America no longer the leader in middle class? (unemployed, legal, lawyers)
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.
Our taxes are historically very low for the last 100 years.
Nonsense. Taxes on the middle class have increased dramatically since 1960. Higher incomes taxes, higher sales taxes, higher gas taxes, higher property taxes, higher Social Security taxes, etc.
However the middle class has fared, they are still better off than any middle class anywhere. Poor people in America live in larger accommodations than the European middle class. Necessities and amenities are more available to the American poor than most European middle classes, not to mention to non-European ones.
Most middle class jobs that have disappeared have done so because of technology. Clerical workers have been replaced by spreadsheets, factory workers by robots, sales clerks by big box stores.
It is debatable whether or not the skills required to prosper with these technologies is as widely disseminated as were the lower level skills needed to master the skills used in the jobs they replaced. My own guess is, it isn't. You have to be pretty smart to operate and fix robots, smarter maybe than most people are.
The solution is simple - Raise the minimum wage, close corporate loopholes and subsidizes, tax capital gains the same as wage income, raise taxes on the 0.1%, and eliminate the cap on the payroll tax.
And where does the money come from to pay a higher minimum wage ? it comes from everyone, in essence, a increase in costs.
Do you really want to get the economy going, reduce federal regulations on business, lower business taxes, make it affordable to build things in this country instead of overseas. Pay wages that are comparable to work performed, there is no reason a guy who installs tires on a auto assembly line gets $35 hr, and the guy who fixes the airliner you fly on gets $25. The rich got that way because they worked hard and made something, and what they did created jobs. I have never seen a poor man hire someone, only those with money can hire someone.
Let's see here, the poor pay no federal income tax (well, nearly half the country pays no federal income tax), and the very rich get so many tax breaks that they pay a lower rate than most of the middle class, and you think the answer is to raise taxes on the middle class?
"Hey, we're almost out of gas."
"Well, pour the rest out and we'll be fine."
A childless full-time minimum wage worker pays over $500/yr in federal income tax.
And where does the money come from to pay a higher minimum wage ? it comes from everyone, in essence, a increase in costs.
Do you really want to get the economy going, reduce federal regulations on business, lower business taxes, make it affordable to build things in this country instead of overseas. Pay wages that are comparable to work performed, there is no reason a guy who installs tires on a auto assembly line gets $35 hr, and the guy who fixes the airliner you fly on gets $25. The rich got that way because they worked hard and made something, and what they did created jobs. I have never seen a poor man hire someone, only those with money can hire someone.
Reducing excessive regulations on housing is the best thing we can do for low-wage workers, and would eliminate the constant calls for a higher minimum wage.
Reducing excessive regulations on housing is the best thing we can do for low-wage workers, and would eliminate the constant calls for a higher minimum wage.
Are you talking about lending regulations?
I hope not.
One of the reasons we got in this housing mess in the first place.
However the middle class has fared, they are still better off than any middle class anywhere. Poor people in America live in larger accommodations than the European middle class. Necessities and amenities are more available to the American poor than most European middle classes, not to mention to non-European ones.
Most middle class jobs that have disappeared have done so because of technology. Clerical workers have been replaced by spreadsheets, factory workers by robots, sales clerks by big box stores.
It is debatable whether or not the skills required to prosper with these technologies is as widely disseminated as were the lower level skills needed to master the skills used in the jobs they replaced. My own guess is, it isn't. You have to be pretty smart to operate and fix robots, smarter maybe than most people are.
??? Please elaborate. Poor people in America don't have much choice in the size of their accommodations, because homebuilders cater to the middle class market, not to the poor. The poor get basically least desirable housing, which has lost favor with the middle class who previouslty occupied it.
One of the reasons we got in this housing mess in the first place.
Housing and building regulations. Local rules that say no more than two or three unrelated individuals can live in an 8BR house (yes I have seen this), rules that say apartments and trailers are not allowed here, the general supply controls that are enforced by zoning. Conservatives complain about rent control but never about supply control.
Housing and building regulations. Local rules that say no more than two or three unrelated individuals can live in an 8BR house (yes I have seen this), rules that say apartments and trailers are not allowed here, the general supply controls that are enforced by zoning. Conservatives complain about rent control but never about supply control.
I didn't even think about that.
Thank you.
I s'pose we can include eminent domain as part of this.
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.