Top 1 Percent Of Americans Owns 40 Percent Of The Nation’s Wealth This Needs To Change (border, illegals)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Seriously. you've probably said this for a while, it was true a year ago, but not now. in fact, its 5X what it was (adjusted for inflation) in 1945 after the war. Now maybe you are referring to it as a % of our GDP? Then...yeah theres a point in 1985ish or so where thats true...but mostly no.
Horrifying, disgusting, perturbing, rage inducing, etc. But yeah. Its a excellent video to show people and help them understand whats been happening. Then they too can feel the same feelings of....rage, horror, and disgust as I do.
Kaletsky argues that over-reliance on progressives taxes creates “a perverse incentive for governments to promote income inequality. If the solvency of the state and the ability to fund basic services for the poorest people in society depends on the rich getting even richer, it is tempting for even the most progressive politicians to support widening inequalities.”
Under our current progressive tax structure, politicians have every incentive to keep the income gap as wide as possible in order to maximize tax revenue, which is then used to buy votes from the much more numerous middle and lower classes by promising them free and/or reduced-cost services.
Countries that have regressive tax systems also have far less income inequality. Our progressive tax system actually creates an incentive for the government to promote highly unequal incomes. The more the top 1% earns, the more tax revenue the government collects. More here: https://www.city-data.com/forum/28408475-post977.html
There is a myth that wages have been stagnant since the 1960s. This fallacy ignores a number of things. Including, millions of low-skill (low wage) immigrants moving into the country and the resilient American economy finding jobs for them during this time period and millions of women entering the workforce in big numbers for the first time and into low skill/low wage jobs. The economy factually grew leaps and bounds in terms of low wage jobs to compensate for the rapid demand in low skill workers.
When you take wage studies that focus on individuals, wages BEAT inflation AND the percentage that Americans spend on the necessities have gone down.
Likewise the growing "inequality" trend in America ignores the influx of millions of low-skill/low wage/little or no-wealth immigrants and also the increase in government dependence.
Unlike the stagnant wages myth, there still would be a growing trend in inequality and there is some truth there. But much of it vanishes when you factor out immigration of people with little to no wealth. Also, with record numbers of people on SS disability, welfare, other government assistance...how does someone not working expect to build wealth?
With the advent of the credit card and today's culture where it is cool to live above your means and borrow $80+interest that you don't have instead of saving...how can we build wealth as a society?
Under our current progressive tax structure, politicians have every incentive to keep the income gap as wide as possible in order to maximize tax revenue, which is then used to buy votes from the much more numerous middle and lower classes by promising them free and/or reduced-cost services.
Countries that have regressive tax systems also have far less income inequality. Our progressive tax system actually creates an incentive for the government to promote highly unequal incomes. The more the top 1% earns, the more tax revenue the government collects. More here: https://www.city-data.com/forum/28408475-post977.html
At the same time Obama is expanding the Medicaid and food stamp programs.
Which nets more votes? One person earning $1,000,000? Or 50 people earning $20,000 each and on food stamps and Medicaid?
It's in the Democrats' best interest to keep as many people as poor as possible and buy votes from them by providing free government benefits and services, while maximizing tax revenue collected from the top 1% who pay the highest effective federal income tax rates. Hence...
Quote:
Originally Posted by michiganmoon
The top 1% have seen 121% of the wage increases under Obama.
our current budget is smaller than carters peace time budget.. in todays' dollars
Ummm...you are wrong.
That graph is in constant 2005 dollars. And according to usgovernmentspending.com, in constant 2005 dollars, the defense budget was $351.58b in 1980, $473.84b in 1990, and $725.06b in 2013. We are not spending less, we are spending more than double what we did in 1980.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michiganmoon
A couple points...
There is a myth that wages have been stagnant since the 1960s.
Well, certainly minimum wage has. It's actually gone down considerably since the 1960s. And with it, I'm sure many other wages that are more closely tied to the minimum wage (such as those who say "we don't pay minimum wage!!!" while paying $7.50 an hour). There may be millions more immigrants and women workers, that doesn't mean wages are better now than they were then for a large sector of the population.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
