gaps
i used to think the rich poor gap was growing because of our tax system. now i'm thinking it might be something a little more straightforward. when we bought our house the rule of thumb was to spend a third of your income on housing, a third on lifestyle, and a third on a car(!). the last seemed insane to me. so we saved it instead of spending it on something that depreciates. now our kids go to private school. anywho, back to the gap. relatively recently i heard of people spending half their income on a house, a third on their car, and a third on their lifestyle. huh. make up the difference refinancing your house and maxing out your credit cards. hmm... think i might be on to something here. the poor are the people who bought in to this housing pump and dump scam. and the rich are the ones who didn't.