The state of the 1 Percent is strong
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The state of the 1 Percent is strong
Hopefully President Obama will talk about the gap between rich and poor tonight. Here's why:
Saez has now updated this statistic to include 2011. When you look at the economic recovery's first two years, the top one percent (which by 2011 meant any household making more than about $367,000) captured 121 percent of all pre-tax income gains.
How is it even possible for the one percent to capture more than 100 percent of all income gains since the last recession? Looked at from one point of view, it's not. It is enough to say that in 2010 and 2011 all of the recovery went to the one percent. If you were in the bottom 99 percent, as by definition nearly all of us are, you didn’t see a dime of that recovery.
Adding:
If I were Obama, I'd be of two minds about flagging these statistics. On the one hand, they certainly make his case for the middle class more compelling. On the other hand … this happened on his watch! Since 1948, economic growth has most benefited those at the bottom of the income distribution whenever a Democrat was in the White House, and it's most benefited those at the top of the income distribution whenever a Republican was in the White House. Obama's first term, it seems increasingly clear, constitutes a dramatic break from this historic pattern. The U.S. economy’s current ability to expand—no matter who is president—without benefiting the 99 percent is something new. Perhaps we should do something to change that.
Either that, or Obama is just another president of the 1 Percent. He has three years and 11 months to get this right.
Blogger's note: I'm tied up on the Christopher Dorner drama...over and out.
Comments (64)
"I don't always drink water in the middle of the most important speech of my life. But when I do, I make sure it is a stubby bottle of water."
"Stay thirsty my friends."— wokmaster- Haha....good one Wok!
— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine 
The United States of America is not going to change for the better. The only change will be for the worse.
And when I say worse, I mean much worse.
As we speak, the economic system that sustained the country during the post-war years is collapsing. The United States maxed out its “credit card” sometime in 2008 and now its lenders, starting with China, are in the process of laying the foundations for a new monetary system to replace the Anglo-American “petro-dollar” system.
As soon as there is a viable alternative to the US dollar, the US will sink like a stone.
While the US was running up crushing levels of debt, it was busy shipping its source of wealth (production-manufacturing jobs) and white-collar jobs overseas, and letting its infrastructure fall to pieces.
Meanwhile, Asian and European countries were investing in education, infrastructure and raw materials.
Even if the United States tried to rebuild a real economy (as opposed to a service/peddler/financial economy) do think American workers would ever be able to compete with the workers of China or Europe?
Have you ever seen a Japanese or German factory?
Have you ever met a Singaporean or Chinese worker?
- There are only 2 possible futures facing the United States, and neither one is pretty.
The best case is a slow, orderly decline – essentially a continuation of what’s been happening for the last 2 decades.
Wages will drop, unemployment will rise, Medicare and Social Security benefits will be slashed, the currency will decline in value, and the disparity of wealth will spiral out of control until the United States starts to resemble Mexico or the Philippines – tiny islands of wealth surrounded by great poverty (the country is already halfway there).
Equally likely is a sudden collapse, perhaps brought about by a rapid flight from the US dollar by creditor nations like China, Japan, Korea and the OPEC nations.
A related possibility would be a default by the US government on its vast debt. One look at the financial balance sheet of the US government should convince you how likely this is: governmental spending is skyrocketing and tax receipts are plummeting – something has to give.
If either of these scenarios plays out, the resulting depression will make the present recession look like a walk in the park.
Whether the collapse is gradual or gut-wrenchingly sudden, the results will be chaos, civil strife and fascism.
- Let’s face it: the United States is like the former Yugoslavia – a collection of mutually antagonistic cultures united in name only.
You’ve got your own version of the Taliban: right-wing Christian fundamentalists who actively loathe the idea of secular Constitutional government.
You’ve got a vast intellectual underclass that has spent the last few decades soaking up Fox News and talk radio propaganda, eager to blame the collapse on Democrats, gays and immigrants.
You’ve got a ruthless ownership class that will use all the means at its disposal to protect its wealth from the starving masses.
On top of all that you’ve got vast factory farms, sprawling suburbs and a truck-based shipping system, all of it entirely dependent on oil that is about to become completely unaffordable.
And you’ve got guns. Lots of guns. In short: the United States is about to become a very unwholesome place to be.
Right now, the government is building fences and walls along its northern and southern borders.
Right now, the government is working on a national ID system (soon to be fitted with biometric features).
Right now, the government is building a surveillance state so extensive that they will be able to follow your every move, online, in the street and across borders.
If you think this is just to protect you from “terrorists,” then you’re sadly mistaken.
- Once the sh*t really hits the fan, do you really think you’ll just be able to jump into the old station wagon, drive across the Canadian border and spend the rest of your days fishing and drinking Molson?
No, the government is going to lock the place down.
They don’t want their tax base escaping.
They don’t want their “recruits” escaping.
They don’t want YOU escaping.
I am not writing this to scare you.
I write this to you as a friend.
If you are able to read and understand what I’ve written here, then you are a member of a small minority in the United States.
You are a minority in a country that has no place for you.
So what should you do?
You should leave the United States of America. Yes, I said LEAVE.
- If you’re young, you’ve got plenty of choices. You can go to university or graduate school abroad and start building skills that will qualify you for a work visa.
If you’ve already got some real work skills, you can apply to emigrate to any number of countries as a skilled immigrant.
If you're older and you’ve got some savings, you can retire to a place like Costa Rica or the Philippines.
If you can’t qualify for a work, student or retirement visa, don’t let that stop you – travel on a tourist visa to a country that appeals to you and talk to the expats you meet there.
Whatever you do, go speak to an immigration lawyer as soon as you can.
Find out exactly how to get on a path that will lead to permanent residence and eventually citizenship in the country of your choice.
You will not be alone.
There are millions of Americans just like me living outside the US.
Living lives much more fulfilling, peaceful, free and abundant than we ever could have attained back home.
- Some of us happened upon these lives by accident – we tried a year abroad and found that we liked it – others made a conscious decision to pack up and leave for good.
You’ll find us in Canada, all over Europe, in many parts of Asia, in Australia and New Zealand, and in most other countries of the globe.
Do we miss our friends and family? Yes.
Do we occasionally miss aspects of our former country? Yes.
Do we plan on ever living again in the United States? Never.
And those of us with permanent residence or citizenship can sponsor family members from back home for long-term visas in our adopted countries.
In closing, I want to remind you of something – unless you are an American Indian or a descendant of slaves, at some point your ancestors chose to leave their homeland in search of a better life.
They weren’t traitors and they weren’t bad people, they just wanted a better life for themselves and their families.
Isn’t it time that you continue their journey?
- Does "THE MEDIC" ever see THE PSYCHIATRIST?— orange rhino
- I am democrat - gimme gimme.— CD75
- The top 1% is doing all right for themselves and the country. They pay taxes, create jobs and generally arent gunning people down on the streets. Maybe we should start looking at the bottom 1%. Or maybe the bottom 20%. We are producing tons of trash in these groups.— tr88
- I'm sure the raise in the minimum wage will do wonders for black teen unemployment, which is currently what - about 3,480%? And of course amnesty will be a big boon as well. This clown is all about creating more dependency on govt. He is the Destroyer of Lives. The Opposite of Hope.— teardownthisfishwrap
- So raising the minimum wage to 9 dollars an hour = more dependency on government? And THAT destroys lives? lol — wokmaster
- Someone better give Boobio a bid and hankie before he goes on TV next time. Clearly not ready for primetime!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- hey 1%, move out of the country if you don't like it.— high water
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