of American households rose by $5 trillion, or 14 percent, during the period to $40.2 trillion in 2011 from $35.2 trillion in 2009. Household wealth is the sum of all assets such as a home, car and stocks, minus the sum of all debts.

?The average net worth of households in the upper 7 percent of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28 percent, while that of households in the lower 93 percent dropped by 4 percent. That is, the mean wealth of the 8 million households in the more affluent group rose to an estimated $3.2 million from an estimated $2.5 million while that of the 111 million households in the less affluent group fell to roughly $134,000 from $140,000.

?The upper 7 percent were the households with a net worth above $836,033 and the 93 percent represented households whose worth was at or below that. Not all households among the 93 percent saw a decline in net worth, but the average amount declined for that group.

?On an individual household basis, the average wealth of households in the more affluent group was almost 24 times that of those in the less affluent group in 2011. At the start of the recovery in 2009, that ratio was less than 18 to 1.

?During the study period, Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose by 34 percent, while the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index for home prices fell by 5 percent.

___

Online:

Pew Research Center: www.pewresearch.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-23-Wealth%20Gap/id-3593d74c2b1e4915b81577420df0b416

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?Potentially harmful substance? sent to U.S. military base

Authorities are investigating whether a poisonous substance was sent to a U.S. military base in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.

Reid told reporters there was "an alleged ricin incident" at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which serves the Navy and Air Force and is located in the southeastern part of the city.

A spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency confirmed that a mail screening detected a "potentially harmful substance" at the base.

"This morning, DIA security personnel detected a potentially harmful substance during routine screening of incoming mail," DIA spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas F. Veale told Yahoo News in an email. "Tests by experts called in to assist indicate possible biological toxins. Prudent screening methods and force protection measures were implemented to prevent personnel from being harmed. DIA has maintained normal operations, and will not comment further on this event until an investigation is complete."

The news comes just days after letters were mailed to the offices of Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, President Barack Obama and a Mississippi state judge that tested positive for ricin, which can be deadly if inhaled.

A suspect held in the investigations of the other ricin-laced letters, Paul Kevin Curtis, was released from custody earlier Tuesday. The investigation is still ongoing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/potentially-harmful-substance-sent-u-military-near-washington-194353907--politics.html

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Obama: Background check failure ?shameful?

>>> time ago at the white house , surrounded by victims of gun violence including newtown families, president obama showed a rare flash of anger because the gun control legislation that was supposed to tighten background checks was defeated today in the u.s. senate . the president called it a pretty shameful day for washington. nbc's kelly o'donnell with us from capitol hill tonight. kelly , good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, brian. the mood inside the senate chamber which was packed was intense with emotion as gun victims, survivors and many of the newtown families watched senators they had personally met with vote down expanded background checks . tonight, the president gave the rose garden microphone over to a newtown dad, mark backwarden.

>> we'll return home now, disappointed but not defeated.

>> reporter: the president clearly angry.

>> the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill.

>> reporter: lashed out at congress.

>> this was a pretty shameful day for washington. this effort is not over. i want to make it clear to the american people . we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence so long as the american people don't give up on it.

>> reporter: from the steps of air force one last week to the u.s. capitol again today, newtown families who know the pain of gun violence had been unwilling to give up.

>> our hearts are broken. our spirit is not.

>> reporter: gabrielle giffords who has lobbied senators called the failure to pass expanded background checks unthinkable. today being heard or consoled was not enough for patricia. tucson shooting survivor who shouted at senators, "shame on you."

>> shame on you!

>> order in the senate.

>> reporter: some newtown families held more private families. no media coverage . republican senator mark kirk 's staff took these pictures. the latest nbc maris poll shows nearly 9 of 10 surveyed want tighter restrictions on gun sales. four republicans voted yes to extend background checks to commercial sales at gun shows and the internet.

>> expanded background checks would not have prevented newtown .

>> reporter: conservative opposition was strong.

>> this is the first step in the erosion of our rights under the second amendment.

>> we are trying to take it to the violent criminal. rather than taking it to the second amendment law abiding citizen.

>> reporter: usually a vice president arrives to preside over a winning vote. biden was here to witness its defeat.

>> the amendment is not agreed to.

>> reporter: four democrats from red states with high gun ownership also voted no. in talking to those democrats who voted no, they say they had intense pressure from their home state constituents who did not want to see expanded background checks . also tonight, senators voted down an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity ammunition. it is possible that democrats will simply shelve this legislation in order to try again some day down the line. brian?

>> again, the president calling this round one. kelly o'donnell on the hill tonight after an eventful day there. kelly , thanks.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2ad94ca4/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C515760A30A/story01.htm

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