Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap

[Oddball]

Y'ever given a moment's thought to looking around to see if this dreck hasn't already been posted?

 

[Leweman]

So what your saying is America is such a great country with so many benefits unseen by other countries in the world that people feel like they are wealthier than they really are. Doesn't seem like a bad thing. Perception is reality.

 

[ABikerSailor]

With the exception of the "with money" part you're pretty much dead on. We're strictly middle class in this family. No silver spoons. No mansions. Nothing like that.

My Grandfather was 1st generation immigrant from Norway. He did more for this country that you did, I'm pretty sure.......

He and his company built over half the road system in Montana.

Ironic and hypocritical, are you done making a fool of yourself?

Maybe you can offer us a way to fix the issue of the wealth gap rather than flexing your nuts on the internet. How would YOU get people to start working and open small businesses for themselves rather than work the massively ever growing taco bell/wall mart based market?

Put your ass on the line and maybe we’ll talk. When you realize that people gravitate to simplistic jobs that anyone can do that creates leaches on the system maybe you will realize there is very little you can do to help people by making it easier. You should know this, you’re in the military, tell me you don’t see these kind of people all over the place?

First off, take all the corporations that are based in America and tax them for every shop they've got overseas, telling them that they'll drop the taxes in favor of setting up factories here.

Second, start investing back in our infrastructure (like roads), so that we don't end up having another bridge collapse that kills 30 plus people.

Third, start investing in wind farms to provide power to our nation, as well as start looking at other sources of clean energy.

All the money would be spent here, and all of it would stay here.

Incidentally, wasn't Boehner's main focus on getting jobs? He hasn't done shit about them yet, because he's too worried about crap like abortion.

 

[California Girl]

Given the rising levels of wealth concentrated in the top 4% of Americans since the Reagan tax cuts, it does not appear that they are overburdened.

Trickle down did not work. The idea that dumping money on the rich which would trickle down to the working class shows that the rich just kept the extra money

The idea that if we are not "nice" to rich people they will leave is lame. There is too much money to be made

I suggest you go research what has happened to other countries who tried to over-burden the wealthy. Each and every time, the country has lost. The rich take their money and go elsewhere. If you think America is the only place those people can 'make money', you could not be more wrong.

It's naive to think you can keep grabbing other people's money and expect them to sit back and do nothing. It doesn't work that way. It never has. It never will. Learn from history.

They already are going elsewhere with their money...it is called outsourcing. If you want to cite history, then every wealthy American would have left the country between the end of WWII and the mid 1960's.

If you could grasp the difference between 'jobs' and 'individual wealth', that would be a good start. When you overtax the wealthy, they bolt. They have done so from every country that has tried it. Individual wealthy people leave, they set up 'home' somewhere more financially attractive.

And, the same with companies.... overburden them and they go. Simple.

 

[Sallow]

So? Where in the Constitution does it specify the right to be equally wealthy as others? Oh, that's right. It doesn't.

The Constitution grants powers to congress to oversea both the general welfare of Americans and regulate commerce.

The Disparity in wealth should be of grave concern for any civilized nations. Conservatives generally think this is due to sloth and ignorance. They generally believe that people who have wealth..have it because of predestiny or divinity.

Liberals know better.

 

[Sallow]

I suggest you go research what has happened to other countries who tried to over-burden the wealthy. Each and every time, the country has lost. The rich take their money and go elsewhere. If you think America is the only place those people can 'make money', you could not be more wrong.

It's naive to think you can keep grabbing other people's money and expect them to sit back and do nothing. It doesn't work that way. It never has. It never will. Learn from history.

They already are going elsewhere with their money...it is called outsourcing. If you want to cite history, then every wealthy American would have left the country between the end of WWII and the mid 1960's.

If you could grasp the difference between 'jobs' and 'individual wealth', that would be a good start. When you overtax the wealthy, they bolt. They have done so from every country that has tried it. Individual wealthy people leave, they set up 'home' somewhere more financially attractive.

And, the same with companies.... overburden them and they go. Simple.

No they don't. Simple as that.

No other industrialized nation offers the same sort of services and goods that the United States does..

And third world nations are fun in the short term. But long term..they wind up costing more.

 

[R.D.]

The Disparity in wealth should be of grave concern for any civilized nations. Conservatives generally think this is due to sloth and ignorance. They generally believe that people who have wealth..have it because of predestiny or divinity.

You're half right.

 

[skeptic]

So? Where in the Constitution does it specify the right to be equally wealthy as others? Oh, that's right. It doesn't.

actually it does and doesn't. Money is political power. The intentions of the constitution as stated are both supported and undermined by excessive wealth disparity.

Not that that would have bothered the founders, but it certainly runs afoul of how the constitution has been amended.

???

Our founders were all about establishing a highly stratified class based society/economy. But amendments adopted since the BORs was ratified tend toward actual equality for all citizens and away from a highly stratified class based society.

The constitution no more specifies equality of political power and wealth than it does democracy. Our founders would have been very comfortable with the statement "the nation should be run by those that own it".

But those same founders were strongly opposed to the power of corporations and immortal wealth. The constitution doesn't mention the word "corporation" at all. And the Federal government only charters public corporations.

The Founders were also not fond of obscene wealth, like that of William Penn. Liberty was defined as the right of any citizen to own land and be his own master. That isn't possible when the land is all owned by too small a class of aristocrats.

 

[Samson]

There's no mystery about the causes of this phenomena.

The gap between the TRULY rich and everybody else continues to widen because our government under both the Dems and the Reps have put policies regulations in place that give advantages to capital, usually at the expense of the rest of the population.


Now I realize that some of you believe this development isn't a threatening to our democratic republic.

History suggests that you are wrong about that.

But since so few of you apparently read any history, I can see how easily you can be lead to believe this is a benign development.

Personally I think this trend is a social cancer that will destroy the American way of life.

After all, I've been watching life in America get harder and harder for most of us since about 1970, when this development first reared its ugly head.

Yeah, um....I wasn't aware that there was any history in the USA of a nonexistant middle class...when was that?

 

[skeptic]

So what your saying is America is such a great country with so many benefits unseen by other countries in the world that people feel like they are wealthier than they really are. Doesn't seem like a bad thing. Perception is reality.

Everybody in the USA is wealthier than the sum of their own assets. When we drive down a freeway, walk in a park or shop/dine in public we are all allowed to use extraordinary facilities owned collectively by all.

 

[Samson]

So? Where in the Constitution does it specify the right to be equally wealthy as others? Oh, that's right. It doesn't.

The Constitution grants powers to congress to oversea both the general welfare of Americans and regulate commerce.

The Disparity in wealth should be of grave concern for any civilized nations. Conservatives generally think this is due to sloth and ignorance. They generally believe that people who have wealth..have it because of predestiny or divinity.

Liberals know better.

How, exactly, do "Liberals" believe people, like George Soros, become wealthy?

 

[Two Thumbs]

It's the 80/20 rule of business

the top 20% workers bring in 80% of the profit

the bottom 80% of workers bring in 20% of the profit.

most people know this, but can't factor in those that are born to it.

 

[Bfgrn]

I suggest you go research what has happened to other countries who tried to over-burden the wealthy. Each and every time, the country has lost. The rich take their money and go elsewhere. If you think America is the only place those people can 'make money', you could not be more wrong.

It's naive to think you can keep grabbing other people's money and expect them to sit back and do nothing. It doesn't work that way. It never has. It never will. Learn from history.

They already are going elsewhere with their money...it is called outsourcing. If you want to cite history, then every wealthy American would have left the country between the end of WWII and the mid 1960's.

If you could grasp the difference between 'jobs' and 'individual wealth', that would be a good start. When you overtax the wealthy, they bolt. They have done so from every country that has tried it. Individual wealthy people leave, they set up 'home' somewhere more financially attractive.

And, the same with companies.... overburden them and they go. Simple.

WHY didn't they 'bolt' in 1944? The only thing you seem unable to grasp is that what's 'simple' is your mind.

 

[Avorysuds]

My Grandfather was 1st generation immigrant from Norway. He did more for this country that you did, I'm pretty sure.......

He and his company built over half the road system in Montana.

Ironic and hypocritical, are you done making a fool of yourself?

Maybe you can offer us a way to fix the issue of the wealth gap rather than flexing your nuts on the internet. How would YOU get people to start working and open small businesses for themselves rather than work the massively ever growing taco bell/wall mart based market?

Put your ass on the line and maybe we’ll talk. When you realize that people gravitate to simplistic jobs that anyone can do that creates leaches on the system maybe you will realize there is very little you can do to help people by making it easier. You should know this, you’re in the military, tell me you don’t see these kind of people all over the place?

First off, take all the corporations that are based in America and tax them for every shop they've got overseas, telling them that they'll drop the taxes in favor of setting up factories here.
Second, start investing back in our infrastructure (like roads), so that we don't end up having another bridge collapse that kills 30 plus people.
Third, start investing in wind farms to provide power to our nation, as well as start looking at other sources of clean energy.

All the money would be spent here, and all of it would stay here.

Incidentally, wasn't Boehner's main focus on getting jobs? He hasn't done shit about them yet, because he's too worried about crap like abortion.

While that is not all needed I can agree with you on what I bolded.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[rightwinger]

Quick question.........got any links to legitimate sites that back up your bullshit, or is it just your "better than you" attitude that blinds you?

No links, and the attitude is not just mine. It's been handed down in my family for a long time.......

From my ancestors who showed up on these shores a mere couple of decades after the Mayflower; to my ancestors who were on the move to Cambridge, MA by the end of the day on April 19, 1775; to the ones who were involved in lynching a Tory in Essex, CT after the American Revolution; to the ones who fought on both sides of the War of Northern Aggression; to those who rode for the Pony Express; to those who died on Omaha Beach; to my father who turned down two separate deferments to accept a draft notice when he knew it was a sure ticket to Vietnam; to my Great-Grandmother who threw a US Census Bureau officer out of her home for refusing to list her ancestory/heritage as AMERICAN; to my cousin who volunteered to go to Bosnia for a year and who has taken three "Vacations" to Afghanistan as a member of the 82nd Airborne.

It's something we're inordinantly proud of. We've shed more blood (our own and the blood of others) for the sake of this country than most families can say they have. We've stood tall and proud through the good and bad times in this country. Hopefully we'll see these bad times through as well, into a new, revitalized, and course-corrected United States that my ancestors would approve of rather than the one we have now.

Wow......you are right

You are better than us

 

[rightwinger]

I suggest you go research what has happened to other countries who tried to over-burden the wealthy. Each and every time, the country has lost. The rich take their money and go elsewhere. If you think America is the only place those people can 'make money', you could not be more wrong.

It's naive to think you can keep grabbing other people's money and expect them to sit back and do nothing. It doesn't work that way. It never has. It never will. Learn from history.

They already are going elsewhere with their money...it is called outsourcing. If you want to cite history, then every wealthy American would have left the country between the end of WWII and the mid 1960's.

If you could grasp the difference between 'jobs' and 'individual wealth', that would be a good start. When you overtax the wealthy, they bolt. They have done so from every country that has tried it. Individual wealthy people leave, they set up 'home' somewhere more financially attractive.

And, the same with companies.... overburden them and they go. Simple.

We should all listen to CaliGurl

We need to grovel at the feet of the wealthy. If they are displeased with us they will desert us and leave us to our filthy ways

 

[editec]

So? Where in the Constitution does it specify the right to be equally wealthy as others? Oh, that's right. It doesn't.

It doesn't

But it does cause one to question why we need to pass legislation that continues to favor the wealthy?

I don't necessarily agree that we should have legislation that 'favors the wealthy' but... I certainly do not see other people's money as some justification to force them to carry my share of the country's burden.

If you create an unfavorable environment for wealth, that wealth leaves. Ask any country who has tried it. It has never worked to over burden them.... they are the ones with the ability to take their 'wealth' away. I would rather treat them fairly - just like everyone else.

Not much chance of that happening, Cali.

 

[Samson]

They already are going elsewhere with their money...it is called outsourcing. If you want to cite history, then every wealthy American would have left the country between the end of WWII and the mid 1960's.

If you could grasp the difference between 'jobs' and 'individual wealth', that would be a good start. When you overtax the wealthy, they bolt. They have done so from every country that has tried it. Individual wealthy people leave, they set up 'home' somewhere more financially attractive.

And, the same with companies.... overburden them and they go. Simple.

We should all listen to CaliGurl

We need to grovel at the feet of the wealthy. If they are displeased with us they will desert us and leave us to our filthy ways

Or....you could try to become one of them.



Its been known to happen

 

[Bfgrn]

It doesn't

But it does cause one to question why we need to pass legislation that continues to favor the wealthy?

I don't necessarily agree that we should have legislation that 'favors the wealthy' but... I certainly do not see other people's money as some justification to force them to carry my share of the country's burden.

If you create an unfavorable environment for wealth, that wealth leaves. Ask any country who has tried it. It has never worked to over burden them.... they are the ones with the ability to take their 'wealth' away. I would rather treat them fairly - just like everyone else.

Not much chance of that happening, Cali.

I wish they would leave and let us rebuild the America our founding fathers envisioned and the one that existed as little as 50 years ago.

Even without outsourcing and globalization, corporations have destroyed the fabric of this nation. They have destroyed the 'local' economies that made America self sustaining communities. Trades, small neighborhood family businesses and the skills they produced and handed down from one generation to the next are gone, example: culinary skills...butchers & bakers.

And the corporate 'Wal-Marting' of America has also extracted the wealth from those communities and placed it in the hands out outsiders. Many of the public servants came from the local entrepreneurs and businessmen. Much of the community development came from philanthropy by those same local businessmen putting back into the community they grew up in and acquired their wealth in.

Now, we have to subsidize Wal Marts...

According to a 2004 report released by U.S. Representative George Miller, one 200-employee Wal-Mart store may cost federal taxpayers $420,000 per year because of the need for federal aid (such as housing assistance, tax credits, and health insurance assistance) for Wal-Mart's low-wage employees. ref

 

[boedicca]

I'd like to see the OP contrast the lifestyle of the average person in the lower 90% with that of nobility in the middle ages.

The former have indoor plumbing, air conditioning, televisions, cars, computers, cellphones, internet access, refrigeration...all due to investments in new products made by the EVUL Rich.