A rough decade for the middle class!~

[Sunshine]

Middle-class income fell in the last decade - Sep. 21, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's official. The first decade of the 21st century will go down in the history books as a step back for the American middle class.

Last week, the government made gloomy headlines when it released the latest census report showing the poverty rate rose to a 17-year high. A whopping 46.2 million people (or 15.1% of the U.S. population) live in poverty and 49.9 million live without health insurance.

But the data also gave the first glimpse of what happened to middle-class incomes in the first decade of the millennium. While the earnings of middle-income Americans have barely budged since the mid 1970s, the new data showed that from 2000 to 2010, they actually regressed.

For American households in the middle of the pay scale, income fell to $49,445 last year, when adjusted for inflation, a level not seen since 1996.

And over the 10-year period, their income is down 7%.

"Economists talk about the lost decade in Japan. Well, with these 2010 data, we can confirm the lost decade for the American middle class," said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Glad I'm not just starting out in life.

 

[Old Rocks]

Yep, and, according to the GOP, the problem is that these people are paying far too little in taxes, while the very wealthy are paying too much. Strange kind of alternative universe they are living in.

 

[Avorysuds]

Yep, and, according to the GOP, the problem is that these people are paying far too little in taxes, while the very wealthy are paying too much. Strange kind of alternative universe they are living in.

And intelligent people understand it’s because Government spends too much to buy peoples votes. From subsidies to wars, from paying for college to MC/MC/SS… Government can no longer sustain itself in the US. The answer of course for many people is to do more of the wrong thing and grow Government and its powers more.
We can already enter wars and not call them wars. What many believe we need now is the ability to just pick certain people and separate huge portions of their wealth from them…. I wonder how long that will work lol.

 

[expat_panama]

Yep, and, according to the GOP, the problem is that these people are paying far too little in taxes, while the very wealthy are paying too much. Strange kind of alternative universe they are living in.

And intelligent people understand it’s because Government spends too much to buy peoples votes...

Let's get serious and agree that more taxes and more government vote buying is bad, and that we even want less taxes and less government vote buying.

 

[Warrior102]

Yep, and, according to the GOP, the problem is that these people are paying far too little in taxes, while the very wealthy are paying too much. Strange kind of alternative universe they are living in.

Here, stupid -> Who Pays the Most Income Tax?

 

[Douger]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJmBPCYt5LY]Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - YouTube[/ame]

 

[editec]

We are NOT going to solve the decline of the middle class by tinkering with the tax code.

Their declining incomes are NOT stemming from that stupid policy.

Their declining incomes are stemming from other stupid policies.

 

[asterism]

Middle-class income fell in the last decade - Sep. 21, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's official. The first decade of the 21st century will go down in the history books as a step back for the American middle class.

Last week, the government made gloomy headlines when it released the latest census report showing the poverty rate rose to a 17-year high. A whopping 46.2 million people (or 15.1% of the U.S. population) live in poverty and 49.9 million live without health insurance.

But the data also gave the first glimpse of what happened to middle-class incomes in the first decade of the millennium. While the earnings of middle-income Americans have barely budged since the mid 1970s, the new data showed that from 2000 to 2010, they actually regressed.

For American households in the middle of the pay scale, income fell to $49,445 last year, when adjusted for inflation, a level not seen since 1996.

And over the 10-year period, their income is down 7%.

"Economists talk about the lost decade in Japan. Well, with these 2010 data, we can confirm the lost decade for the American middle class," said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Glad I'm not just starting out in life.

The middle class is not static. The report ignores those who started the decade poor and are now middle class and those who started middle class who are now high earners.