Republicans: why do you ignore the wealth inequality issue?

[Valox]

Here's where the jobs went.........

NYT: Why Apple won't make iPhones in the US - Business - US business - The New York Times - msnbc.com

Yup, Americans workers can't compete with 16 hour a days at @ $0.70 hour.

The unfortunate part is that Apple could afford to hold their manufacturers to a higher standard of sweatshop labor and pay them more. Given their enormous profits margins, they could still remain competitive.

If Americans workers want to compete, then we need to drop the minimum wage down to $1.00 hour, get rid of child labor laws, expand the work week, eliminate health and safety laws in the workplace, ban unions, and reduce protection for the environment.

 

[thereisnospoon]

The facts should anger you.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Because there is no such thing as 'wealth inequality'...
It's a made up term for the class envy crowd to gain traction for their push for government control over one's ability to earn save and invest.

 

[thereisnospoon]

You seem to cry a great deal about the government.

lets see, what's different.

The rich have no affect on my life beyond providing me with a job and benefits that go to care and feed my family.

The government takes some of that money and removes my Constitutional rights, over spends , making the money I keep worth less, thus making it harder for me to care and feed my family.




Like I said, we, unlike you, are not a bunch of whinny crybabies.

The trickle down is a myth. Corporations are making record profits and taxes are at record lows. Where are the jobs exactly?

I must ask, if there were 'no jobs' how then could companies make any money if no one is working?..Oh billy????? See where we are going here?

 

[kwc57]

The facts should anger you.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Why do you keep asking questions you've already been schooled in at least 100 times?

Wages haven't changed for the middle class over the last few decades? I'll call bullshit on that one. I've been working full time since 1980, 32 years. I make 7 times what I did in 1980. My pay has steadily increased over time. Perhaps if you'd apply yourself instead of living in a tent in a city park and "working" at carrying a 99% sign around, you'd make more money too.

 

[thereisnospoon]

The trickle down is a myth. Corporations are making record profits and taxes are at record lows. Where are the jobs exactly?

Like I said, we, unlike you, are not a bunch of whinny crybabies.

You don't have a right nor do they have an obligation to give you, a job.

Like I said, we, unlike you, are not a bunch of whinny crybabies.

And you whine about paying necessary taxes.

Very little of the taxes we pay are "necessary"..
That is the point. Government continues to consume a larger share of the private sector, spends more than it takes in, then demands we surrender more of what we earn.
Trickle down is not a myth. It is the most logical and prosperous form of economy there is.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I already told you I personally did not want their money. Again, it's arguably not their money if they didn't technically earn it.

so if someones grandparents worked hard for the money and passed it onto their grandchildren..what do you suggest these people should do with their inheritence? give it to the Guberment for the greater good of the country?

my gawd man.

Um, no, that is not what I am saying.

Then what ARE you saying?

 

[thereisnospoon]

An inheritance is not income. What I am suggesting is a general policy on high income individuals.

lol, a general policy...of taxing the shit out them...you people are all so generous with other people monies..but of course it's for the greater good

So you think raising taxes=socialism. Tell me, at what tax rate is it not socialism, exactly?

No one stated or implied that. You made it up. Your point just melted dried up and blew away like a fart in the wind.
Next time you start a thread, FOCUS!

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Republicans ignore it as we feel that you need to earn it. Most of the poor are lazy and don't wish to pound the floor to advance them selfs.

Poor-think it should be handed to you=no wealth. You think life is a joke.
Rich-work hard and plan=more wealth!

Why should the people that work hard and are smart enough to save up give you their money?

I already told you I personally did not want their money. Again, it's arguably not their money if they didn't technically earn it.

Oh yes you do.... you're a typical left wing whackaloon obsessed with what everybody else either has or is doing.

Grow up.. get a life and stop whining.

 

[Valox]

The facts should anger you.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Why do you keep asking questions you've already been schooled in at least 100 times?

Wages haven't changed for the middle class over the last few decades? I'll call bullshit on that one. I've been working full time since 1980, 32 years. I make 7 times what I did in 1980. My pay has steadily increased over time. Perhaps if you'd apply yourself instead of living in a tent in a city park and "working" at carrying a 99% sign around, you'd make more money too.

For your anecdote to carry water, you would have had to work the same job over those 3 decades which I assume is untrue. In addition, a personal anecdote is not proof that a general trend is not occurring.

In general, wages have been lagging substantially behind productivity gains, even when you include benefits. If wages/benefits are not keeping up with productivity, then who is cashing in on the gains?

U.S. productivity grew by 62.5% from 1989 to 2010, far more than real hourly wages for both private-sector and state/local government workers, which grew 12% in the same period. Real hourly compensation grew a bit more (20.5% for state/local workers and 17.9% for private-sector workers) but still lagged far behind productivity growth.

The typical worker has had stagnating wages for a long time, despite enjoying some wage growth during the economic recovery of the late 1990s. While productivity grew 80% between 1979 and 2009, the hourly wage of the median worker grew by only 10.1%, with all of this wage growth occurring from 1996 to 2002, reflecting the strong economic recovery of the late 1990s.

The sad but true story of wages in America | Economic Policy Institute


Here is another study from the BLS.

Growth of productivity and real hourly compensation in the nonfarm business sector (which accounts for three-fourths of output and employment in the total U.S. economy) was robust until 1973, at which time growth slowed in both measures. During the 1947–73 period, the annual change in productivity averaged 2.8 percent, while real hourly compensation growth averaged 2.6 percent. Over the 1973–79 period, the averages were 1.1 and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Real hourly compensation is the hourly cost to businesses, adjusted for price changes, of wages, salaries, and benefits paid to workers. Real hourly compensation grew at an average annual rate of 1.7 percent over the 63-year period. Since the 1970s, real hourly compensation has grown more slowly than productivity

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/01/art3full.pdf

 

[CrusaderFrank]

If you're listening closely to how Dems view the "1%", you see why mass graves are an integral part of every Marxist utopia

 

[Katzndogz]

The facts should anger you.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Because there is no such thing as 'wealth inequality'...
It's a made up term for the class envy crowd to gain traction for their push for government control over one's ability to earn save and invest.

There is a work ethic inequality. There is an investment education ineqality. There is even a beer drinking and pot smoking inequality. But no wealth inequality.

 

[Foxfyre]

Republicans ignore it as we feel that you need to earn it. Most of the poor are lazy and don't wish to pound the floor to advance them selfs.

Poor-think it should be handed to you=no wealth. You think life is a joke.
Rich-work hard and plan=more wealth!

Why should the people that work hard and are smart enough to save up give you their money?

You guys do realize that becoming wealthy is like climbing the inside of a pyramid, right? The closer you get to the top, the less room there is.

I completely disagree that most of the poor are lazy. There are many more working poor than there are the "welfare bums" that you Conservatives love to rail on about.

I haven't read the entire thread, but the quoted post deserved a comment.

Yes, there are a few poor who work hard and who are not lazy. But in this country they are rare. Very rare indeed. (Unless you count those who are just starting out to learn a work ethic, develop references, and acquire marketable skills. Those will be listed among the 'poor', but they are in no way 'poor'. Both my husband and I, not having parents who could even support our ambitions, much less help with them, have been in that boat and it didn't hurt us in the least.

I strongly disagree with the idea that there is little room at the top. The USA has by far more millionaires than any other country and is INCREASING its nunber of millionairs by an average whopping 15% per year. Currently we have more than 4.7 million millionaries and most of those are first generation millionaires. Unlike all other countries, there is no 'caste' system here that discourages or makes it more difficult for anybody to become wealthy when they aren't born into it.

The only capitalist place, not even a country, that is increasing millionaires by a greater percentage (19+ percent per year) is Hong Kong where the 8.8% of the population who are millionaires control a whopping 73% of the wealth.

Our millionaires control about 56% (by some estimates) of the nation's wealth mostly because they control our largest corporations.

Compare that to China who have only 670,000 millionaires--all government dignitaries--in a population of 1.3 BILLION and there they millionaires control more than 50% of the national wealth with the government controlling most of the largest cvorporations. China is also increasing their millionaires by 30% per year so you can expect their ratio of wealth between rich and poor to exceed our own in the near future.

Source: Countries with the Most Millionaires - Yahoo! Finance

China and the USA do share one common statistic though. Your chances of becoming a millionaire increase by a huge factor if you are able to land a good government job.

But the rank and file poor in China have little chance to become rich there.

There is absolutely no limit and there are no barriers in the USA for those who stay out of legal troubles, get a real education, acquire marketable skills, are willing to put in their time in McJobs to acquire a work ethic, references, and marketable skills, and who are earning a living wage and get married before having kids.

Some on the left are doing their damndest to deny that fact and make us more like China or Europe or Japan however and thereby take away the sky-is-the-limit possibilities our Founders gave us with a Constitution that made us free people instead of subservbiant to a king who would decvide what we would be entitled to have or achieve.

In the USA, most of the truly poor are trapped in the entitlement mentality. You don't want so many poor people? Correct that.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

The facts should anger you.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Fair? You say Fair while insisting someone should pay a HIGHER percentage for no other reason then they make more then you?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Before we get started, I am not a Republican. Now, I will state I rarely ignore anything, hence my repeated attempts to educate you. Wealth inequality is not the issue that concerns me, economic immobility does.

The facts should anger you.

If I went around letting facts anger me I would always be angry. Anger doesn't actually accomplish anything unless you direct it, and then it is only good for short term motivation. I prefer to let facts educate me.

You say any person deserves to keep every cent they make. That would be fine, except that most of the people in the top 5% are not EARNING all of the money that they are MAKING.

I guess that depends on how you define earning, and the top 5%. Before we go any further, even if everything you say is 100% true, if we eliminate the top 5% all we are really doing is making another group the top 5%.

Maybe that is the real goal here, tell me something, are you currently part of the top 10% and simply want to move up the ladder by eliminating everyone who has done better than you?

Why ignore the evidence?

Wealth And Inequality In America

Productivity and profits are up, yet wages for the middle class haven't changed over the last few decades unlike the 1%

Wages for the middle class have actually lagged behind productivity by about 3%, if I remember correctly. In an ideal world that would not happen, but the world we live in takes a little time to recognize the people that work harder than others.

I don't think that I should make more money simply because of the top 5%. I just the think the wealthy should pay a fair tax that would go to benefit programs for lower level workers. In doing so, their hardwork can be fulfilled.

Define fair.

 

[WillowTree]

Liberals liberals liberals.. You're so damn dumb. You've let the unions push you right out of the damn jobs you so desperately seek. You're too stupid to even realize that. Trumpka lives in a mansion and you're most likely on the "waiting roster" for a job. send in your dues.

 

[Zander]

Wealth is not a zero sum game. I can be wealthy (actually I am wealthy) and YOU can be wealthy. Want to help the poor? Get rich. Lead by example. Want to get rich? Commit as much time to being wealthy as you do to: complaining, watching television, drinking alcohol, surfing the internet, being envious of others, and screwing off.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You seem to cry a great deal about the government.

lets see, what's different.

The rich have no affect on my life beyond providing me with a job and benefits that go to care and feed my family.

The government takes some of that money and removes my Constitutional rights, over spends , making the money I keep worth less, thus making it harder for me to care and feed my family.




Like I said, we, unlike you, are not a bunch of whinny crybabies.

The trickle down is a myth. Corporations are making record profits and taxes are at record lows. Where are the jobs exactly?

Record profits sounds pretty impressive, until you realize that those record profits amount to less than 5% of the gross of some of the larger corporations. A small business would collapse under that margin, but large companies can make it because of the sheer volume.

By the way, corporate taxes are actually among the highest in the world, individual taxes are the ones you are actually talking about when you throw out that low tax line. The fact that you do not understand that indicates why you should not be discussing this.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Republicans ignore it as we feel that you need to earn it. Most of the poor are lazy and don't wish to pound the floor to advance them selfs.

Poor-think it should be handed to you=no wealth. You think life is a joke.
Rich-work hard and plan=more wealth!

Why should the people that work hard and are smart enough to save up give you their money?

You guys do realize that becoming wealthy is like climbing the inside of a pyramid, right? The closer you get to the top, the less room there is.

I completely disagree that most of the poor are lazy. There are many more working poor than there are the "welfare bums" that you Conservatives love to rail on about.

You do realize that your analogy assumes that wealth is a zero sum game, right? Just an FYI, it isn't.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Um, no, that is not what I am saying.

then what the hell are you saying with this..??

Again, it's arguably not their money if they didn't technically earn it

oh that's right..you would tax that money from them for the greater good of the country...you are so generous with other peoples money..

An inheritance is not income. What I am suggesting is a general policy on high income individuals.

If you look at the tax code inheretance is actually income.

 

[Mr Natural]

You seem to cry a great deal about the government.

lets see, what's different.

The rich have no affect on my life beyond providing me with a job and benefits that go to care and feed my family.

The government takes some of that money and removes my Constitutional rights, over spends , making the money I keep worth less, thus making it harder for me to care and feed my family.




Like I said, we, unlike you, are not a bunch of whinny crybabies.

The trickle down is a myth. Corporations are making record profits and taxes are at record lows. Where are the jobs exactly?

China, India, and anywhere people are willing to work long hours under deplorable conditions for very little compensation.