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.
So the democrats and all the gloom and doomers say the middle class is shrinking. They say we are all getting more poor except those evil rich people. They are half right. The middle class is shrinking but we all aren't getting more poor.. we're all actually getting more rich. It's the little secret the liberals and the gloom and doom media don't want you to know. Here are the stats..
According to the US Census Bureau the middle class (defined by people making $35k-$75k annually) shrank by 7.3 percent from 1996 to 2006. This is only half the story that liberals like to cling on to. The number of households earning less than $35k also shrank, by 3%. So if you all can do the math here.. the middle class didn't shrink because people are getting more poor, it shrank because people are making more money. 14.7% more households earned greater than $75k in 2006 than 1996.
It's funny how the gloom and doom media and the liberals love to only tell half the story. It does though seem that people have less buying power, yet inflation has been at historically low levels. So your answer is... drum roll please... we are SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY!!! It isn't rocket science. Americans have no patience. Everyone wants the American dream today. They don't want to work hard and save for something in the future, they went to borrow and get it now. The problem with this REALITY is it doesn't sell newspapers and the liberals can't blame the government. The problem lies within all of us. The stats show our incomes are rising. The problem is that we are making plenty of money but we are spending way too much of it.
Please turn off your gloom and doom television set and put down your gloom and doom newspaper and turn the page from Clintons and Obamas "everyone is poor and in poverty and our government is to blame" rhetoric and go out and live your lives. Oh and while you're out living your lives... remember to leave your credit cards at home.
So the democrats and all the gloom and doomers say the middle class is shrinking. They say we are all getting more poor except those evil rich people. They are half right. The middle class is shrinking but we all aren't getting more poor.. we're all actually getting more rich. It's the little secret the liberals and the gloom and doom media don't want you to know. Here are the stats..
According to the US Census Bureau the middle class (defined by people making $35k-$75k annually) shrank by 7.3 percent from 1996 to 2006. This is only half the story that liberals like to cling on to. The number of households earning less than $35k also shrank, by 3%. So if you all can do the math here.. the middle class didn't shrink because people are getting more poor, it shrank because people are making more money. 14.7% more households earned greater than $75k in 2006 than 1996.
It's funny how the gloom and doom media and the liberals love to only tell half the story. It does though seem that people have less earning power, yet inflation has been at historically low levels. So your answer is... drum roll please... we are SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY!!! It isn't rocket science. Americans have no patience. Everyone wants the American dream today. They don't want to work hard and save for something in the future, they went to borrow and get it now. The problem with this REALITY is it doesn't sell newspapers and the liberals can't blame the government. The problem lies within all of us. The stats show our incomes are rising. The problem is that we are making plenty of money but we are spending way too much of it.
Please turn off your gloom and doom television set and put down your gloom and doom newspaper and turn the page from Clintons and Obamas "everyone is poor and in poverty and our government is to blame" rhetoric and go out and live your lives. Oh and while you're out living your lives... remember to leave your credit cards at home.
Is that inflation-adjusted dollars? I'm assuming so.
I don't want the American dream today...but for the past 5 years my husband hasn't had a raise...I've gotten raises but that has all been eaten up by the 33% increase in my property taxes. Our sales tax has increased, my car insurance has skyrocketed (for no reason apparently...we have great driving records)...our purchasing power is flat. I think the longer this economic stagnation continues the middle class WILL begin to shrink.
As far as inflation; it is not historically low...they have changed how it is calculated. "Inflation is low, we just don't count food or energy prices."
Beginning during the Carter administration, federal economists cleverly redefined the CPI, with the goal of removing from the index expensive items, including food and energy, that would push the CPI higher.
...one of Greenspan's manipulations of the CPI involved the consideration that when steak got too expensive, the consumer would substitute hamburger for the steak. So, Greenspan argued, the inflation measure should reflect the costs of buying hamburger, not steak.
...federal law mandates that Social Security checks increase thanks to "cost-of-living adjustments," or COLAs, that are supposed to compensate for inflation. So, higher inflation numbers cost the federal government millions more in increased Social Security payments.
Econometrician John Williams maintains a Web site that tracks how the federal government changes economic data.
You can't take your individual situation and make a point. I'm talking aggregate here. Every nation has poor people and rich people. The fact is that incomes are rising and less people make $35k or under since 1996 and more people (a lot more people) make more than $75k from 1996. And all those people who are making more than $75k came from the middle class. Fact is people aren't poor. People have food. People have clothing. People own tvs and vcrs and drink alcohol and buy cigarettes. Yet, they whine and cry about poverty. It's just not true on a large scale but the dems and the media sure wish it was.
You can't take your individual situation and make a point. I'm talking aggregate here. Every nation has poor people and rich people. The fact is that incomes are rising and less people make $35k or under since 1996 and more people (a lot more people) make more than $75k from 1996. And all those people who are making more than $75k came from the middle class. Fact is people aren't poor. People have food. People have clothing. People own tvs and vcrs and drink alcohol and buy cigarettes. Yet, they whine and cry about poverty. It's just not true on a large scale but the dems and the media sure wish it was.
That is the other area that the media tends to ignore. Quality of life for those in poverty has continued to improve. I can't find the article now, but I saw an article awhile back that talked about Americans living below the poverty level owning far more electronics, appliances, and cars than the upper-middle class in Europe.
That is the other area that the media tends to ignore. Quality of life for those in poverty has continued to improve. I can't find the article now, but I saw an article awhile back that talked about Americans living below the poverty level owning far more electronics, appliances, and cars than the upper-middle class in Europe.
Good point! Has anyone been to Mcdonalds and BK lately? My gosh, you can feed a family of 4 for like $15 with the dollar menus. Ever been to wal-mart lately? VCRs and DVD players for like $30. There just aren't people without clothing and shelter and food. Heck, I drive around in our really poor areas and I see people smoking cigarettes and drinking vodka. You can feed 2 people at McDonalds for the price of a pack of smokes.
Point is, some mentally and physicall disabled people are truly suffering. And we need homes and centers to care for these people. But the vast majority of Americans, and I mean vast majority, are doing fine. The problem is people don't want to save their money. They want what they want and they want it now. That coupled with our economy is evolving and people need to stay educated to get the jobs that our economy is producing. Manufacturing jobs are going away. So if you are in that sector go back to school and get trained to do something that the economy is creating. That's my take on it.
But the gloom and doom media and the liberals love to portray a completely different picture of America. It sells newspapers and gets them elected.
"We stand for a living wage. Wages are subnormal if they fail to provide a living for those who devote their time and energy to industrial occupations. The monetary equivalent of a living wage varies according to local conditions, but must include enough to secure the elements of a normal standard of living--a standard high enough to make morality possible, to provide for education and recreation, to care for immature members of the family, to maintain the family during periods of sickness, and to permit of reasonable saving for old age."
- Excerpt from the Address by Theodore Roosevelt before the Convention of the National Progressive Party in Chicago (August, 1912)
That is the other area that the media tends to ignore. Quality of life for those in poverty has continued to improve. I can't find the article now, but I saw an article awhile back that talked about Americans living below the poverty level owning far more electronics, appliances, and cars than the upper-middle class in Europe.
Owning cheap appliances from Walmart doesn't make for a better quality of life. Affordable housing, access to quality healthcare, a good education, clean air and water and a safe environment contributes to quality of life.
By the way, I wonder how much of thoes "electronics, appliances and cars" is really OWNED by those living below the poverty line, and how much is purchased on credit cards and not paid off.
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
Owning cheap appliances from Walmart doesn't make for a better quality of life. Affordable housing, access to quality healthcare, a good education, clean air and water and a safe environment contributes to quality of life.
By the way, I wonder how much of thoes "electronics, appliances and cars" is really OWNED by those living below the poverty line, and how much is purchased on credit cards and not paid off.
Affordable housing?.. Ever heard of Section 8, Tax Credits, and many other programs that provide affordable housing to the poor?
Access to quality healthcare?.. You live in America. So you have access to the best in the world.
Good education?.. Here you are right. Our public schools are failing? We need to give parents a choice and privatize our education.
Clean air?.. our air is fine, minus a few big cities. Check out India and China if you are looking for really bad air.
Safe Environment?.. Again, America is right up there with the best. If you live in the ghetto or in a bad area.. here's an idea.. MOVE.
Another gloom and doomer who thinks the world is ending. Let me guess, liberal?
If they don't pay off their credit cards, they could discharge the debt in bankruptcy. Nothing better than a used appliance that nobody wants that was only half paid for. Yes, Americans are getting wealthier and demand for entitlements as well. It is taxes that are killing everyone and yet they clamor for taxing the wealthy more so they can get more money... its nice to demand other people's money... perhaps the homeless should demand money from those in poverty since technically they are doing better than the homeless... I wonder if those in poverty would be okay with that... having money stolen by those less fortunate than they are..
Affordable housing?.. Ever heard of Section 8, Tax Credits, and many other programs that provide affordable housing to the poor?
Access to quality healthcare?.. You live in America. So you have access to the best in the world.
Good education?.. Here you are right. Our public schools are failing? We need to give parents a choice and privatize our education.
Clean air?.. our air is fine, minus a few big cities. Check out India and China if you are looking for really bad air.
Safe Environment?.. Again, America is right up there with the best. If you live in the ghetto or in a bad area.. here's an idea.. MOVE.
Another gloom and doomer who thinks the world is ending. Let me guess, liberal?
Our air is NOT clean according to the american lung association, nearly half the people in this country live in area's with bad air, if you have to compare our air to china or india, that speaks volumes
American Lung Association:*Air Pollution Facts & Air Quality Info - Executive Summary - ALA State of the Air 2007 (http://lungaction.org/reports/sota07exec_summ.html - broken link)
If you don't think we don't have a problem with health care, well then you don't agree with the experts...
Most low income housing is in less safe neighborhoods and usually in more polluted, noisy neighborhoods also.
All of this wasn't the point of my post though, I merely pointed out that owning cheap junk purchased with credit cards that are mostly likely not paid off, is no indicator of QUALITY OF LIFE.
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
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.
