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The Unequal State of America : The Undeserving Poor
The American welfare state has grown, but so have the ranks of the poor. As the U.S. tries to focus help on those deemed most worthy, millions of adults are getting squeezed.READ ON: Reuters Unequal State of America Series, Part Three
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8 Charts that clearly show how the American people have been flimflammed by the super-wealthy corporate elite.
Seems nowadays, if you start pointing out things like this, you get called a socialist. Well, I’m totally in favor of people who work hard getting rewarded for it. But come on, look at all those blue boxes on the bottom, and look at that huge yellow circle at the top. I know more than my share of rich people, and yes, some of them work real hard, but you know what, some of them don’t. And we all know plenty of not-so-rich people, and you know what, most of them work damn hard too. And if that makes me a “socialist” for saying so, well so be it.
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A comparison of standards of living on several variables among the world’s wealthiest nations. Interesting presentation that encompasses both the underlying complexity of the United States but also its failures in a number of areas.
From Charles Blow, New York Times, February 20, 2011.
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When Progressivism has no where left to hide … ramp up the class warfare. Got a news flash for the media and Progressives - on November 2nd 2010 the citizens of America called Bull Hockey on you. Class warfare is worn out. It’s old. It doesn’t work.
Wikipedia: “As of 2006, the United States had one of the highest levels of income inequality, as measured through the Gini index, among high income countries, comparable to that of some middle income countries such as Russia or Turkey, being one of only few developed countries where inequality has increased since 1980.”
“In 2003 a household in the 95th percentile earned 77.2% more than a household in the 80th percentile, compared to 60.5% in 1967, a 27.6% increase in the earnings increase discrepancy between the two groups. Overall the income of the 95th percentile grew 15.2% faster than that of the 80th, 146.8% faster than that of the median and 159.9% faster than that of the 20th percentile.”
“Several economists have demonstrated that income inequality has grown more rapidly under Republican administrations than under Democratic administrations. Income-tax policy has been cited as one of several factors that contributed to inequality. Republican President Ronald Reagan reduced the top marginal tax rate from over 70 to 28 percent during his tenure in office, which greatly contrasted with the very high top marginal tax rates in place during the period of great income equality, the “Great Compression”.”
This isn’t a “class war” unless you think the fact that while the highest earners in the country have seen their incomes rise well beyond the percentage the other 99% while seeing their taxes decrease and the other 99% increase.
I guess thats “war” if you happen to be the 1%, the other 99% would probably call it something more along the lines of “restoring economic sanity”
As an aside, whenever someone loosely uses the team “the media” as if it’s one nebulous, all encompassing entity, I have to wonder if they’ve lost their remote control or ability to use the Internet.
(Source: soupsoup)
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via The New York Times: March 29, 2007
“The nation faces some very tough choices in coming years,” (Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.) said. “That such a large share of the income gains are going to the very top, at a minimum, raises serious questions about continuing to provide tax cuts averaging over $150,000 a year to people making more than a million dollars a year, while saying we do not have enough money” to provide health insurance to 47 million Americans and cutting education benefits.
A major issue likely to be debated in Congress in the year ahead is whether reversing the Bush tax cuts would slow investment and, if so, how much that would cost the economy.
Mr. Greenstein’s organization will release a report today showing that for Americans in the middle, the share of income taken by federal taxes has been essentially unchanged across four decades. By comparison, it has fallen by half for those at the very top of the income ladder.
