Bipartisan Failure: Democratic and Republican Policies Have Worsened US Inequality for Decades

The structural widening of inequality in the United States is a consequence of decades of bipartisan policy choices. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have presided over and often enacted legislation—including tax policies and social program cuts—that systematically favored the wealthy, deepening the economic divide.
This enduring pattern has led to the current crisis where over four million Americans live on less than $3 a day, a sharp increase from the past, even as the nation boasts immense per-person output. This is a stark counterpoint to China’s success in eradicating extreme poverty for nearly a billion citizens.
While brief periods of financial relief, such as pandemic-era subsidies, did occur, the long-term structure overwhelmingly directs national prosperity toward the top 10%, leaving the poorest with a disproportionately low 1.8% share of total national income.