businesses can grow jobs in this country? or do we continue to have a wall street which is an island unto itself whose only goal in life is to make more and more money from their stockholders and the ceos of the big firms? republican senators may not want to do anything about income inequality, but they re definitely starting to talk about it. listen to this. the recovery has been everywhere but in the family paychecks. the american dream has become a mirage for far too many. the wage stagnation is happening at a time when the cost of everything is going up dramatically. the facts are we re facing right now a divided america when it comes to the economy. today, the top 1% earn a higher share of our national income than any year since 1928. senator, they sound like bernie sanders. they sound like you. but what are their solutions? what are they saying? here s the solution al. you re right. they do sound like me.
uniting running on the politics of division and envy is to me almost unamerican. that was john boehner in 2012. with the economy improving republicans seem eager to spout some of the popialist economic themes they wouldn t touch a few years ago. the so-called 1% that the president is always talking about have done quite well. middle and lower income americans are about $3,000 a year worse off than they were when he came to office. the recovery has been everywhere but in the family paychecks. al the american dream has become a mirage for too many. income inequality has worsened. the president s policies have made income inequality worse. joining the panel we have an msnbc contributor. welcome. happy pi day to you. it s the greatest pi show on earth. that s what we aim for. i m glad we re living up to it.
cuts in spending caps again and again while leaving many other pieces of the budget essentially untouched. reporter: now republicans worry as many defense analysts do about any further cuts to defense and the co-chair, jeb hensarling pointed to massive growth in government over last two years even as the recession dragged on. epa has grown 130.8%. the energy department has grown 170.7%. with the stimulus. education has grown 180.6% at a time when the economy has actually seen negative economic growth and family paychecks have shrunk. reporter: now cbo director elmendorf made clear whatever the committee does to cut defense or non-defense spending the bigger threat is unsustainable spending in the entitlements such as medicare. listen. entitlement programs, mandatory spending as a
epa has grown 130.8%, the energy department has grown 170.7% with the stimulus, education has grown 180.6% at a time when the economy has actually seen negative economic growth, and family paychecks have shrunk. reporter: and republicans along with many democrats argue defense cannot bear any more cuts. director elmendorf made clear whatever the committee does to cut defense or nondefense spending, the bigger threat is unsustainable spending in into it elements such as medicare. mandatory spending is a growing share of federal outlays, in some cases growing rather rapidly. and without addressing that path to spending, it would be extremely difficult to put the budget on a sustainable path. reporter: but liberal democrats held a rally today, megyn, to say they won t support any plan that includes any cuts in entitlements whether they