Dem. Sen. Claims U.S. Doesn't Have a Spending Problem, It Has a 'Misallocation of Wealth' Problem

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Thursday explained something rather extraordinary: The U.S. doesn’t have a spending problem, it has a “misallocation of wealth” problem.

"First of all, I want to disagree with those who say we have a spending problem. Everyone keeps saying we have a spending problem," he said during a discussion on the Budget Control Act of 2011 (which includes the across-the-board spending cuts known as "sequestration") .

"And when they talk about that, it’s like there’s an assumption that somehow we as a nation are broke,” he added.

Sen. Harkin, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, continued:

Well look at it this way, we’re the richest nation in the history of the world. We are now the richest nation in the world.

We have the highest per capita income of any major nation. That kind of begs the question, doesn’t it? If we’re so rich, why are we so broke? Is it a spending problem?

No, it’s because we have a misallocation of capital, a misallocation of wealth.

And by "misallocation," the senator is, of course, alluding to the so-called "one percent."

“All of this wealth that’s been built up by hard-working Americans has been accumulated into fewer and fewer and fewer hands all the time,” Harkin said.

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