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Once again I have received some interesting challenges from some of my conservative readers, (some which were not so nice). These individuals apparently feel that there is no "real substance" to my comments that the middle class in America is in serious trouble. In fact, here are some of the responses from those "nay sayers":
"It´s just part of the natural up and down cycle of our national economics," or "Just what do you Socialists want?", or even an abrupt, "So what?".
But the ones that really disturb me are the comments from those conservatives that feel that everyone should just "Take care of themselves." "It´s not my responsibility if someone else gets sick, or has cancer, or loses everything in a flood or disaster. They just need to pick themselves up, deal with it and stand on their own."
I´ll deal with this comment later, but first let´s deal with the business of my confirming my concern regarding the "shrinking American middle class".
TODAY"S INCOME ISSUES:
Per the Financial Times, April 2008: "On the basis of the cost of living increases, inflation and the increased medical, energy and transportation costs, the average American "family of four" has seen no appreciable increase in their family income for almost 10 years. "
EXAMPLES:
According to the US General Accountability Office (GAO), personal incomes for those joint tax filers today with average gross incomes of over $500,000, now receive ~25% of the nation´s overall annual income. This is up from 14% of the total US income in 1994.
Based on the GAO, in 1994, the average gross incomes for the richest 1% of all Americans (calculated in 2006 US dollars) was ~$750,000. (Remember, this is the group in America that was holding only 14% of the nation´s wealth in 1994.)
Using the same "2006 US dollars for calculation", the top 1% of the wealthiest 2008 Americans, (that now hold 25% of the nation´s wealth), they currently have average gross incomes of ~$1,750,000.
In other words, since 1994, the top 1% of the wealthiest American´s gross incomes increased 43% in 12 years. While doing this, they also increased their percentages of the nation´s total wealth from 14% to 25%.
Not a bad track record for their past 14 years. And all of this occurred, while the average "working stiffs income" virtually and actually went nowhere.
The GAO also states that today, the average "annual costs" of the "average American family of four," above the normal "cost of living increases", is now approximately $2,000 per year.
The GAO states that this is due to increased medical and education costs for the "average American married couple with two, school-age children". (And these numbers from the GAO do NOT include the latest increases in the costs of energy, transportation or food.)
Assuming that this information from the GAO is correct, it seems pretty clear to me that the middle class is getting royally "screwed" while those with incomes in excess of $500K are doing just fine, thank you…..!
Here are some additional statistics to show why it´s probably not just a "natural up & down cycle". It´s more of the "cycle" of whether it´s the Democrats or the Republicans that are running the country.
For example, let´s just take a look at the total "job growth %" of the Democratic President´s terms versus the Republican President´s terms:
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS: Total Job Growth (%)
Roosevelt 4.9%
Truman 2.5%
Kennedy 2.3%
Johnson 3.8%
Carter 3.1%
Clinton 2.4%
Average: 3.16%
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS: Total Job Growth (%)
Hoover (The Great Depression) -(6.2)%
Eisenhower 0.9%
Nixon 2.2%
Ford 1.1%
Reagan 2.1%
Bush I 0.6%
Bush II 0.5%
Average: (Not including Hoover) 1.2%
UNEMPLOYMENT:
Percentage (%) unemployed:
After Clinton: 2001 = 4.2%
With Bush: 2008 = 5.5% (and increasing)
TURNING US SURPLUSES INTO US DEFICITS:
2000 Clinton +$236 Billion Surplus
2001 Bush +$128 Billion Surplus
2002 – 2007 Bush -($1.677) Trillion Deficit
2008 – 2009 (Bush & Projected) -($566) Billion Deficit
(Projected Additional deficit)
POVERTY IN AMERICA:
Percentage (%) of Americans in poverty: 2000 = 11.3%
Latest available numbers: 2006 = 12.3%
NOW, THE REPUBLICANS......HOW THEY JUST DON´T GET IT.
About those American conservatives that say that everyone should just "take responsibility for themselves". "They should just get their own medical insurance, and deal with their own retirement." "I can´t help it if they made some bad decisions when they were growing up." "I don´t owe them anything and what have they done for me?"
The individuals saying these things have obviously never had it very bad or have even gotten very sick. They probably have good jobs, never had cancer in their family, or a major medical problem and they went to fine schools and have basically never gone without. Yep, they definitely sound a lot like "Joe", as depicted in the now, very well known story called,
"A Day in the life of Joe Republican."
If you had never read it before, here´s an updated revisit to that story which pretty much makes my point:
A Day in the life of Joe Republican.
>>> Joe gets up at 6 a.m. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much the shampoo contained.
>>> Joe fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some Democratic liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
>>> All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer´s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe´s bacon is safe to eat because some pushy liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
>>> Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalists fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
>>> Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some union members fought and some may have even died for these working standards.
>>> If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he´ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn´t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
>>> It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe´s deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe´s money from unscrupulous bankers like those so-called conservatives who ruined the banking system which eventually helped bring on the Great Depression of 1930.
>>> Joe has to pay his federally underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was well educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that he attended a state funded university, at very little direct cost to him or his family.
>>> Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.
>>> He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by the Farmers´ Home Administration because bankers back then didn´t want to make rural loans. The house didn´t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn´t belong and demanded rural electrification.
>>> He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a pension because some wine-drinking liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe and his family wouldn´t have to.
>>> Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on Sean Hannity´s radio talk show. Sean just keeps saying that liberals (Democrats) are bad and conservatives (Republicans) are good.
>>> Sean doesn´t mention that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe and Sean are currently benefiting from and enjoying every day.
>>> Joe agrees with Sean: "We don´t need those big-government liberal Democrats ruining our lives! After all, I´m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."
Oh brother……………...will they never get it? One can only hope.
"It´s just part of the natural up and down cycle of our national economics," or "Just what do you Socialists want?", or even an abrupt, "So what?".
But the ones that really disturb me are the comments from those conservatives that feel that everyone should just "Take care of themselves." "It´s not my responsibility if someone else gets sick, or has cancer, or loses everything in a flood or disaster. They just need to pick themselves up, deal with it and stand on their own."
I´ll deal with this comment later, but first let´s deal with the business of my confirming my concern regarding the "shrinking American middle class".
TODAY"S INCOME ISSUES:
Per the Financial Times, April 2008: "On the basis of the cost of living increases, inflation and the increased medical, energy and transportation costs, the average American "family of four" has seen no appreciable increase in their family income for almost 10 years. "
EXAMPLES:
According to the US General Accountability Office (GAO), personal incomes for those joint tax filers today with average gross incomes of over $500,000, now receive ~25% of the nation´s overall annual income. This is up from 14% of the total US income in 1994.
Based on the GAO, in 1994, the average gross incomes for the richest 1% of all Americans (calculated in 2006 US dollars) was ~$750,000. (Remember, this is the group in America that was holding only 14% of the nation´s wealth in 1994.)
Using the same "2006 US dollars for calculation", the top 1% of the wealthiest 2008 Americans, (that now hold 25% of the nation´s wealth), they currently have average gross incomes of ~$1,750,000.
In other words, since 1994, the top 1% of the wealthiest American´s gross incomes increased 43% in 12 years. While doing this, they also increased their percentages of the nation´s total wealth from 14% to 25%.
Not a bad track record for their past 14 years. And all of this occurred, while the average "working stiffs income" virtually and actually went nowhere.
The GAO also states that today, the average "annual costs" of the "average American family of four," above the normal "cost of living increases", is now approximately $2,000 per year.
The GAO states that this is due to increased medical and education costs for the "average American married couple with two, school-age children". (And these numbers from the GAO do NOT include the latest increases in the costs of energy, transportation or food.)
Assuming that this information from the GAO is correct, it seems pretty clear to me that the middle class is getting royally "screwed" while those with incomes in excess of $500K are doing just fine, thank you…..!
Here are some additional statistics to show why it´s probably not just a "natural up & down cycle". It´s more of the "cycle" of whether it´s the Democrats or the Republicans that are running the country.
For example, let´s just take a look at the total "job growth %" of the Democratic President´s terms versus the Republican President´s terms:
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS: Total Job Growth (%)
Roosevelt 4.9%
Truman 2.5%
Kennedy 2.3%
Johnson 3.8%
Carter 3.1%
Clinton 2.4%
Average: 3.16%
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS: Total Job Growth (%)
Hoover (The Great Depression) -(6.2)%
Eisenhower 0.9%
Nixon 2.2%
Ford 1.1%
Reagan 2.1%
Bush I 0.6%
Bush II 0.5%
Average: (Not including Hoover) 1.2%
UNEMPLOYMENT:
Percentage (%) unemployed:
After Clinton: 2001 = 4.2%
With Bush: 2008 = 5.5% (and increasing)
TURNING US SURPLUSES INTO US DEFICITS:
2000 Clinton +$236 Billion Surplus
2001 Bush +$128 Billion Surplus
2002 – 2007 Bush -($1.677) Trillion Deficit
2008 – 2009 (Bush & Projected) -($566) Billion Deficit
(Projected Additional deficit)
POVERTY IN AMERICA:
Percentage (%) of Americans in poverty: 2000 = 11.3%
Latest available numbers: 2006 = 12.3%
NOW, THE REPUBLICANS......HOW THEY JUST DON´T GET IT.
About those American conservatives that say that everyone should just "take responsibility for themselves". "They should just get their own medical insurance, and deal with their own retirement." "I can´t help it if they made some bad decisions when they were growing up." "I don´t owe them anything and what have they done for me?"
The individuals saying these things have obviously never had it very bad or have even gotten very sick. They probably have good jobs, never had cancer in their family, or a major medical problem and they went to fine schools and have basically never gone without. Yep, they definitely sound a lot like "Joe", as depicted in the now, very well known story called,
"A Day in the life of Joe Republican."
If you had never read it before, here´s an updated revisit to that story which pretty much makes my point:
A Day in the life of Joe Republican.
>>> Joe gets up at 6 a.m. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much the shampoo contained.
>>> Joe fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some Democratic liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
>>> All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer´s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe´s bacon is safe to eat because some pushy liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
>>> Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalists fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
>>> Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some union members fought and some may have even died for these working standards.
>>> If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he´ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn´t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
>>> It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe´s deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe´s money from unscrupulous bankers like those so-called conservatives who ruined the banking system which eventually helped bring on the Great Depression of 1930.
>>> Joe has to pay his federally underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was well educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that he attended a state funded university, at very little direct cost to him or his family.
>>> Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.
>>> He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by the Farmers´ Home Administration because bankers back then didn´t want to make rural loans. The house didn´t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn´t belong and demanded rural electrification.
>>> He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a pension because some wine-drinking liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe and his family wouldn´t have to.
>>> Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on Sean Hannity´s radio talk show. Sean just keeps saying that liberals (Democrats) are bad and conservatives (Republicans) are good.
>>> Sean doesn´t mention that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe and Sean are currently benefiting from and enjoying every day.
>>> Joe agrees with Sean: "We don´t need those big-government liberal Democrats ruining our lives! After all, I´m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."
Oh brother……………...will they never get it? One can only hope.
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