US pay gap widens, poor get poorer (buy, companies, tax)

[Zen88]

If a poor person is defined as one who has nothing, how could they get "poorer"? Unless they voluntarily take on debt, it sounds impossible to me.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by justanokie

This is quite impossible because we have had King Obama for 7 years now. This simply can't be true. He just told me last night its all rainbows and unicorns.

You've been fooled by government accounting. Obamafreebies (phones, food stamps, etc) are not counted as income by government so what you are seeing are a lot of PINOs who are not really poor.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Zen88

If a poor person is defined as one who has nothing, how could they get "poorer"? Unless they voluntarily take on debt, it sounds impossible to me.

Your premise is flawed. The government defines a person as poor if they have no more than $11,770 cash income a year.

[BugsyPal]

You only have to look at the jobs that are out there, and the skill sets required to understand what is happening.


Unless one has a four year or beyond degree (in certain majors) and or specific skill sets high wage paying employment is not going to happen.


The USA employment market is moving towards the same as most other Western nations; highly compensated for those well educated and or with certain skill sets on the one hand; low wage and whatever for those lacking same.


Add to this employers are able to get more production of fewer workers thanks to increasing technology and you get to where we are today.

[28173]

Originally Posted by Happiness-is-close

Tax the rich. They sure as heck aren't struggling.

By punishing success who do you really motivate???

[28173]

Originally Posted by Dr. Kevin

Yes, the rich need to pay for deflation season since they have benefited the most during the inflation season.
No more new debt, make the rich finance social programs and survival of the nation during the deflation season that is upon us.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. This is the Law!!!

Over 80 years of socialism/communism experience has proven around the world that the "equality" mantra is doomed to failure. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor is a sure economic disaster by killing any incentive for the smart and able.

It is said that:
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class to match your conviction".
All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an "A" .... (substituting grades for dollars — something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a "B". The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a "D"! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the new average was an "F".

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Human nature will always cause socialism's style of government to fail because the world has producers and non-producers (makers and takers).

It could not be any simpler than that.


Bottom line is:

- wealth cannot be multiplied by dividing it
- one cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity
- government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else
- what one person receives without working for it, another person must work for without receiving anything
- when 1/2 of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and that working 1/2 understand it does no good to work (because somebody else is going to get what they work for), that is the beginning of the end of any nation

One that follows history would know that to be true, since history always repeats itself.

[Northeaster]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

That's rhetoric. There is really no predicting what impact raising the minimum wage will have on job creation and job loss. Personally, I've never in my life paid someone minimum wage. Those people absolutely suck and need to be watched like a hawk. My time as their employer is worth far more than any savings I might see hiring a loser at that wage. If somebody isn't worth $20/hour or more, I don't want anything to do with them.

I agree 100%, I've always tried to get great people and pay them more than equal positions at other co's, It lead to much more time off for me and much better sleep. now $15 in some of these city's will be a disaster.

[Happiness-is-close]

Originally Posted by 28173

By punishing success who do you really motivate???

They will do FINE.

the rich have had the most glorious decades ever, save for the days of serfdom in Europe. How much more of societies resources should they be able to hoard to themselves while the working classes are left with nothing but dirt?

The rich Moderator cut: .have had it too good for far too long.

[Skydive Outlaw]

In order to effectively and continually argue that 'some workers are only worth $10 an hour', it is also necessary to objectively explain and/or justify how the CEO of a company could be worth $2,000 an hour ($3,840,000/year).


And, no. The answer is not, 'the free market.'


Because the 'free market' isn't that free when you consider:


Corporate bailouts, corporate tax breaks, subsidies, political access capitalism, corporatism, neo-fascistic partnerships between big business and politicians and corporate welfare.

[ColoGuy]

This is what happens when $20/hr manufacturing jobs are replaced with $10/hr service jobs.

This was guaranteed to happen when we gleefully opened up China and forced the America worker to compete mono e mono with the Chinese. Basically expecting Great Danes to adapt to a Dachshunds diet and be happy about it. It didn't work. It couldn't work. It wasn't designed to work.

Our government threw most Americans under the bus.

The rich? Their day will come. The economy has been supported by a 19 trillion dollar credit card called the Federal Reserve. An institution that has never forgiven debt.

The Master Plan from the Master Planners? Collapse the world into the Chinese blend of Communism and Hyper Capitalism. Essentially a return to good old feudalism. It is good to be the King and the Court.