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Obama: Income gap a 'fundamental threat' to US

President Barack Obama put a spotlight on rising income inequality in a major economic speech, arguing that the disparity is poses a "fundamental threat" to the American dream.

Marshaling both the recent papal exhortation by Pope Francis and a flurry of statistics reflecting a growing income gap between the wealthiest Americans and most others, Obama urged Washington to adopt policies to address the economic divide.

"The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe," Obama said at a speech in Washington, D.C. hosted by the progressive think tank Center for American Progress.

Obama called for a litany of proposals -- a higher minimum wage, stronger labor laws and a budget which promotes both education and social safety programs -- that he said would provide better economic stability for families in the aftermath of the recession that took hold as he took office in 2009.

Read the NBC News report here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on December 04, 2013 (boomark / email).