President Obama’s supposedly sterling recovery hasn’t just crushed the middle class – it’s benefitted the top 1 percent, the very folks Obama says he wants to tax for purposes of fairness. Perhaps he should start by cutting out subsidies for his favorite rich people, particularly those who support him financially.

According to NYU economics professor Edward Wolff, the median wealth of American households is down shockingly from 2007 to 2010; the top 1 percent, however, increased their wealth by a stunning 71 percent. So much for building a newer, fairer economy. The measure of wealth is largely based on asset holdings, including real estate, and the real estate market collapse hit middle class households disproportionately.

Of course, no one would care about increased wealth for the 1 percent if the rest of the country were doing as well. And the rest of the country would be doing better if all the wealth of the 1 percent weren’t sitting on the sidelines thanks to restrictive regulation and the potential of increased taxation. But look for Obama to draw the opposite conclusion: if he can just get his hands on that 71 percent wealth increase, he can redistribute to his heart’s content.