The middle JUST got taken for a ride ? WTF ?? Did I miss something , has it been happy times living in the land of chocolate for the middle class the last 6 years ? The Middle class has been getting royally screwed the last several years by lobbyists, declining wages, crappy pension plans, etc... I mean just do a google search on "Middle Class Getting Screwed" Im sure you will find plenty of articles during 05-06. So please tell me again how the middle class JUST got screwed.
Actually, yes, the Middle Class is about to get the enema of the decade.
And BTW... I can Google "Santa Claus" or "Tooth Fairy"... just because I get a lot of hits doesn't make them real.
Unemployment is currently at 4.4 percent and the DJIA is at an all time high (12,100+ ). Back in the 1990s, the the DJIA broke 11,000 and the unemployment rate flirted with 4.5%, the Democrats claimed it was Clinton. They even called it "the Clinton economy". The problem, though, was that it wasn't sustainable. Even Alan Greenspan, the Fed Chairman at the time, used the term "irrational exuberance" to describe the unfounded euphoria that was pushing the Dow to unheard of heights.
This economy is different, the unemployment rate has been going down and has remained low, the DJIA has been climbing and has stayed there. But now the Democrats say "the wealthy are getting richer on the backs of working people".
The Democrats made a strategy out of putting a negative spin on just about every good thing that has come out of this economy.
Part of the reason the economy is doing well (among others) is the Bush tax cut. However, the Democrats turned a tax cut for all people into "a tax cut FOR THE RICH". As if the Middle Class weren't benefiting from it! So, if the Bush tax cut is a tax cut for the rich, I'm going to call the coming end of the Bush tax cut "a tax increase on the Middle Class". Furthermore, since many rich people run businesses that you and I use (grocery stores, bakeries, retail, gas stations, etc) if you raise taxes on the rich, they will pass that extra cost down to you and me.
Oh, and another thing that will probably go is the cut on capital gains taxes. That will serve to bring down the DJIA and billions of dollars will disappear from people's retirement portfolios.
You see, unlike the 1930s, even every day Joes and Janes have investment portfolios. So Wall Street's machinations affect the Middle Class. That is something the Democrats don't seem to want to understand.
Increasing the minimum wage will increase the cost of labor in the country and increase prices. With the unemployment rate being so low, inflation may become a problem and a minimum wage increase will just exacerbate it. Furthermore, since the cost of labor is increasing, the likelihood that jobs will be outsourced overseas has increased. Once prices increase, the increase in minimum wage will be nullified and you'll have to raise the minimum wage again.
On the subject of pensions. The "defined benefit" pension is quickly becoming a thing of the past and the 401(k) will become what the pension used to be. But, with very important differences. First, if your company needs money, it won't be able to borrow from your 401(k) as it could from a defined benefit pension, because you'll be managing that money, not them. Secondly, you don't have to work with your company for a period of years before you are "vested", i.e. eligible for a pension, that money will be yours from your first day of work onwards. Third, if you switch jobs, you don't lose that money, you simply take it with you. Fourth, if your company is taken over, the new guys can't raid your pension. Here's an important point, none of this was mandated by the government. This was corporate America's doing and you haven't voted them out of office. Also, the problems that GM has been having lately has everything to do with their pension. They borrowed from it, didn't pay it back, people are now retiring and they are scrambling to pay them. Much like Social Security will be in a few years.
Another thing that will happen is that the Democrats are bound and determined to get even. We've had to listen to a non stop temper tantrum since the 2000 elections, now they're in power, let the theater begin! Send in the clowns.... with machine guns! You can bet on investigation, after investigation after investigation, into the Bush Administration's doings. And much of it will be made very public, you can count on it. Much of it won't amount to anything, if any of it. But it will send the signal that the government is in turmoil and that will send a signal to the investment community that they'd better invest their dollars elsewhere, any where else but America.
And many of my predictions won't come true overnight. Our economy is so big, it will take time to react to all this. I'll guess that it will be about 12 months to a year before you actually see it.... then watch out.
Hmm. Just in time for the 2008 campaign.... and if the Republicans are smart, they'll remind people just how great things were before we got Nancy "Blinky" Pelosi, Harry "I got a land deal and misspent my campaign money" Reid to screw it up for us.
And I haven't mentioned the WOT... we're poised to lose that one as well. I'm sure that the Patriot Act's days are numbered. And with it, the tools to fight terrorism. I think if that happens, we will see another 9/11, maybe a couple.
So, there are some WTFs for you to consider.
P.S. And another thing. Don't expect the Democrats to "reach out to the other side", or "work with the Republicans". Don't expect them to practice what they preach in that regard, far from it. They now have the power, the Republicans will be forced to sit in the corner. Believing Democrats promises is tantamount to buying the Brooklyn Bridge.
