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Lotsa pearl clutching about how poor us Americans are.... You wouldn't know it by watching the folks come and go at your local Walmart/Kroger/Kohl's/Publix store. Folks driving shiny cars, coming out of the store will carts full of mostly junk food, etc. 2 or 3 or 4 kids in tow. Just where is all this poverty??
Lotsa pearl clutching about how poor us Americans are.... You wouldn't know it by watching the folks come and go at your local Walmart/Kroger/Kohl's/Publix store. Folks driving shiny cars, coming out of the store will carts full of mostly junk food, etc. 2 or 3 or 4 kids in tow. Just where is all this poverty??
So only poor people go to these places? People buy junk food because junk food is cheap you can get the most bang for your buck. Maybe you should go to an inner city or West Virginia if you think poverty does not exist.
Sorry, I wanted to try to be understanding, but I couldn't continue watching after the lady in red said she was struggling with $100K a year household income.
For starters, maybe not obtaining cars that cost $1,600 per month would help.
CNBC was your first clue it's propaganda.
Regardless of where you live in the US, any earning earning $100,000/year and claims to be struggling should be taken out and shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
Because the money they earn wont go far. That is what happens when globalist/secret cabal have control over the money supply, make more from nothing and spread amongst themselves, all while everyone else has to pay interest to this group in order to get some of that new money. After they jump through a bunch of other hoops that cost a lot of money also.
Your inability to assess economic data is noted.
Only 1.5 points of your current 8.0% "inflation" rate is monetary inflation and that is due to more money changing hands, not government spending.
The rest of it is supply chain issues (Demand-pull Inflation) and increased costs due to higher oil and natural gas prices and by you.
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Originally Posted by TRlaura
Spot on correct! That is exactly where i stopped also.
I always find it amusing when parents feel they need to save for their kid's college. If the kid doesn't have the brains and resources to pay their way, they really don't belong there.
Parents have traditionally paid for, paid in part, or helped defray the cost of education by saving. No harm, no foul. If the child doesn't go to college, then move the money to an investment vehicle.
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Originally Posted by gentlearts
We feel poor, because we are poorer. The cost of everything is rising, so we are forced to cut expenses of things we can control, because the things we can’t control, like insurance, taxes, rents, are going up.
Thank you for admitting it's your fault.
Taxes? That's your fault. You elected the local and State governments that levy tax increases, not the Federal Reserve.
Insurance? Again, that's 100% your fault. You elect the State legislatures that write the insurance regulations.
Seeing how you're too lame to elect someone to your State legislation who will introduce or vote for a bill to ban the "Out-of-Network" policy created by the AHA and then enacted into law by State legislators at the behest of the AHA, I'm guessing you're not gonna do anything to change anything anytime soon.
You continually elected the people who allowed HUD and the Department of Transportation to engage in reckless policies that drove rural and semi-rural people flooding into the cities to drive rents up.
You elected leaders who weren't actually leaders and so when you had a crisis like STUPID-19 they didn't know what to do and they opted for the nuclear option to shut down your economy which has created supply chain issues that have not been resolved that drive up the price of consumer goods.
You're afraid of the truth and that's why you keep electing all the wrong people who kow-tow to your Snake Department which is why you have a conflict in Ukraine and high oil and natural gas prices, and those costs are passed onto you.
So, enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gentlearts
When I first got married, mothers stayed home, a big new house cost $34k, and an annual income of $12k was enough to be comfortable. I know everything is relative, but something is seriously out of proportion these days.
Your inability to distinguish between 960 sq ft starter house in the 1950s and a 4,400 sq ft McMansion at present is disturbing.
Back up and recalculate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Part of that "something" is that REIT's and flippers have taken over various aspects of the RE market, driving rents and prices far beyond what most people can pay.
I guess it's a good thing you elected local, county, and State officials who put an end to that.
Oh, wait, you didn't.
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Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
How the Pharma industry was allowed to get away with predatory pricing, making basic prescriptions like inulin unaffordable to most is beyond me.
If I understand you correctly, you're mad because people don't want to buy the cheaper insulin, which for simplicity I'll call the two "originals."
People want to buy the more expensive insulins with all the bells and whistles that were recently patented for their delivery method or potency or reaction and you believe all pharmaceutical research, development, and testing should be done for free, because the researchers, lab techs, and all the others should volunteer their time and not be compensated.
We live in a free market system. As long as people still pay the rents, they won’t come down. As long as the pharmaceutical companies can keep making money, they will.
One thing that is really worrying me is foreign countries buying up land in America. I can’t reconcile my belief that a person should be able to sell his property to the highest bidder, against the worry about control by the Chinese and others.
They tell us we live in a free market economy, but we actually don't.
We have private markets, but not free ones. The pharmaceutical industry (the whole health care industry, really) operates more like a private cartel than a true free and competitive market. That is why they get away with price gouging.
This isn't me advocating for government sponsored health care or price controls. The best thing the government could do would be to allow real competition in health care (with things such as transparent pricing for a start), but since our government is bought and paid for by the health care industry (and so many others as well), that isn't going to happen.
All you have to do is look at the cost of a house to figure it out. I was stunned to see my small house is estimated at $145,000 on Zillow, more than double what I paid for it 20 years ago. It's a great starter house, but now add in the fact that most people have trouble saving down payment money, and would have to borrow money at much higher interest rates than just a few years ago, and add in the PMI insurance that they are going to get gouged with, and now add in the fact that everything else has gone up in price also..... there's your answer.
They tell us we live in a free market economy, but we actually don't.
We have private markets, but not free ones. The pharmaceutical industry (the whole health care industry, really) operates more like a private cartel than a true free and competitive market. That is why they get away with price gouging.
This isn't me advocating for government sponsored health care or price controls. The best thing the government could do would be to allow real competition in health care (with things such as transparent pricing for a start), but since our government is bought and paid for by the health care industry (and so many others as well), that isn't going to happen.
Not really correct - you are listening to those that really do not know. The pharmaceutical companies get exclusive rights to sell for new drugs - they take the risk for development and test of new drugs, hoping it makes money. So that is not "cartel" or "price gouging", the cost that it takes to bring out a new drug has to be recouped.
All you have to do is look at the cost of a house to figure it out. I was stunned to see my small house is estimated at $145,000 on Zillow, more than double what I paid for it 20 years ago. It's a great starter house, but now add in the fact that most people have trouble saving down payment money, and would have to borrow money at much higher interest rates than just a few years ago, and add in the PMI insurance that they are going to get gouged with, and now add in the fact that everything else has gone up in price also..... there's your answer.
To afford a house that costs $145,000 with a down payment of $14,500 and 7.25% interest, you'd need to earn $38,153 per year before tax - that is about $20/hr.
To afford a house that costs $145,000 with a down payment of $14,500 and 7.25% interest, you'd need to earn $38,153 per year before tax - that is about $20/hr.
The monthly mortgage payment on that house is about $1250, or 40% of that household’s income. Not much margin there if things go sideways. This is how people (and economies) get into trouble, they ignore time-tested rules to limit spending and borrowing.
Wow mircea, you are attributing a lot of power to gentlearts - to singlehandedly determine who will represent her! Sounds like you need a civics class.
Also genuinely curious what you suggest state and local officials could do to put an end to flipping.
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