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From the 1940s until around 1970, as workers became more productive, their salaries grew accordingly. But around 1970, things changed, and for the next four decades, as productivity skyrocketed 70%, hourly wages hardly budged, rising a mere four percent.
So, where did all that extra money go? Mishel points to the very top.
"Between 1989 and 2007, before the Great Recession, of all the income growth that was generated, the bottom 90 percent [of Americans] got only 15 percent of it. The upper one percent got 55 percent. And the upper tenth of the upper one percent, the one out of 1,000 households, got about a third of all the income growth."
And for some reason W Bush and the Republicans decided to give the richest a tax break (which they achieved through budget reconciliation in the Senate, btw), thereby redistributing even more of the wealth to the wealthiest in America. Are these 1 in 1,000 people really responsible for 1/3rd of the growth in our economy?
News flash, folks. Wealth HAS been redistributed over the last 40 years - TOWARDS THE WEALTHY. It's time to re-redistribute that income to the levels we had in the 50's and 60's - where someone could have a "regular job" and still support a family, preferably on one income, so one parent can stay at home and raise our kids properly. Now, if you want to be like the Cleavers, you have to be in the top 1% of earners. Is that what we want for America?
You can thank Ronald Reagan too. It was he who killed unions, which are the ONLY way workers have to force bosses to share the wealth. Without unions, the little guys get screwed just like that.
You can thank Ronald Reagan too. It was he who killed unions, which are the ONLY way workers have to force bosses to share the wealth. Without unions, the little guys get screwed just like that.
I was talking to a friend the other day how you would think that all this "tea party" anger would be directed towards forming unions against corporate greed rather than against the big bad government. Those tax breaks they fight for haven't gone to jobs, or their pockets. That money went to the top 1% and higher. Unions fought for so many things that we just take for granted nowadays, and people seem to have forgotten that.
What's funny is it's always Republicans accusing people of being "elitists". WTF? The GOP is the party of the fiscal elites. Thank you trickle down theory...
What's funny is it's always Republicans accusing people of being "elitists". WTF? The GOP is the party of the fiscal elites. Thank you trickle down theory...
Yet they have somehow convinced millions of people to vote against their own best interests by electing Republicans into office. They are brilliant politicians. People still seem to believe their rhetoric, despite their deeds.
What's funny is it's always Republicans accusing people of being "elitists". WTF? The GOP is the party of the fiscal elites. Thank you trickle down theory...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art123
Yet they have somehow convinced millions of people to vote against their own best interests by electing Republicans into office. They are brilliant politicians. People still seem to believe their rhetoric, despite their deeds.
It's more like the tinkle down theory...
True and Democrats tell you they are the party of the people. And the minorities and poor people have to vote Democrat because they are the only party that can save them. Yet the poor people stay poor whether a Democrat or Republican is in office. Go figure
True and Democrats tell you they are the party of the people. And the minorities and poor people have to vote Democrat because they are the only party that can save them. Yet the poor people stay poor whether a Democrat or Republican is in office. Go figure
I've made more money on an annual basis under Dem tax plans than I have under GOP tax plans and I would fall in the class of lower working class.
You kinda missed part of the article. Here I'll help:
"I call this the 'gloom and doomers,'" said Georgetown University economist Stephen Rose, who thinks the myth of a middle class squeeze is exactly that, a myth.
"That would imply an economy that we just don't have. The malls wouldn't be filled. The people wouldn't be rushing to spend $14 to go to 'Avatar.' They wouldn't have all the wiis, all of the iPods, the iPhones, etcetera, etcetera."
Rose uses a different set of numbers. He points out that the median income of American workers has been rising steadily, from about $49,000 dollars in 1970 to $62,000 in 2008.
"If you ask people, 'How do you compare to your parents?' about 50 to 60 percent say better," Rose said. "Thirty percent say about the same. And only about 15 percent say worse. So Americans think they're living better. The evidence seems to be overwhelmingly clear they're living better. And so I think it's a tall stretch to argue that 60 to 80 percent of Americans haven't moved forward over the last three decades."
You can thank Ronald Reagan too. It was he who killed unions, which are the ONLY way workers have to force bosses to share the wealth. Without unions, the little guys get screwed just like that.
NOBODY should force ANYONE to share the wealth. That's called communism. And while you may think unions are good, I think that they are poor evil. They had their place at one time, but the "little guy" wouldn't be getting screwed without unions now. But the country is certainly getting screwed by them.
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