The American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer here at a historically unprecedented rate.
Once the
United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but that's ending at a blinding pace.
The new 'global economy' means that middle class American workers have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and practically no regulations.
If the socialism the Tea Party is shouting about means anything in the U.S. anymore it refers to the golden circle of the super rich, who are profiting at unheard of rates whilst the rest of this nation suffers.
U.S. Corporations have grown massively rich exploiting third world labor pools, but middle class American workers have increasingly lost out.
Here are the statistics to prove it:
• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are now in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 10 years ago. (Thanks George!).
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans. (Thanks George!)
• In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
• The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.
• 61 percent of Americans 'always or usually' live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
• For the first time in U.S. history, U.S. banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth than all individual Americans put together.
• As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
• More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
• In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
• For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
• This is what American workers now must compete against: in
China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
• Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
The American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new 'global' labor pool. We're becoming the Chinese and the Indian labor market.
The proof is all around us, the American Middle Class is dying - and once it is gone it will take decades to rebuild, if that's even possible now, the way things are going.
136 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.rabblerouser | Nov 07, 2010, 01:01 PM EST
All too true...When will we Middle Classers decide to combine our voices together to do something about it?
WatchingMedia | Sep 07, 2010, 05:54 AM EDT
Its not over until the Tea Party has their shot. The Dems have been in control of the Finances since Jan 2007 when they took over the House and Senate and all important Committees. It went downhill from then
IrishAndProud | Aug 12, 2010, 11:37 PM EDT
I think that's what YOU may be suffering from, hollabackgurl...because that's the second time you've posted that. That was comical!
hollabackgurl | Aug 12, 2010, 10:18 AM EDT
The Republicans are hoping for a nationwide outbreak of amnesia in 2010. Because they don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas.
susanna | Aug 08, 2010, 08:45 PM EDT
marym232- you are "spot on!"
susanna | Aug 08, 2010, 08:43 PM EDT
The Republicans in the U.S. thought the middle class had too much power, education, etc. Under Reagan, they started doing away with the middle class (the Air Traffic Controllers Union)because the Republicans feel the wealthy know best how to run the country. Read "The Conservative Mind." It's working. U.S is in deep doo doo.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2010, 07:27 PM EDT
The Republicans are betting on amnesia in 2010. But they don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas.
hancock | Aug 05, 2010, 11:29 PM EDT
If you did't have a job for seven years you either didn't want one or you are an absolute moron.
IrishAndProud | Aug 04, 2010, 06:20 PM EDT
Actually, on the matter of where the bulk of California's populace was born, I stand corrected...just barely. It was only confirmed just last year that the majority of CA's populace is now native-born. From SFGate.com, 4-21-09, article titled, 'CA Shows Increase in Native Population' by Tyche Hendricks [BEGIN QUOTE]: "For the first time in history, a majority of California residents were born and raised in the Golden State - a demographic sea change for a place that has long been defined as a land of migrants from other states and countries, according to a study released Monday by researchers at the University of Southern California." [END QUOTE]
MaryM232 | Aug 04, 2010, 02:56 PM EDT
In the past, many from other states in the US flocked to California, most especially during the dust bowl period before and during the great depression, that said, they were US citizens, their children and subsequent generations lived and died in California, The vast majority of the citizen population of California were born in California. In the US, the concept of citizenship isn't transitory. To Hollabackgirl, Bush was bad, he wasn't a true republican or conservative, I say that as a former democrat, now an independent. Bush is a neo-con, which isn't conservative or republican. You can't claim some mythical higher ground for Obama, he not only was in there with Bush promoting TARP, he helped US and foreign banks and corporations loot TARP and the stimulus, he owns the destruction of our economy. It was Bill Clinton a democrat who pushed through the corrupt trade deals that endorsed and subsidized the outsourcing of our manufacturing jobs, for his own profit, and the democrats have been behind that continued displacement and much more. They're despicable people and morons who blind themselves to these facts deserve all that they will receive from those they prop up, despite the facts being out there.
IrishAndProud | Aug 03, 2010, 01:34 PM EDT
Oh, and mhichil...the majority of California's populace has always been from out of state. Plus the massive amounts of illegal aliens the state has let in and does nothing about isn't helping, much. But then, most states that have been run by liberals are bankrupt and dying, nowadays.
IrishAndProud | Aug 03, 2010, 01:31 PM EDT
You're getting better, hollabackgurl -- you didn't say 'George W bush' until 10 words in, this time (even though the first ten were merely a run-up to it). And...I'm not exactly 'counting chickens' -- I'm merely reading polls, none of which show a single good thing for your guy Obama...in fact the numbers just keep getting worse and worse for him. From today's USAGallup poll [BEGIN QUOTE]: "Only 41% of those surveyed Tuesday through Sunday approved of the way Obama is handling his job, his lowest rating in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll since he took office in January 2009. In Gallup's separate daily tracking poll, his approval was at 45% Monday." [END QUOTE] Btw I'm neither a Repub nor a Tea Partier, however you are indeed a partisan Obama Democrat.
mhichil | Aug 03, 2010, 01:15 PM EDT
I was a civil service worker unemployed since post 911, 7 years with no job in the GOP economy while GM was building factories in China and South America. The Bush legacy of nation building forgot to put his trillion dollar war in the budget and the bills came due at the bank under Obama in the age of accountability. GM invested overseas but took the bailout money to pay for it. You may be speaking for a majority of conservatives, I&P, but the majority population in california are not even born here, thanks to Bush and his nation building. The GOP is hoping americans have a short memory.
hollabackgurl | Aug 03, 2010, 11:05 AM EDT
Why does the GOP even want to extend Bush tax cuts? They've exploded the deficit then the stimulus, TARP and two wars combined.
hollabackgurl | Aug 03, 2010, 03:12 AM EDT
The reason we have a historic deficit now is that George W Bush spent billions starting two gigantic wars and giving tax cuts to the rich without paying for them. He had no plan to pay for any of it and he didn't. Then Wall Street helped him by requiring historic bailouts to prevent the destruction of the American economy. That was the Bush years in a nutshell. You think the GOP have anything to offer in 2010 but more tax cuts for the rich whilst they further bankrupt the nation then you're crazy. Keep shouting about November. You Tea Partiers sure believe in counting your chickens.
IrishAndProud | Aug 02, 2010, 11:40 PM EDT
hollabackgurl...look at you. Instead of disputing a single thing I said, you click right back into it without missing a beat -- the very opening words of your post were 'George W. Bush' (and, conspicuously, NOT 'Barack H. Obama'...probably because there's not much he's done that's worth gloating on). Pardon my saying so, but you're stuck on Bush. You're stuck in the past, living back in 2008 (or earlier) whilst the rest of us have moved forward to the present-day, when the electorate is much more disappointed at (and electrified against) Obama, than we are wallowing in memories of Bush. Screaming 'Bush! Bush! Bush!' in the face of the electoral tsunami headed your way this November is like trying to stop a tidal wave with a trash can lid...pretty futile. And...seems to me Obama has run up more of a deficit since he's been in office than anyone ever has -- and that is why the conservative MAJORITY (you left out that word) is fairly up-in-arms about it...hence one big reason for the trouble Obama is now in.
hollabackgurl | Aug 02, 2010, 09:38 PM EDT
George W. Bush believed that broad-based tax cuts would pay for themselves, and so does every other charlatan and crank in the GOP. Contemporary conservatives (unlike those of old) do not think deficits matter. They believe deficits caused by tax cuts are fine; but spending increases brought in by Democrats are diabolical. The destruction of fiscal credibility could be the outcome of the policies of the party that considers itself the most patriotic.
IrishAndProud | Aug 02, 2010, 06:20 PM EDT
That's right, hollabackgurl...the facts speak for themselves. You can keep on your left-wing drumbeat about supply-side economics (which work one hell of a lot better than your Marxism-Leninism, which you didn't even deny espousing) all you want -- it doesn't change the FACT that Barack Obama and his silly, lousy party are in deep sheep puckey this November, because they are governing against the will of the American majority on virtually everything.
Monsoonman | Aug 02, 2010, 09:41 AM EDT
LOL...There was a Governor of a state that was against tax increases, but he encouraged those that wanted tax increases on the taxpayers to pay for cradle to grave socialism to make voluntary deposits into a special fund he had set up just for that purpose. One donor deposited 1,000.00, after 6 months the fund had a total of 1,400.00....So much for the egalitarian liberals who love to spend other peoples hard earned money.
hollabackgurl | Aug 02, 2010, 08:17 AM EDT
The facts speak for themselves - and you don't keep voting for the GOP's same failed supply-side policies in the hope of getting a different result.
IrishAndProud | Aug 02, 2010, 03:16 AM EDT
And btw, Hollabackgurl...the top ONE percent of Americans also currently cover more that FORTY percent of federal income taxes. Or...is that not enough for you? How about YOU chip in a lot more, instead of insisting that OUR tax dollars do so? We're working people out here, hollabackgurl! We...cannnot...afford...more...taxes!!! Get government OFF our backs! I might ask when will YOU recognize that socialism and flat-out Marxism-Leninism (both of which you advocate, lock, stock and barrel) do not work and can never last?
IrishAndProud | Aug 02, 2010, 03:12 AM EDT
Hollabackgurl, no one cares what Alan Greenspan is saying. With revenue all across the board dropping like a lead weight through open air (and most of it merely printed and borrowed at the expense of our grandchildren), we CANNOT AFFORD yet another (and in this case, MASSIVE) tax increase...which is what we'll get by default come January. But, if you want to have even less of your own money, be my guest -- it's your loss. But do not ask that we also lose more of OUR money.
hollabackgurl | Aug 01, 2010, 09:32 PM EDT
Just today the Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the push by congressional Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the costs elsewhere would "disastrous" for our economy. "Republicans used to believe that prosperity depended upon the regular balancing of accounts — in government, in international trade, on the ledgers of central banks and in the financial affairs of private households and businesses, too. But now they've turned Wall Street into a Las Vegas style casino for the prosperous classes.
hollabackgurl | Aug 01, 2010, 08:54 PM EDT
The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income. How much more will they have to purloin before the GOP and people like IrishandProud even recognizes there's a problem?
IrishAndProud | Aug 01, 2010, 08:10 PM EDT
And McNamara...what are you talking about? The so-called 'stimulus' did NOTHING for the economy, beyond give it a false sugar high with money we don't have (deepening the problem in the process) -- and as every single economic news story and indicator says, even THAT...HAS...ENDED. One would think if this silly 'stimulus' had been even remotely what it was cracked up to be, that it would have had -- and would still have -- vastly more public support than it does. Goodness sakes, McNamara...can't you and Hollabackgurl find better stuff to support your cases with than the discredited 'experts' and a sugar-high 'stimulus'?
IrishAndProud | Aug 01, 2010, 08:03 PM EDT
Hollabackgurl, the definition of an 'economic expert' is someone who's always surprised at everything that happens. I cannot believe you actually still hold such people up as the ones to be believed when they're so thoroughly discredited, on a nearly daily basis. Just read or watch literally ANY news report about the economy and you'll find the words 'worse/more than expected' and/or 'stunning economic experts who had expected something better,' etc, usually in the very first paragraph...whilst we common, ordinary working folk out here in the REAL world just shake our heads and go 'yeah, what's so stunning? We've known all this stuff from day one.' So...your question should actually be asked, in reverse. The American people don't believe in economic 'experts' because they're always wrong...so why should we?
McNamara31 | Aug 01, 2010, 03:33 PM EDT
What some try to call Socialism, other credentialed economists have reported the following: "McCain’s Economist stated,” Dem Policies Averted Great Depression, Saved 8.5 Million Jobs.” "In a July 28, 2010 Report, by Mark Zandi, an economic advisor to John McCain and Chief Economist at Moodys.com, and Mark Blinder, an economics professor at Princeton and former Vice Chair of the Fed, found that “the U.S. economy has made Enormous progress since the dark days of early 2009.” Excerpts state: We find that its effects on real GDP, jobs, and inflation are Huge, and probably averted what could have been called "Great Depression 2.0." Employment would be less by some 8½ million jobs, and the nation would now be experiencing deflation. The stimulus has done what it was supposed to do: end the Great Recession and spur recovery. We do not believe it a coincidence that the turnaround from recession to recovery occurred last summer, just as the ARRA was providing its maximum economic benefit."
Searlit | Aug 01, 2010, 03:01 PM EDT
There used to be anti-trust laws that kept companies competitive. Now, too much is owned by too few, and they have been re-writing the rules to suit themselves. That's corruption!
Monsoonman | Aug 01, 2010, 12:50 PM EDT
Are you talking about the groucho marx economists you use to foist your economic schemes on us with? Even the nobel proize winner Paul krugman is starting to come to his senses, but he was your pied piper than led you to the economic sea cliff. Capitalism works, but capitalism saddled with marxist socialism is crippled and bankrupt. Socialism is a bankrupt way of doing business, it lowers the playing field for everyone and takes away incentives. It is the labor unions being in charge of setting their own wages and bennies without regard to market conditions, it eventually topples from its own incompetence.
hollabackgurl | Aug 01, 2010, 07:28 AM EDT
Economists don't believe in trickle down theory so why should we?
Monsoonman | Aug 01, 2010, 12:50 AM EDT
Seriously, your marxist socialist economic philosophy has proven to be a failure over the years. Look at the financial basket cases europe has turned into and is backing away from socialism...The soviet union disappeared. China has flourished because it embraced capitalism and is now lifting the living standards of its population to levels never dreamed of. The reason America is struggling is because too much socialism has creeped in...too many hogs at the trough. Governments responsibility is to be a watchdog, not be a nanny.
hollabackgurl | Jul 31, 2010, 10:56 PM EDT
If the last ten years hasn't taught you that trickle down economics don't work I don't know what will. Reganomics was B.S. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests up on them. That created the great society and the post-war boom, which Reagan and Bush one and two dismantled. Economists don't believe in trickle down theory so why should we?
McNamara31 | Jul 31, 2010, 10:13 PM EDT
"The government does not create wealth, it only takes it" ******Oh Really? It can allow/create conditions of "unfair advantage" where the corporate and financial sector can pillage the middle class as was true in 2004-2008.
Monsoonman | Jul 31, 2010, 09:15 PM EDT
Do you fiscal intelligentsia know who generates the income that powers the economy that provides the government the money that pays your salary? The private sector...The government does not create wealth, it only takes it.
McNamara31 | Jul 31, 2010, 05:35 PM EDT
hollabackgurl... AgreeX2... What's the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. This is where tax cuts for the rich, all out deregulation, and short term vision has gotten us. Time for smart choices, long term vision, an energy plan that's good for America and an end to dinosaur thinking.
McNamara31 | Jul 31, 2010, 05:23 PM EDT
I totally agree, Searlit. The revolving door is the heart of many of our problems, along with deregulation. It all comes back to "out of control" corporate greed. Whether it was the oil speculators that caused the price of gas to hit over $4.oo a gallon in 2008, or the speculation in wheat prices that caused worldwide hunger, or the CDO's that toppled our financial institutions and pushed America to the brink of depression; these corporations and speculators have lost all "conscience and empathy" for those they destroy in their desire for greater profits.
Searlit | Jul 31, 2010, 11:39 AM EDT
Unfortunately, everytime the government shrinks, it only means more foxes in charge of the henhouse. We already have a revolving door, in many government agencies like the FDA, where former boardmembers from big agricultural, and pharmaceutical companies- go from their previous position - straight into a government ruling body. In fact, it is these people and former lobbyists, that are using their influence on the Republican party to block much needed reforms, and more stimulus spending(the truth is, we need this in a recession)Economics 101. Small businesses create the most jobs in the economy and that's who Obama is trying to get the money to. Also, during George W.'s term the government grew, another thing this President inherited. Take it easy, people.
hollabackgurl | Jul 31, 2010, 11:05 AM EDT
It was the unchained private sector who nearly destroyed the US economy and had to be bailed out by Bush, Moonsoonman. Don't you ever crack open a newspaper?
Monsoonman | Jul 31, 2010, 01:00 AM EDT
Raising taxes on the producers isn't going to give you your desired results. If Americans weren't taxed to death they would have plenty of money to live and prosper. The governments have got to shrink by 50% and unchain the private sector.
hollabackgurl | Jul 30, 2010, 11:57 PM EDT
Recovery won't come by putting the same fat-cat idiots who created this recession when Bush was in charge and expecting a different outcome.
hollabackgurl | Jul 30, 2010, 11:53 PM EDT
Actually, there isn't anyone who thinks that the failures of AIG, Goldman Sachs and their top executives, who through sheer negligence allowed their companies to accumulate so many worthless securities they became a danger to not only to themselves but the financial system as a whole, then lied about it, or the two wars or the foreclosure crisis are somehow Obama's fault. Only a halfwit would even try to make the claim.
IrishAndProud | Jul 30, 2010, 07:38 PM EDT
And here's that dismal economic news I referred to. From the Associated Press [BEGIN QUOTE]: "The recovery is losing so much momentum that employers are unlikely to step up hiring anytime this year, and unemployment could return to double digits. That was the bleak conclusion of analysts Friday after the government said economic growth crawled at a 2.4 percent pace in the spring. It was the economy's weakest showing in nearly a year. And many economists think growth is even slower now. Consumers spent less, companies slowed their restocking of shelves and the nation's trade deficit exerted a stronger drag on the economy in the April-to-June quarter. The Commerce Department report also showed the recession was deeper than previously estimated, according to revisions of the data. Its depth helps explain why the economy is now struggling so much, with shoppers reluctant to spend and employers slow to hire." [END QUOTE] Now, we can keep trying to blame Bush -- which obviously isn't working for Obama -- or we can put the blame where it belongs in this present-day world, and move to make REAL change in the next election cycle...and then hold their wobbly, wishy-washy feet to the fire to get the government out of the way and let REAL recovery start.
IrishAndProud | Jul 30, 2010, 07:33 PM EDT
Searlit, Obama's bunch were saying that unemployment would be 'down' to 8% LAST YEAR, because of the so-called 'stimulus' (money we didn't have but printed and spent anyway...thereby exacerbating the very problem it was supposed to 'help'). We, the great unwashed American majority, HAVE been giving him a 'chance' for the last YEAR-AND-A-HALF, now...and that is precisely WHY he's in such hot water: we DON'T like what he's been doing. Rather than focus on jobs (by getting the federal monkey off...our...backs), he railroaded a health scare deform that the American majority didn't want right through his dirty Congress anyway (whose approval rating was at 11%, at last look), through dirty backroom deals and bribes...meanwhile the economy langushes more and more with each passing day as we've seen with the dismal economic news out just today. You cannot tar and feather the American majority which no longer backs Obama as 'extremists.' OBAMA HIMSELF (and his shrinking band of die-hard backers) are the extremists, Searlit, because they are governing against the majority on every single issue, every single day, non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. If that isn't 'soft tyranny,' I don't know what is. It's like they're in a contest to see how much political damage they can possibly do to themselves, before November. They've BLOWN their chance, Searlit.
veryluckyone | Jul 30, 2010, 02:44 PM EDT
I don't even need to see stats. I know it firsthand. My mortgage tripled, and we are in danger of foreclosure, and there are no jobs, and you can have every credential in the world, but it you are getting to be an older adult, there are NO JOBS FOR YOU EVER. You've heard of unemployment extensions? Not if you did't make enough to qualify. Many rules, all designed to steal savings and remove any safety nets for the aging middle class, who are now unable to get food and medicines. In my little town, there is a food bank once a month, and hundreds of people line up to get bags of groceries. In the larger town nearby, people fight over food at the weekly "shopping" at the food bank. I'm thinking it can't get worse than having to borrow money for gas to get to work, but I'm hearing that it's going to.
Searlit | Jul 30, 2010, 12:01 PM EDT
There's quite a few young people that I know that are having to work two jobs, just to able to buy the necessities like food , clothing and shelter. Most American families are living paycheck to paycheck, not because they are poor savers, but because there's nothing left to save. Most Americans see that there is something wrong with this picture. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living, and taxes have been re-distributed to the workers. Americans can't buy their way out of recession, at this point, as they don't have the money, now. Unemployment has been going on for quite awhile, it's been much worse, since the housing bubble and bank failures, near the end of George W. Bush's term. Give the Obama administration a chance, and don't listen to extremists.
hollabackgurl | Jul 30, 2010, 09:55 AM EDT
Anyone who uses terms like Obamaniks sound like they're still in grade school. An adult can put a case without Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck levels of schoolyard taunting. You're only trying to distract us from the fact that Bush/Cheney ensured that top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 10 years ago.
IrishAndProud | Jul 29, 2010, 11:10 PM EDT
BTW...is this the 'Summer of Recovery' as the Obamaniks are trying to spin it (though no one's buying it) -- or the 'Bush Recession,' as they're also trying to spin it?
IrishAndProud | Jul 29, 2010, 11:08 PM EDT
I didn't tell you 'how' to comment to another post, McNamara...I merely said what I perceived you already DID do. And...how can the 'passive/aggressive' comment be old? I've only just (re-)posted it. And lastly...I think the physical, real jobless millions of Americans speak just a wee bit louder than printed stats with an Obama-friendly headline, wouldn't you?
McNamara31 | Jul 29, 2010, 10:59 PM EDT
IrishandProud...You really have to get over yourself. Now you're telling me how to comment to another post.Sounds very controlling, don't you think? And,this passive aggressive comment is really getting old. As for the Bush vs Obama job growth figures; those charts and facts I referenced speak for themselves.
IrishAndProud | Jul 29, 2010, 10:20 PM EDT
And searlit...under this present Obama bunch, the 'ship' you mentioned would have been bankrupt and repossessed before it even left port.
IrishAndProud | Jul 29, 2010, 10:16 PM EDT
Since some left-wing censorist (pardon my redundancy) saw fit to chop this comment out, here it is again (with one slight change): McNamara, you're full of it. You're only parrotting hard-left news headlines whose sole purpose is to make Barack Hussein Obama look good by saying things that nobody else in the whole country (beyond his shrinking band of stooges) is thinking or feeling. But it's pretty hard to get people all in a happy, smiley mood (again, only so their guy Obama benfits politically), because there IS no good news in a 9.5% jobless market, with those who've stopped even looking for work not counted in that figure. Trying to passively-aggressively stroke Searlit's ego (with your real intent being to diminish/ignore all the counter-comments that came AFTER searlit) doesn't work -- and if you merely re-post your same comments again to repeat this process, you've only proven me right because everyone else will see it now after you've been called on it. Not one single net job has been created under Obama...not one. The unemployment level is several percentage points HIGHER under him than it EVER was under 8 years of Bush. Obama's a flop.
Monsoonman | Jul 29, 2010, 08:58 PM EDT
There is another cost of "social programs" that are even more costly than the tax money extracted from our society: It creates the permanent entitlement classes that have burgeoned lately. When a person doesn't earn his own way in life and relies on the sweat and sacrifices of others, it puts them at a permanent disadvantage and gives them low self esteem, which can leads to headaches, neuralgia and an overall feeling of laziness which can only be relieved by the judicious use of medicinal marijuana, which in turn brings on hunger pangs for junk food which leads to obesity, which leads to diabetes and other health issues, which leads to real physical disabilities....Instead of giving them fish to eat, teach them how to fish.
Searlit | Jul 29, 2010, 03:43 PM EDT
Thanks for being there with some info, to support reality, McNamara. IrishAndProud: At least the unemployment benefits are fed back into our economy, just as taxes are. Now, what about the other 90%, who are working? Aren't they the ones carrying on the day to day actions that keep all of our lives supplied with the necessities of life? Money is like a ship's ballast, if you put too much in one spot, you'll sink your ship! I'm for keeping the ships sailing! I spoke to some people in Ireland that were from the same clan as my family. They told me that our ancient ancestor was born at sea, in the middle of a storm. Perhaps, that's why I'm optimistic!
McNamara31 | Jul 29, 2010, 11:07 AM EDT
Searlit... Your points are well taken and these graphs appearing in two seperate articles document the actual job losses during Bush, vs the job growth during Obama.(I wish IC would allow us to post links again) Washington Monthly: May 2010 "AT LONG LAST, U.S. JOB MARKET STARTS TO LOOK PRETTY GOOD" and Business Weekly: CHART OF THE DAY "It's Official: Obama Is Creaming Bush When It Comes To Jobs"
Gerry57 | Jul 29, 2010, 08:11 AM EDT
WAKE UP AMERICANS!!! Nether party represents our interests.Things will only get worse if we keeping the two major parties back in office.
IrishAndProud | Jul 28, 2010, 11:09 PM EDT
And...more and more people AREN'T 'going to work everyday,' Searlit. The unemployment level is at 9.5%, and that doesn't even factor in those who've given up and quit even LOOKING for work, and/or who are living off of perpetually-extended unemployment benefits (which, shall we say, are not exactly an incentive by themselves to even look). If your definition of the economy running and growing is (correctly) people going to work, then how can you back this government which only bloats perpetually whilst jobs languish? Not a single net job has been created under Obama...NOT...ONE.
IrishAndProud | Jul 28, 2010, 11:04 PM EDT
Uh, Searlit...if social programs (which only consume funds and grow exponentially) are a 'drop in the bucket' compared to tax incentives for corporations, which produce jobs, then why is the U.S. government bankrupt, and spending wealth we don't even have yet, for two generations out?
Searlit | Jul 28, 2010, 08:14 PM EDT
Of course we need free enterprise, entrepreneurs are essential to the economy. However, where would the investors be, if people didn't go to work everyday and produce products and provide essential services? The economy wouldn't run, and (Other people's money) would run out, in no time, if the workers weren't carrying on the manufacturing, delivering and selling of items and services. There is an inter-dependency between the financiers and the workers, but this partnership has been undermined by a terrible shift in the taxes from the corporations to anyone who performs work. Corporate Welfare is taking everyone's money! Don't be fooled, the costs of social programs are a drop in the bucket, compared to the kinds of subsidies and tax incentives, etc. that corporations recieve!
IrishAndProud | Jul 28, 2010, 04:41 PM EDT
Even if the flat-out Marxism (which certain folks on this post openly advocate) was instituted, and all the collective wealth in the USA was forcibly taken from those who've earned it and perfectly, evenly redistributed, it wouldn't be long before it ended up all 'uneven' like it is now, and like it's been before. Some people know how to earn money (and invest it, and SAVE it), and others simply don't. 'Spreading the wealth around' as Obama and others advocate is a pipe dream, which can only be realized by forced confiscation and naked communism, neither of which have ever lasted. Freedom by definition inherently includes the access to, and pursuit of, private enterprise and if a society does not allow these things, then it's not free, plain and simple. And conversely, socialism always fails because eventually you run out of other peoples' money.
McNamara31 | Jul 28, 2010, 03:07 PM EDT
wnd5or6....The GOP voted with the banks, and against the needed financial reform of Wall St. *** Voted against the unemployment extension for affected Americans. *** Voted against healthcare for children and adults with pre-existing conditions and for the huge healthcare corporations. *** Voted with “Big Oil” and against the moratorium that would allow us to find out how to prevent another BP catastrophe. *** Tell me how any of these decisions had the good of the everyday man in mind?
dubious | Jul 28, 2010, 01:59 PM EDT
Remember figures don't lie but liars can figure - couple of questions on the terminology here: • 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are now in the hands of 1 percent of the people. what does "in the hands of" mean - is that the same as "owning". It's hard to imaging that the combined stock holdings of the nations 401K accounts and pension accounts is less than 17% of the US total stock ownership. So there's something lurking there. Also • The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth. What is meant by nation's wealth? And how does that compare with 10 years ago - adjusted for the rate of inflation. I can't comment on the accuracy of the problem the article is defining but I can say that the presentation of the data leaves a great deal to be desired.
wnd5or6 | Jul 28, 2010, 12:57 PM EDT
But let us not forget that the current Democratic party is trying to change the US into a Socialist State, where by giving everything to everyone for free. And the only way to do that is to tax the people. Do we really want to live in a land where our income taxes rival that of some of the other Socialist Countries? All I ask is think about it.... we are moving away from the land of the free to the land of the taxed. And I will wrap with this... all major parties in this country are corrupt one way or another. So don't point fingers at just one party...
killowen | Jul 28, 2010, 12:56 PM EDT
The haves and have nots. Dems versus Repugs is what it nets down to be. Palin, O'Reilly, Hannity poring it in with hate.
rorschach | Jul 28, 2010, 12:33 PM EDT
Ah, this explains the popularity of vampires in pop culture. The US has become a vampire state, where the rich drink the blood of the rest of us.
Searlit | Jul 28, 2010, 12:03 PM EDT
Ah, the facts and the coherent writing about them - a good antidote to the rhetoric and name calling that had been tainting the comments.
mayoman | Jul 28, 2010, 11:09 AM EDT
Fact: The Republicans favor continued tax-cuts for the nation's wealthiest households and their large corporations. Let's face it: the GOP is the party of the rich, the uber-rich, and their huge corporations that always unpatriotically attempt to dodge their tax responsibilities. They hate unions, advocacy for consumers, and a progressive tax system. The American people are merely an afterthought for the GOP. Except of course during an election.
McNamara31 | Jul 28, 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
Campaign Reform Bill: GOP votes against the everyday man and for the corporation once again. The GOP has demonstrated they are bought and sold by domestic and "foreign corporations" which they serve. The American people are being bulldozed while they are distracted by the FOX "conjured fear" or smear of the week. While you're worried about Acorn, the GOP are in Washington, doing the corporations work, and making sure its CONCEALED from you by voting down this bill. The "Campaign Reform Bill" seeks "to increase transparency of corporate and special-interest money in national political campaigns. The money that influences your vote. It would require organizations involved in political campaigning to disclose the identity of the large donors, and to reveal their identities in any political ads they fund. It would also bar "foreign corporations", government contractors and TARP recipients from making political expenditures. This Bill would have made Americans more informed about the special interests trying to affect their vote many times with manipulation. Wouldn’t you want to know if a campaign ad was paid for by Hugo Chavez or by BP seeking to put those who would regulate them “less”, in a favorable light? By the GOP voting down this Campaign Reform Bill they are attempting to keep Americans in the dark, just where they want you.
Arcaniac | Jul 28, 2010, 10:40 AM EDT
It is high time for America to start producing again, we r a nation od consumers, shame on us!
hollabackgurl | Jul 28, 2010, 09:57 AM EDT
This week the GOP blocked legislation that would require corporations to make detailed public reports on political spending. The GOP don't want you to notice they're bought and paid for by Walmart, Target, BP, Best Buy, etc.
borefield | Jul 28, 2010, 09:54 AM EDT
I thought we were all becoming rich when Obama got in. What happened?. Still blaming George and typicall of Democrats never taking responsibility. Get over yourselvs.
Monsoonman | Jul 28, 2010, 09:40 AM EDT
Not to worry, father barrack will watch over us.
MalcomAC | Jul 28, 2010, 09:06 AM EDT
Yes. The middle class was always this country's strength. That's not the case any more.
hollabackgurl | Jul 28, 2010, 08:39 AM EDT
For the first time in U.S. history, U.S. banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth than all individual Americans put together. It's Mr. Potter's America now.
Monsoonman | Jul 28, 2010, 01:50 AM EDT
Yeah, what he said!
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 10:47 PM EDT
(Correction: That's Charles Rangel, not Wrangell)
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 10:19 PM EDT
(continued) If you don't like the dissent of the majority against this current ruling elite, McNamara, you'd best find someplace else to live -- because A) you're not going to silence it, and B) it's only going to grow larger as time progresses. I suppose if you're obsessed with Limbaugh or Beck enough, you could always try to start your OWN radio talk show from a hard-left perspective...although that's already been tried and gone T.U. (because nobody wants to hear it...because they don't agree with it and can already get that on every major network except Fox). In typical leftist fashion, by 'unified' you mean to shut up and agree with Obama -- no dissenters anywhere need apply. Ain't gonna happen, Mac. The liberal minority yaps like a toy dog whenever a Repub's in power, but demands it cease when THEY'RE in power. Hypocritical. As Hillary Clinton herself said: "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. And we should stand up and say 'We are Americans, and we have a right to debate and disagree with ANY administration!'" I agree with Hillary, Mac. Why don't you? Now don't try to split hairs -- why...don't...you?
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 10:18 PM EDT
McNamara, you cannot spend your way out of a recession. That's Economics 101. You must CREATE jobs, and create wealth -- and therefore economic growth -- by STIMULATING that growth...and you do that by cutting taxes and getting government the HELL out of the way...not by attacking and punishing the very concept of capitalism itself, which Obama has been doing from virtually day one. When he allows those tax cuts expire next year, guess who's going to get hit, first? Small businesses (many of whom have already let their employees go because they cannot afford them -- let alone yet ANOTHER government mandate like socialism disguised as 'health care') And if small businesses get hit, they'll pass it right along to the rest of us. And...what's with this trying to blame the Limbaugh's, Becks and their 'cronies' (i.e. the conservative majority of everyday working people, without whom they wouldn't exist as they do)? Seems to me the Obama's, the Bidens, the Wrangells, the Emanuels and the Pelosi's of this world (not to mention groups like the NAACP and the New Black Panthers) have done much more to alienate, divide, impugn and disenfranchise the conservative majority of this nation than anyone else walking earth's surface, currently. They govern against the majority's will on issue after issue after issue (no matter how loudly they scream against it), and act as if the majority doesn't even exist, and then name-call them and impugn them at every turn -- and when the common ordinary folk get just a bit riled about it, they're accused of 'racism' or of 'being divisive' or 'backwards,' and told to shut up, go away, etc etc as nauseum.
McNamara31 | Jul 27, 2010, 09:58 PM EDT
Monsoonman... Saw an interesting article this week....."those unqualified borrowers" More than 1 in 7 homeowners with loans in "excess of a million dollars" are seriously delinquent....I don't think their loans were with freddie or fannie.
McNamara31 | Jul 27, 2010, 09:27 PM EDT
There are facts and there is rhetoric. The total deficit can be divided into three categories: The Bush tax cuts, the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. This is not “to blame Bush”.... just simple facts. The current division in this country has been mainly created by the financial ruin of the economy which occurred prior to 2008, and the growing debt from the present administration trying to stimulate the economy and offset a major depression. We are still in Afghanistan because the previous administration chose a war of “choice”, rather than sending in major amounts of U.S. forces in right after 911, to capture the murderer of more than three thousand Americans. Afghanistan is unwinnable (ask the Russians), yet still crucial, for two reasons: the Taliban threat and the even greater threat of nukes in an unstable Pakistan. It would be far better for America to meet these challenges unified, rather than divided as the likes of Beck, Limbaugh and their cronies/ politicians would prefer.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 09:23 PM EDT
And nowhere in Bush's entire eight years was the jobless rate anywhere near double digits (which Obama's team said would be at/below 8% LAST YEAR...which, uh, didn't exactly happen...but that must be W's fault too, right?). And the current jobless rate doesn't even count those who've left the job pool and ceased looking for work, which would push it into the high teens. Obama's bunch are now saying the high jobless rate is the 'new norm' and to 'get used' to it; the whole country's in a gloomy funk and even Chris 'tingle-up-my-leg' Matthews recently referred to Obama as O'Carter. It's a sucky, icky time in Obama's USA, right now...and this November, people will be thinking about HIM and HIS party, not Bush. And nothing anyone says is going to change that, because it's based on the PRESENT, not the past.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 09:06 PM EDT
Actually, no, hollabackgurl...the GOP did NOT give the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. That was the work of Democrats Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, who extended mortgage assistance to those flatly unable to afford it (so they wouldn't feel 'left out'; a classic case of liberal emotionalism running the policy), after the Bush White House OPPOSED such a move. Flash forward after a few years of this and voila: the housing market crash, which was the first domino in the economic mess. And yes...second, Iraq: which was supported and endorsed by Congressional Democrats, who also accused Saddam Hussein of hiding WMD's. And third, if Bush 'almost' destroyed the economy in eight years (false), then Obama IS destroying what's left of it, in eighteen MONTHS, with his flat-out overreach of federal power, villification of private industry and small business (which only provides 70% of U.S. jobs, after all), and spending money that hasn't even been created yet for at least two generations out. That's HIS legacy. Pointing at the past does not change the present. Blaming Bush will NOT save Obama. If people were mad at Bush, there'd be more support for Obama than there is. But there's not.
Monsoonman | Jul 27, 2010, 08:56 PM EDT
hollabackgirl: Ever hear of an acronym called cra? It was the keystone for the financial meltdown., using fannie and freddie as the backup. CRA commanded banks(Jesse Jackson is still demanding) to loan to unqualified borrowers for diversity reasons. The whole mortgage market was thrown on its ear, all of the previous rules for lending were thrown out the window. Now the predictable is/has happened, the unqualified borrowers are not paying their loans back, they are abandoning their houses. The easy money created a bubble and many qualified people are now under water adding to the crisis....facts are a biotch.
hollabackgurl | Jul 27, 2010, 08:08 PM EDT
The GOP gave the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. Second, Iraq. The cost of our dramatic increase in military spending provided a huge drain on the Federal Budget. Third unregulated bank/insurance/brokerage consolidations and credit default swaps. For 8 years a handful of private industries operated without oversight or review and almost destroyed America's economy. That's Bush's legacy.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 07:53 PM EDT
And now, a brief time-out as we return to the present time, here in Obama's America [BEGIN QUOTE]: "U.S. consumer confidence sank in July to its lowest since February on job market worries, underscoring the slow path to economic recovery, and home prices rose in May but without signs of a sustained rebound, reports released Tuesday showed. The Conference Board, an industry group, said consumer attitudes worsened this month as did their expectations about jobs being hard to get. The group's index of consumer attitudes fell to 50.4 in July from an upwardly revised 54.3 in June, below the median forecast of 51 in a Reuters poll." [END QUOTE] From CNBC.com, just today. Alright, now back to the past with the Blame-Bush crowd (since that's about all they have)...
Searlit | Jul 27, 2010, 06:17 PM EDT
It is very sad that so many children have to live in poverty. Values in this country have gone haywire. Whereas, we used to be a nation that led the world in standing-up for human rights, that has all gone asunder. Trickle down economics doesn't work well for anyone, since money isn't the source of a man's value.
jflanagan | Jul 27, 2010, 05:41 PM EDT
"Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years." An affect of the "Great Society" that was to eliminate poverty. "In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector." Much like the Socialists in the USSR back when they ran Russia. So how are more social programs, government control and socialism going to change these conditions? If you look back in the history of the United States, more well paying jobs were created by entrepreneurs and capitalists than any government programs. Quit fooling yourself about how government will cure all ills. It only enriches the politicians and their supporters. When I was a teenager I learned first hand how living in public housing and depending on government assistance sucked the soul out of my father and swore I would never end up like that. Now I find myself fighting more and more to save my fellow American citizens from suffering the same fate.
Searlit | Jul 27, 2010, 05:40 PM EDT
CitizenWhy: What you say is so true and I hope everyone reads it. McNamara31 makes a great point, also. Killowen: I don't always understand what you're writing, but I sometimes agree with you. You're funny, anyway.
hollabackgurl | Jul 27, 2010, 03:00 PM EDT
The GOP doesn't have a single relevant idea for the nation. Not one. All they have is name-calling and shouting and Tea Party moaning. Well, they spent the last 10 years doing that.
hancock | Jul 27, 2010, 02:34 PM EDT
Obama incompetent one termer.
hollabackgurl | Jul 27, 2010, 12:55 PM EDT
The Obama administrations first job was to salavge the nation from the ditch that Bush/Cheny drove us into with war, corruption, tax cuts for the rich and foreclosures for the rest of us.
TWARNER699 | Jul 27, 2010, 11:30 AM EDT
Just shows what having liberal progressive democrats in power does to a country. Bush wasnt very good but the current person in the oval office is a whole lot worse.
jflanagan | Jul 27, 2010, 09:24 AM EDT
Just shows how the politicians promote crony capitalism to keep the working stiffs from joining their elite millionaire club. There are 237 Millionaires in the House of Representatives. Of the top 25, 14 are Dems and 11 are Reps. They don't want you to join the club so they pass so called millionaires taxes which only affect the hard working people with unprotected income. The soft income millionaires have tax shelters, foundations and other avoidance avenues to protect their wealth. If you look back on recent history the big socialist experiment was the USSR and there, if you were not connected to a Party bigwig, you had to stand on line for most daily needs and shared housing with other non connected workers. The United States will never be perfect and neither will any socialist, communist or fascist systems. If you want to lift the middle class up, get rid of big government and the myriads of oppressive rules and regulations that only serve to protect the large connected companies, like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and AIG.
McNabb1966 | Jul 27, 2010, 08:53 AM EDT
It's because the elites at the top and their clients on the bottom joined together to condemn the middle class as "racist." The Leftist agenda for the past 50 years has been to systematically dismantle the middle class and, in doing so, crush the spirit of independence and individualism that always made the USA what it was.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 03:12 AM EDT
And that's typical of a liberal: If the press or whoever else says something you disagree with, then...they're obviously not legitimate, or important, or 'big' or mainstream (never mind that conservatives outnumber libs 2-1 in the USA...and hold a commanding advantage going into the fall's elections, or that Fox News is the hands-down most-viewed network out there). Maybe you'd prefer CBS (which ran the faked documents about Bush avoiding the draft, which ultimately cost Dan Rather his job) or Reuters, which has admitted photoshopping pictures by the score, or the collection of liberal news people from that recently-revealed 'JournoList' who openly wanted the government to shut down Fox News, and who openly, deliberately spiked the Rev. Wright story during the campaign to help their guy Obama and tried to blackball anyone who did otherwise, and who openly wished death on Limbaugh and laughed about it, and tried to use Palin's handicapped child against her politically, etc. Regardless of what you think of a person (and I don't think much of Palin), this kind of stuff is flatly below-the-belt -- at least the way that I was raised. Come on, hollabackgurl...who are YOUR 'mainstream' media sources? What sources do YOU consider 'legit' or 'good'?
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 03:00 AM EDT
hollabackgurl, Denver is the liberal capital of Colorado (heavily Democratic) -- and the state went to Obama, if you were not aware (but with shifting sentiments it's far from certain if that will be repeated in '12; the same in numerous other states). And...you're just spewing the same stats again, beyond your first sentence. Do I need to repeat everything I said, as well? Here you go: "two basics of history about Reagan that you don't seem to grasp: firstly when he was elected it was 1980, during the Cold War and right after four years of Jimmy Carter decimating the military. Deficit spending for military preparedness was vital: it was that or American collapse in the face of Soviet expansionism. Secondly, the Congress (half-controlled by the Dems during his entire Presidency) kept going waaaay over budget, as politicians always do, when they had all of the extra money coming in from the red-hot economy -- they see money and they go nuts with it -- and wouldn't even stay within their own self-imposed legal boundaries under Graham-Rudman-Hollings. Regardless, the country loved Reagan enough to give him 44 states out of 50 the first time he ran, and 49 out of 50 the second. It's pretty hard to do much better than that. You're grasping at straws, kiddo. Obama will never be as loved as Reagan was/is, and Obama's in deep political trouble, now -- and there's nothing you can write or do on this blog to change that. BTW the country has seen what ideas the DEMOCRATS have (the kind they ram through with sleazy backroom deals and against the public will), and it hates them for it. That's why no polls support YOU, hollabackgurl, and they DO support the Repubs...while they're weak and inept as a party by themselves, this year it's so bad for the Dems that about all they have to do is not be the Dems."
hollabackgurl | Jul 27, 2010, 01:15 AM EDT
The Denver Post isn't a paper of record and it's funny to hear anything in Denver described as left-leaning. (Instead, try the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). Here's what they have to say: Under Reagan and the first Bush, the ratio of public debt to GDP went from 33 per cent to 64 per cent. It fell to 57 per cent under Bill Clinton. It then rose to 69 per cent under the second George Bush. Equally, tax cuts in the era of George W. Bush, wars and the economic crisis account for almost all the dire fiscal outlook for the next ten years.
S.Connolly | Jul 27, 2010, 01:13 AM EDT
Oh it's true alright and it centers all around GREED. Remember GREED is good. Remember Bush landing on the air carrier with the banner in the background "Mission Accomplished"? Also in 2030 white Americans, male and female with be the NEW minority...and we have no one but ourselves to blame. The chickens have come home to ruse.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 12:28 AM EDT
Try this out, from the left-leaning Denver Post, which endorsed Obama back in '08. Here's a portion of what they have to say about him NOW (from their editorial entitled, 'Mr. President, Where Are You?' [BEGIN QUOTE]: "His health care plan, approved only after the type of backroom, sleazy deal-making he crusaded against during his campaign, does little to bring down exorbitant costs and could bankrupt states once higher Medicaid costs are passed down. The $1 trillion stimulus provided only a blip of a recovery, while saddling the nation with an unsustainable debt load. And the federal government's reach into business and the financial world, for better or worse, is now deeper than ever. We endorsed Obama in 2008, believing his plans for the fragile economy and frozen financial markets were superior to John McCain's erratic ideas. But we also hoped he would restore the nation's reputation with the rest of the world. But instead of being vilified, as we were under Bush, the United States is now suddenly bordering on being irrelevant." [END QUOTE] When your own backers are talking this way about you, you're just about S-O-L.
IrishAndProud | Jul 27, 2010, 12:19 AM EDT
hollabackgurl, two basics of history about Reagan that you don't seem to grasp: firstly when he was elected it was 1980, during the Cold War and right after four years of Jimmy Carter decimating the military. Deficit spending for military preparedness was vital: it was that or American collapse in the face of Soviet expansionism. Secondly, the Congress (half-controlled by the Dems during his entire Presidency) kept going waaaay over budget, as politicians always do, when they had all of the extra money coming in from the red-hot economy -- they see money and they go nuts with it -- and wouldn't even stay within their own self-imposed legal boundaries under Graham-Rudman-Hollings. Regardless, the country loved Reagan enough to give him 44 states out of 50 the first time he ran, and 49 out of 50 the second. It's pretty hard to do much better than that. You're grasping at straws, kiddo. Obama will never be as loved as Reagan was/is, and Obama's in deep political trouble, now -- and there's nothing you can write or do on this blog to change that. BTW the country has seen what ideas the DEMOCRATS have (the kind they ram through with sleazy backroom deals and against the public will), and it hates them for it. That's why no polls support YOU, hollabackgurl, and they DO support the Repubs...while they're weak and inept as a party by themselves, this year it's so bad for the Dems that about all they have to do is not be the Dems.
hollabackgurl | Jul 26, 2010, 11:12 PM EDT
Does the Republican Party have any relevant ideas? There is NO chance of them making ANY attempt to arrest adverse long-term fiscal trends should they return to power.
TexasGal | Jul 26, 2010, 10:35 PM EDT
I think this man the writer of this crap is just at much of a idiot as the Liberal Progressive Democrats and our Soicalist,Communist Obama. And like S7McCade the middle class will be ok once we take out the trach in Nov.
McNamara31 | Jul 26, 2010, 09:59 PM EDT
Some have posted "stop blaming Bush for everything" yet, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the "entire deficit" over the next ten years. As for GWB's "war on terror" why in the years after 911, were there tens of thousands sent to Afghanistan to get Bin Laden, while hundreds of thousands of American troops were sent to Iraq, and Bin Laden still exists?
McNamara31 | Jul 26, 2010, 09:29 PM EDT
@bronxjames stated "I guess after reading this you are a piece of crap liberal paper. You can keep that african in the WHITE house I dont want him".... ...You prove the point LOUD and CLEAR. It doesn't matter what the facts are, and what caused the massive deficit, or what is destroying the middle class. You just want to hate the black man in the White House, plain and simple. It's easier to hate "those people" than take the time to understand the corporate greed that created these conditions.
hollabackgurl | Jul 26, 2010, 09:28 PM EDT
Under Reagan and the first Bush, the ratio of public debt to GDP went from 33 per cent to 64 per cent. It fell to 57 per cent under Bill Clinton. It then rose to 69 per cent under the second George Bush. Equally, tax cuts in the era of George W. Bush, wars and the economic crisis account for almost all the dire fiscal outlook for the next ten years (see the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities).
S7McCabe | Jul 26, 2010, 09:27 PM EDT
I am laughing at this since I am an American Middle class member. I see envy. As soon as we get rid of Obama and his czars which will be in a little over 2 years, and the Congress gets rid of most of the Democrats, we will fix it again. After all, if it wasn't for us, most in the world would be speaking German. If it wasn't for us, those countries that have disastors would get nothing from those of us who are generous. TRY HELPING OTHERS rather than complaining about the middle class in the USA. What has happened is a good thing. The dollar is not almighty but God sure is and I depend on Him. Greed will be rooted out, no doubt. I'm not wealthy but I did save for my old age as most of the Nurses that I worked with did also. I'm not worried. Obama will not have another term.
IrishLass127 | Jul 26, 2010, 05:40 PM EDT
Scary, and sadly for the most part, true. Greed has taken over this country at very high levels and if it continues it will be our undoing.
elektros | Jul 26, 2010, 05:34 PM EDT
We need someone to reverse course after the Bush years. Obama seems to fall a little short, but bringing the Republicans back can only make all these stats worse. One caveat, though, it was indeed Clinton who brought in NAFTA, which hasn't helped.
AmAncINED | Jul 26, 2010, 02:41 PM EDT
Sounds like a plan to me. If only...
knowthyself | Jul 26, 2010, 01:37 PM EDT
Maybe its High time for American Citizens to take back America & Revolt against our corrupt local & Washington politicians , Clean House and start from scratch, Start by making them work at least 8 hours a day 40 hours a week, no perks , Retirement only after putting in at least 20 yrs of Service , Give them the same medical coverage as what we have. Each should have a report card and have them Graded every 6 Months by how well they have performed ,IF they are absent more then 6 times from a row call vote Deduct it from their Pay check -Stop Paying for their Families traveling Trips. Limit free traveling for Government Business only, Stop Paying for Housing Perks, also Limit their Salary -member of Congress or House of Rep. Jr, Member not more then $200.000 a Yr. Sr. Members $ 255.000.yr Make the Free Loaders work for their Money as we have to. and if they Don't like it TOO bad many will be waiting in line for those Push Jobs. The forget they work for the American People. we Elect them and we can Fire their asses. We Don;t work for them !!!! Wake up America we are not Politicians Slaves. Lets all Unite on Election Day and Dump the GARBAGE ! ALSO No Elected Politician Local or Washington . Should have the right to raise their salary . It will be Controlled by the people through a Vote . and Depending how well they have performed.
killowen | Jul 26, 2010, 01:02 PM EDT
Only the survival cunning whom we bow to have a future. Been saying ITS OVER for some years now .... and si to comes to pass.
Dompedro | Jul 26, 2010, 12:49 PM EDT
a long article with selectively chosen statistics, 25 comments and no solutions
CitizenWhy | Jul 26, 2010, 12:42 PM EDT
The problem is not about taxes. The private sector in the US i dedicated to maximizing the pay of executives and certain knowledge experts and maximizing return to investors. This calls for keeping employment low (at least in the US). The US rich have joined the international elite and feel they owe no loyalty to any country. To them the US is simply a cash cow to milk as it deteriorates, a fool willing to fight endless wars, and an impotent paper tier unable to prevent Wall St from causing serious to severe recessions every 3-5 years. The international elite are a nation of their own, loyal only to each other.
Reilleyfam | Jul 26, 2010, 12:35 PM EDT
The focus needs to be more on the poor which are taking a huge share of the middleclass wealth in welfare and other costs that come EXCLUSIVELY & DIRECTLY from reductions in middleclass resources. The rich always get rich but we should not kill the middleclass to support corrupt lazy bums. The disabled, the retarded/etc, the elderly deserve support but all others - NO.
smckeown | Jul 26, 2010, 12:08 PM EDT
It is too true. My childen and grandchildren will have a lower standard of living than I. Most people are snowed by the corporate media into believing and voting against their best interests.
GrayGhost | Jul 26, 2010, 10:15 AM EDT
We gave away our well paid industrial jobs to the third world. If WW2 were to occur tomorrow, could the US muster the same industrial might it had then. The nation can't prosper by "selling each other ice cream". We should look closely at the Germans - they found a way to keep well paid jobs in their country
DLW12183 | Jul 26, 2010, 10:10 AM EDT
Thank Bill Clinton and the democrats for NAFTA
hollabackgurl | Jul 26, 2010, 09:59 AM EDT
chesapeake it must be so tiresome to have to listen to the poors bemoaning the fact that it now takes a record breaking 35.2 weeks to even find a job flipping burgers in America.
chesapeake | Jul 26, 2010, 08:50 AM EDT
Well said, "IrishAndProud"; but "Irshwgenebuf" needs to get with the program.I really get tired of the left-wing rhetoric about the rich and the poor 50% that pay no income tax while I pay 28% plus state tax, slaes tax, etc., etc. :
FatherVol | Jul 26, 2010, 08:46 AM EDT
Why must wealth be spread by the government? The indstrious, hard-working venturer deserves the result of their efforts. Had it not been for the siesmic blunder of Fanny Maue and her brother the baks wouldn't own the houses these stats show nor would the price of housing sky-rocketed the way it has. When I hear people in my neighborhood grocery store telling teh cashier that it's time to have another baby because they need a "raise" my stomach is turned. That'e the mentality the Great Society of LBJ created with all the entitlements established for the poor. It's time to let those with the means expand the economy through teh creation of private sector jobs for those willing to work.
chesapeake | Jul 26, 2010, 08:43 AM EDT
Left-wing rhetoric abounds! The ultra-rich pay the highest taxes, while the very rich and the rich pay their share. Since some 50% of the population pay NO taxes, where is the middle classprovide the rest. You had bettter damned well hope that the middle class doesn't disappear, because the impending tax increase - and there will increases that will include the elimination of the Bush tax cuts amd the revival od the death tax - will virtually destroy the economy. I really hope that those who voted for Obama to "make a statement" realize what he - and the liberal medias - have done to my United States. Wwll sIS "iRISHGEBEBUF
IrishAndProud | Jul 26, 2010, 12:53 AM EDT
Yeah, irishgenebuf, that must be it. Americans are a bunch of stupid, uneducated racists who just cannot stand the fact that a (half-)black guy is in the White House (never mind that they are the ones who actually put him in power, unlike a single, solitary European nation or Canada has ever done). Yeah, THAT must be it. It couldn't possibly be that Barack Obama has turned out to be the biggest disappointment of many a lifetime over the past year-and-a-half, with his forcible government grab of the auto industry and health scare deform, despite prolonged and overwhelming public opposition to it, and unemployment still at double-digits, over a year after his lackeys said it'd drop to 7 or 8%, or his taking states to over laws that have 70% public support, or his ignoring racism (when it's from blacks), among numerous other offences. No, that couldn't be it. Americans are just plain stupid and racist, right? And it couldn't POSSIBLY be that that very attitude of yours -- superior, condescending and better-than-the-rest-of-us-lowly-surfs-and-knaves --which the White House and the Democrats themselves have embraced to the hilt -- has in fact drastically worsening his already-sizeable political troubles, could it? You chattering Obamaniks (wow, all three of you) on this post are an embarrassement. No wonder there's only about three of you left, nowadays. Reagan was the best president we've ever had in my lifetime, bar...none. At least the U.S. economy was red-hot, as was American pride. Not so with this current drip we have. Of course, cutting the country down just because he has a racist chip on his shoulder is PRECISELY his intent, anyway. But the country's on to him. His party is going down.
irishgenebuf | Jul 25, 2010, 04:50 PM EDT
Taxes on the rich should be commensurate with their huge share of national income and wealth. We will not have a meaningful economic recovery until we "spread the wealth" in a fairer way. It is sad that Americans are largely poorly educated and blind to the reasons for their predicament. It is easy to blame it on the scary black guy in the white house.
maureenroy | Jul 25, 2010, 03:35 PM EDT
It's time for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes. My husband was out of work for 6 1/2 months this year and we are in foreclosure. Now he makes way less at a new job and I have to find another job. When Reagan deregulated companies, my utilities doubled. Under George W., the banks took advantage of people like my husband and me and priced us out of our homes. I am tired of the rich getting richer and the rest of us getting poorer. It's time for regulation again and time to bring jobs back to America.
Searlit | Jul 25, 2010, 02:01 PM EDT
Yes, CitizenWhy, Ronald Reagan paved the way for the mega-corporations to takeover with all his de-regulation and by changing the tax code. Corporations went from paying 71% income taxes to 28% during his term. All this income tax was shifted to the working class (what used to be the middle class). There is nothing progressive about that! We have been heading backwards since, doomed to repeat the same mistakes that we have failed to learn from. The shining light of hope comes from the current Administration's determination to see green alternative energy become a household item. Never give up hope!
hollabackgurl | Jul 25, 2010, 12:55 PM EDT
If you don't blame Bush for allowing 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 to go to the top 1% of all Americans, then you don't understand his legacy.
bronxjames | Jul 25, 2010, 12:55 PM EDT
I guess after reading this you are a piece of crap liberal paper. You can keep that african in the WHITE house I dont want him
hollabackgurl | Jul 25, 2010, 12:42 PM EDT
The Bush Tax Cuts were sold to the public as a way to create jobs. The reality is it was a gutting of Federal revenues. Another example of how Republicans work hard to make Government look like a failure.
hollabackgurl | Jul 25, 2010, 12:42 PM EDT
The Bush Tax Cuts were sold to the public as a way to create jobs. The reality is it was a gutting of Federal revenues. Another example of how Republicans work hard to make Government look like a failure.
DeaconJack | Jul 25, 2010, 11:51 AM EDT
Bush blaming only denigrates the author,---It's the Democratic Congress that has done all the past damage, and come the fall,they WILL fall!!
Bridgbldr | Jul 25, 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
If you're going to give stats, stop whining & blaming George Bush for everything as there are plenty of things on your list that both Dems & Republicans are responsible for. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. And please give all the stats, not just the ones that appear to support your headline. Remember that the "rich" are paying the lion's share of income taxes that support this country's infrastructure and that benefits us all. The Top 10 Percent of income earners paid 71 Percent of Federal Income Tax. Top earners are the target for new tax increases, but the U.S. tax system is already highly progressive. The top 1 percent of income earners paid 40 percent of all federal income taxes in 2007, while the bottom 50 percent paid only 3 percent. More than one-third of U.S. earners paid no federal income tax at all. These figures are based primarily on data available as of March 2010 from the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. Does this mean the middle class is shrinking? Maybe, but the Socialist direction we are heading in is not the answer, either, as all it will do is insure that we will all be poor. Overly tax the rich and they will continue to take their business elsewhere and we weaken our tax base and our infrastructure crumbles. It is a complex issue and I am praying that this country will find it's moral footing once again and continue to bring forth the ideals and strengths upon which this country was founded.
rpmschevy | Jul 25, 2010, 10:34 AM EDT
Cahir you got the numbers, but you need to study your history, oh you too Citizen. I bet you both love our near current crop of "leaders" in DC. BTW Pelosi, put her in that top 1%. These people know nothing about Middle Class, how to put people to work, job creation, etc. NAFTA was a Democratic Party agreed upon and creation. Bill Clinton people. It is during Bill Clintons watch that some of the greatest theft in Corporate America occurred, not Reagan's or Bush. (ENRON, Tyco, etc.).
jolynnnoel | Jul 25, 2010, 10:03 AM EDT
Americans need to start voting for individuals and stop blindly voting along party lines. Do some research and vote thoughtfully. Only when those in the House and Senate fully realize that their jobs are indeed temporary will there be any change. They work FOR us and America needs to wake up and realize that we can fire them if we don't like the job that they do.
patrickesq | Jul 25, 2010, 09:46 AM EDT
Unfortunately in America our government has become a government of the 'capitalists'.by the capitalists'(or their lackeys),for the 'capitalists'. Without reasonable government regulation our wealthy corporate 'giants' exploit their workers, our environment and theyfail to pay their fair shere of taxes, while corrupting our politicians and our elctoral process.
Advocate | Jul 25, 2010, 09:40 AM EDT
Anti-American, Zionist, Socialist creatures such as Insane Hussein and his Puppet-Masters, who ONLY seek a one-world agenda, celebrate these stat's. Yea! Obuma... Yea! We the SHEEPle are obviously asleep and couldn't care less! Sad! Very sad indeed! The words in the Bible unfold, but...???
CitizenWhy | Jul 25, 2010, 09:35 AM EDT
The Irish American I refer to is Ronald Reagan.
CitizenWhy | Jul 25, 2010, 09:34 AM EDT
You can thank that Irish American for starting the right wing revolution that has caused the distress and shrinkage of the US middle class.