Income Inequality Hits Post-WWII Record

The Skinny: Richest 1 Percent Of Americans Taking Home Almost A Quarter Of The Pie

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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You know America's embarrassingly little income inequality problem has gotten bad when even President Bush is blushing.

New IRS figures out today reveal that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americas earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005, the Wall Street Journal reports. That's up sharply from 19 percent in 2004, and surpasses the previous high of 20.8 percent in 2000, at the beak of the previous bull market in stocks.

The IRS only started keeping these kinds of figures, which include capital gains, in 1986, so there's some guessing involved. But academics say the rich haven't gotten such a big slice of the pie since the Roaring '20s.

Meanwhile, the median tax filer's income fell 2 percent between 2000 and 2005, to $30,881. Median, of course, means half of Americans earn less than that.

In an exclusive interview, the paper grilled the President over these numbers.

"Do I think some of the salaries are excessive at the top? I do," Bush said. "I don't think it's the role of the government to regulate salary. But I do believe it's a role of boards of directors to be very transparent with shareholders about these different packages, the employment packages that these executives get."

Excessive executive compensation "just sends a signal of unfairness, and the people in America want ... fairness," Bush told the Journal.

Yes, ideally, fairness. But in the meantime, one suspects a lot of Americans would settle for health insurance.

Kicked Off Welfare, Japanese Man Dies For Want Of A Rice Ball

America has income inequality issues, yes, but today's most galling story of wealth disparity is set in Japan.

The New York Times reports on the sad tale of a 52-year-old Japanese welfare recipient whose partly mummified corpse was discovered alongside a thin notebook detailing his last days.

His last entry: "My belly's empty. I want to eat a rice ball. I haven't eaten rice in 25 days."

A rice ball costs about $1. The man starved to death because he had been kicked off the welfare rolls by the city of Kitakyushu, which had held up its handling of his case as a "model." Several other destitute men have starved to death in similar circumstances in other Japanese cities in the past few years, but it took the diary to draw attention.

Japan has traditionally been hard on welfare recipients, and with no religious tradition of charity, it has few soup kitchens or places for the indigent. Welfare applicants are expected to turn to their relatives or use up their savings before getting benefits. Welfare is considered less of an entitlement than a shameful handout. And the pressure on cities to keep their welfare rate flat is intense.

"Local governments tend to believe that using taxpayer money to help people in need is doing a disservice to citizens," said Hiroshi Sugimura, a professor specializing in welfare at Hosei University in Tokyo. "To them, those in need are not citizens. Only those who pay taxes are citizens."

Generation Q (For Quiet) Shouts Back

On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman offered his assessment on what's wrong with kids these days. They're too quiet, man! They'd rather launch a Facebook page for their favorite cause than get out in the streets and raise a ruckus. And so he dubbed them Generation Q.

Today, some of those 20-somethings respond on the Times letters page. Taken together, the letters presented a portrait of today's young people as very, very self aware -- and more than a little square. Maybe that's true; maybe it's the interpretation of the letter page's editor. In any case, here are some highlights:

"Today's college students may not be as outwardly radical as their 1960s counterparts, but their passion to change 'the system' is still alive," writes Shannon Cox Baker, a sustainable-building consultant from Boulder, Colo. "Protests, sit-ins and boycotts brought much-needed attention to the hot-button issues of the 60s and 70s, but these measures fell short of achieving their intended goal: change."

"Students have learned from these shortcomings and recognize that paradigm-shifting change does not result from outside pressure. It must be pragmatic and must come from within."

"That is why students today who desire to make a difference in the world are pursuing engineering, law and business instead of -- or in addition to -- philosophy, religion and political science."

Ouch! Hitting a columnist right where it hurts -- in the liberal arts.

Will Bates, a 20-something from Manchester, N.H., responded to Friedman's complaint of youth's over-reliance on the Internet by dropping some websites. But wait, he pleads, before dismissing this generation as "too online," please check them out. So here they are: StepItUp2007.org and 1skycampaign.org.

"More than anything, we want our movement to take on global warming -- to express our outrage and also hope that we can do better," Bates writes. "We're not blogging and harnessing the power of online networks; we're trying to inspire on-the-ground political engagement."

That's fine for issues like global warming, on which there's a rapidly developing consensus (see Al Gore's Nobel Prize). But what about more controversial ones, like, say, the one implied by the lead item of this column?

Melissa Sullivan of Boston hints at the Internet's perils for those who take these kinds of issues.

"As a 20-something, I'd like to express this unfortunate truth with which I live: in a world built to make sure I succeed to the best of my ability, I am also warned to be cautious."

"Don't show your affiliations, we are urged, lest your ideology keep you from that school or job that would be the best for you and your future. So purge your essay, resume and Facebook page of any connection that might be unpalatable to potential employers and sacrifice part of your identity to the murky "what ifs" of the future."

"Maybe, in the worship of caution, we've lost our connection to those passion-inspiring causes and have become the quite, inoffensive and ultimately employable Americans."

A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is available via e-mail. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.

[nvme3]

Is it suprising? Everytime an issue the opposition is branded traitorous because it is a time of war. What is funny is this is an occupation not a war. What sacrifices have been made collectively to sustain this "War"? Are we selling war bonds? Are we tapping industries to eliminate war profiteering? Have the oil companies who are profitting beyond belief made any concession since it is they who ultimately benefit from this conflict? Is it suprising that these multinationals are not bargaining for America''s good? Walmarts, Halliburton,Blackwater,GE, boeing, these are the real traitors. They make the militaryindustrialcomplex. and they are the patrons of this administration. the next time you shop at walmart remember the american job you just eliminated.

[tnt1954]

yankee stay home. yaqui indians taking over through
indian casinos anyway. the yankees chickens have
come home to roost, just like the british empire''s
did, and all empires before them. the russian
empire is expanding. how about their secret moon
base, we never hear of. and their base on mars?
they have blackouts on their achievements. while
we watch baseball they are further in the stars.
but what''s important to yankees are e.r.a.''s.
not the equal rights amendment, but earned run
averages. have some yankee pot roast. roasting
yankees is fun. the yankees destroyed the agricultural south. getting hungry blue bellies?
not that long of a growing season up north is it?
isn''t that too bad!! we''re singing dixie.
you''re playing pixie with trixie. how sad, sniffles.
our hearts bleed for you.

[tnt1954]

good article she wrote. its generation y though.
reasoning why, not just doing and dying. why
riot? you''ll just be killed, disappear and never
be heard from or seen again, like in the 1960''s.
you get more flies with honey. better strategy for
generation y, and coming soon generation z, then
back to a. the causes of the bolshevik revolution
are similar to conditions today. dissatisfaction
with ''the System'' and starving peasants, food ripped
off for the nobility, unpopular world war one,
wage price disparity etc. the 90th anniversary
of the bolshevik revolution is upon us. today
is columbus day. the causes of columbus''s voyage
were mostly religious. a way out for those who
hated the spanish inquisition and did not want
to be catholic or have to hide their faith. political
and religious asylum was given by queen isabella
in spain, if they wished to be brave enuff to
travel to the new world. the hopes of millons
around the world, rested upon the shoulders of
the nina, pinta and santa maria and their crew and
captain, cristobal colombo. thanks sir. we don''t
have to bow if we don''t want to. we''ll bow our
own way thank you. off the starboard bow? an island!
and they realized the tales of atlantis were true.
beyond the pillars of hercules.

[tnichlsn]

let them eat cake!

[dubephnx]

Have you all seen/heard that homebuilders and developers are auctioning off their product? Did you also know that part of that process includes auctioning (seelling) the community services (police, fire, utilities, etc.) that go with that property sale? this means that the people who work for theses Municipality Services are being auctioned off also, just like the pre-civil war days, when slavery ran rampant in the southern U.S! For tose of you who believe, like I do, that selling people is illegal in our Nation, then those municipality services are not being auctioned off with the properties, meaning that these services become non-existant at those property locations, which means that the sellers are also selling private services for these homes, and I haven''t seen these required by law services included with any of the auction packages presented, that I have researched! As the Municipalities are only liable for services to areas of their Community that meet the local laws, if an arson targets these auctioned off homes, and the fire department has a conflicting schedule, do they respond to the arson?

[motherjones-2009]

Income inequality is at post WWII levels? What do you expect when the repukes have been running the show for so long. They look out for their base: "The haves and have-mores" to quote the chimp-in-chief, and the rest of us can eat dog food.

[hwy71so]

They should only tax income OVER 80,000 instead of under. (can''t remember the exact figure)

[liberalvet]

Anyone that is shocked by this has been living with thier head up thier arse. Every day that has gone by since the weasel Bush was elected the rich has been getting richer and the economy has been getting worse. Over the past 7 years I have been fortunate to increase my base yearly salary by 15%, but even with that my spending power has declined due to the increasing cost of all required goods. This administration is nothing but thieves and anyone that supports them is a complete moron....

[okmd58]

hoofhearted0 said: "New IRS figures out today reveal that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americas earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005..." - - - - - -

So why aren''''t they paying 21.2% of the taxes? And why aren''''t they paying 21.2% of the social security taxes collected?

And where is the public outrage over this?

Get your facts straight: Yes they earned 21.2 percent of all income, but paid 36.89 percent of all Federal Income taxes. Also the top 25% paid 85% Federal Income taxes & the top 50% paid 96.70%. What is not fair? I have the IRS data to back that up if you like?

[sharncedar]

Get your facts straight: Yes they earned 21.2 percent of all income, but paid 36.89 percent of all Federal Income taxes. Also the top 25% paid 85% Federal Income taxes & the top 50% paid 96.70%. What is not fair? I have the IRS data to back that up if you like?

Posted by okmd58 at 01:01 PM : Oct 12, 2007

Let''s suppose your figures aren''t just more Bush lies. Then it says the top 1% paid about 1.5 times their strict percentage share. and the next 24% paid 2 times their strict percentage share. Which means, the top 1% pais less percentage income tax than the next 24%. Is that fair in Bush la-la land? You are so stupid even your own fake statistics condemn you. People like you, and your top 1% friends, need to find themselves in the top 6 feet of soil. Until that happens, nothing will change.

[afmca]

Nothing will be done because the rich have somehow enlisted enough Republican middle class voters to keep on enabling the economic shift. Repubs call it class warfare, but the war is over. The rich have won without even trying. While the Repubs confuse their legions that abortion and gay marriages are destroying America, the rich just keep getting richer, the poor poorer, adn the middle class disappears. We are committing social and economic suicide. A 2 class system which the Repubs really want is the way to a police state. That is why Bush continually disregards the Constitution, has started internal spying, and has a rubber stamp Supreme Court. Nothing but the election of 2008 stands in their way.

[macusweil]

Thank Bush the free spending Republicans in Congress for that!!

* Tax breaks for the rich
* Deficit up 56% in six year to 10 trillion
* Depressed wages, record profits for BIG business
* Dollar at record low world-wide
* Increased health care costs

Elect Ron Paul 2008 to clean up the mess.

[bthrasher102]

I really don''t understand how the president, let alone the government in general is responsible for an increasing wealth gap. The roll of the government is not to insure that no one is overpaid. I love how liberals claim to hate government intrusion into their lives, but at the same time cry out for it every day. Apparently life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is theirs alone. I guaranty that all you bleeding heart liberals would gladly take their salaries if you were in their position (just like bill gates, buffet, etc.). Oh, and in case you think you would do something charitable with the money, liberals give a smaller percentage of their wealth to charity. Face it you want money as much as the next person.

[okmd58]

SharnCedar
I can back up my data can you? It came from the IRS. You are more than welcome to view the data & decide for yourself. Data is in an Excel spreadsheet format.

[ov442]

Republican Economic Policies are a Model for the Japanese. They can only WISH that their CEOs and Top execs could come close to the compensation packages, and gifts, and payrates thier US counterparts reap.

Conversely, the Japanese Model of welfare is a Classic model for the US to adopt. Its actually the top initiative on the GOP plate to install after we win the presidency from those sobbing weeping crybaby Dems. You see, If we could just declare anyone who loses a job and cant get another as an Illegal immigrant to be shipped off shore, and if no one takes them, just execute them on the street.
Its much more humane that way, why watch them starve when you can just shoot em while they still have some life left.
Punish those out of workers (pry mostly union and minorties) for being out of work.
Go GOP! GOPportunity! GOPtimistic! GOPulance! Smooooth GOPerators!

[liberalvet]

Apparently life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is theirs alone. I guaranty that all you bleeding heart liberals would gladly take their salaries if you were in their position (just like bill gates, buffet, etc.). Oh, and in case you think you would do something charitable with the money, liberals give a smaller percentage of their wealth to charity. Face it you want money as much as the next person.

Posted by bthrasher102 at 01:20 PM : Oct 12, 2007

Nice try to turn the topic to liberal bashing you NEOCON. I fully support life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With that stated I expect to have fair and equal oppurtunity to do so.

You greedy NEOCON''s do not want a fair field of play, your types are doing everything to keep the advatage on your side...that being big business.

Stop trying to blame everything on liberals...it is you ba*stards that have caused all this...you are the ones that have been in power....you are the ones that have passed all the laws and bills that has allowed ths situation to get where it is.

But like the NEOCON''s have done for years you figure if you start more lies and misdirections you might have a chance of saving face in 08. That my friend will not happen, you and your kind will be defeated and pushed out of the way.

[bthrasher102]

Who and more to the point how, are you being stopped from becoming rich?

[mitch0927]

bunch of wanna be mathematicians....give me a break. It is like reading a political comedy book reading these posts, people bashing at each other with little clue on what you''re talking about. Your only source is probably Wikipedia, which is another joke. Yadda yadda yadda...get a life people and step away from your computer and do something about what you''re complaining about.

[mcvet]

Who and more to the point how, are you being stopped from becoming rich?


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Posted by bthrasher102 at 01:49 PM : Oct 12, 2007
+ report abuse

Who what''s to be rich? I just want MY share that''s all. ONCE this nation had a great system where the working guy got a fair shake. That all went away when we started down this "Trickle Down" road with the Fascist. It doesn''t work, hasn''t worked and it''s time to go back to what DOES work. Sieg Heil Bush!!

[mcvet]

I really don''''t understand how the president, let alone the government in general is responsible for an increasing wealth gap. The roll of the government is not to insure that no one is overpaid. I love how liberals claim to hate government intrusion into their lives, but at the same time cry out for it every day. Apparently life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is theirs alone. I guaranty that all you bleeding heart liberals would gladly take their salaries if you were in their position (just like bill gates, buffet, etc.). Oh, and in case you think you would do something charitable with the money, liberals give a smaller percentage of their wealth to charity. Face it you want money as much as the next person.


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Posted by bthrasher102 at 01:20 PM : Oct 12, 2007
+ report abuse

Who are "Liberals" swastika breath!! You low life losers have been putting EVERYONE who won''t agree with you in that box of years and you have NO IDEA what or who a "Liberal" is. The STANDARD of LIVING in this Nation has been dropping in EVERY YEAR since we started with the Trickle Down so don''t tell me the Government has nothing to do with it. Sieg Heil Bush!!

[mcvet]

bunch of wanna be mathematicians....give me a break. It is like reading a political comedy book reading these posts, people bashing at each other with little clue on what you''''re talking about. Your only source is probably Wikipedia, which is another joke. Yadda yadda yadda...get a life people and step away from your computer and do something about what you''''re complaining about.


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Posted by mitch0927 at 01:58 PM : Oct 12, 2007
+ report abuse

You don''t like folks who don''t agree with you much do you sparky??? Guess what? We''re going to change the system and see if we can''t help you fascist use math a little better!! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!

[mitch0927]

MCVet all you show people on here is how to copy and paste.....and of course blurt out your favorite Nazi saying...that''s about all you do on here is bash everyone. So just sit there on your McDonalds a$$ thinking your on top of the world, when all you''re on top of is a pile of $hit you wanna be human being....

[cantshutup]

Oh yeah...I just realized my son will turn 18 in 2008 and be able to vote for the first time and to help clean the republiCONS and the dumbocrats OUT...Just think old creetons and greedmongers, this next generation coming up has been watching and waiting and they DO care about others and the environment. Soon our world will change for the better when all the scum finally dies off...2008! MY SON IS VOTING FOR A BETTER FUTURE!

[Skysblue]

Middle class Republicans, sadly delusioned into thinking their politicos are watching out for them, soon will find out there will no longer be a middle class and we are no different than the disparate classes in South America. But hey, you wanted to save a few bucks, right? Look what greed gets you.

[mitch0927]

McVet, what''s that short for, you get fired from McDonalds? You probably haven''t been out of your home (or hut) in fifteen years, drinking cokes, eating frozen pizzas and swearing at the world because you''re too fat to fit through the door. kind of reminds me of the fat guy in that movie Seven.....

[bthrasher102]

MCVet:

1. What''s with the obsession with nazis
2. Look at companies run by democrats, they pay their janitors the same as any republican run company. Don''t think that they really want to give up their money. They may say they want to, but they never have in the past.

[starleo146]

Income inequality is at post WWII levels? What do you expect when the repukes have been running the show for so long. They look out for their base: "The haves and have-mores" to quote the chimp-in-chief, and the rest of us can eat dog food.

Posted by motherjones at 12:09 PM : Oct 12, 2007

THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT IT HAS TO BE SAID OVER AND OVER.So many have suffered under this Pres. and it is time for a new day, a new dawn, no one stays down forever.

[starleo146]

You know Mc Vet can stick up for him/her self better than I can do it. She/He is angry with all that is allowed to go on. No one seems to care and in her/his own way she/he is trying to open your eyes. If it takes strong words, whatever just keep the word going. I understand her/him and agree 100%. So shut up and listen, you will finally see the comparisons.

[missingamerica]

No surprise.

Those people at the receiving end of the inequality curve, in combination with those people who are benefiting from the 10-year chart of XOI, are the very same people that got Bush elected.

Before you say it, yes they also had to dupe the Christian coalition et al among the conservatives in order to reach today''s (Reagan started it) rate of wealth consolidation.

Which even they are beginning to recognize, now.

[bthrasher102]

Comparisons to what? This gap has been increasing for a long time. I hate to break this to you, but democrats ran the country during some of this time period. Blaming a sitting president for something that has been getting worse for a half century is stupid and you know it.

[missingamerica]

Comparisons to what? This gap has been increasing for a long time. I hate to break this to you, but democrats ran the country during some of this time period. Blaming a sitting president for something that has been getting worse for a half century is stupid and you know it.

Posted by bthrasher102 at 04:04 PM : Oct 12, 2007

You use interesting numbers, like stating that it started "a half century ago". Go to:

http://www.demos.org/inequality/numbers.cfm

You will see that Reagan started it, and it understandably accelerated under Clinton (it was impossible to fight the lobbyist money behind "no new taxes", and once you get a big chunk of money it enables you to go out and get more chunks), and is accelerating even faster thanks to the Bush tax cuts.

All because of that irrational "trickle down" idea.

I mean, c''mon - when one rich person garners the income of 1000 workers, is he or she going to put that money back into circulation by buying 1000 washers or dryers, 1000 cars, 4000 bags of groceries a week, and on and on and on?

"Trickle down economics" is merely greed hidden behind gobbledigook.

[bthrasher102]

Using ibsteve2u''s logic you can''t blame bush for anything that has happened since the democrats gained control of congress. I love how it''s always someone else''s fault. I almost want a democrat president and congress so you''ll wake up when you''re paying more taxes that you''ll never get back. Who will you blame then. You assume that bush has all the power in the world, but clinton had none?

[donbl1]

Good graph in today''s WSJ displaying the income inequality growth rate over the last 50 years. Steadily UP - except during recessions.

The Clinton inequality years were a ramp because of the dot com stock market and the inequality fell off dramatically at the 2001 recession and has only now reached the Clinton induced inequality.

The increasing income inequality has been going on for a long time through Democratic and Replublican Presidents and Congresses.

We aren''t communists so is this the normal consequence of a developed country in a democracy? Or, is this just the product of increasing technology leaving some workers behind?

[whispyseas]

'' ... a naked girl walked in and said i''ve here a tiny acorn i''ll make shine like the sun, and folk doubted, and the girl scratched her head and said e=mc2, and everyone dropped their jaws and shook their heads and said, you really can make that shine like the sun ... and magic happened ... and once, another girl said, i can sail a straight line to here without falling off the globe for the world is round, and she made folk believe, and folk believed, and magic happened ... then a congress said, give us trillions of dollars of weapons and we swear no one will get mugged or raped or killed, and they made folk believe and folk believed, and magic happened ... ''

'' ... little naked girls know well, if one puts a naked girl on a news desk dancing get well feed world songs rallied around the sick beds, then the world will fill with naked girls on news desks everywhere, which is why little naked girls don''t get on news desks, to give little dressed armed boys a chance ... ''

'' ... the coach entered the locker room screaming and hollering about the *** he caught on his team, and the girls all laughed ''coach coach coach, where have you been'', and a little naked boy walked in and said, ''let''s play ball y''all ... ''

'' ... the silly parrot tripped me, somebody get it ... ''

'' ... 36 sick beds each day, 7 days each week, for 36 dollars each day ... ''

[whispyseas]

'' ... average 90,000 countys of 90,000 folk, 300 villages of 300 folk each county, 36 villages and 36 sick beds each night, as each village of 300 requires 10,800 medical you are here map song dance skit kit $1 tip-swapping vistors each night to earn minum wage, $12,000 year income affords $60,000 340 square foot home on 2500 square foot lot ... ''

'' ... most folk most time dance get well soon feed the world songs rallyed round hundreds millions sick beds drifting tens millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail groups ... though most, they say dance 20 minutes each day of porno get sick tax world songs as well ... ''
''


'' ... 300 folk in 300 weeks can assemble 90,000 little museums of medical you are here map song dance skit kit ... ''

[whispyseas]

'' ... if the four year olds are getting tortured, then slam the ten year olds in detention ... that will sure teach them how to rule well or else ... and to think such messages originate with those what care enough to call the d.a.r.eing a school house war ... ''

'' ... infinite divergence said eternity, it''s like if i cut you with my knife, then i''ve not cut you i''ve cut myself, if you cut me with a knife, then you''ve not cut me, i''ve cut myself ... i have a few faces to choose from, a face where i cut you, a face where you cut me, a face where we are apart, and a face where we make babies together, and you have as many faces, and we each make a selection of the path to choose, we each walk each path and each choose to view any one or more of the paths at any time and in any order that we choose, and whichever path or paths we choose to observe together at anytime, that is where are this part of you and i, here and now ... ''

[fairandbal]

This is the world King George (Bush) II was born into... The wealthy have no idea what the rest of the 90% of the country is like... and keeps saying, the ECONOMY IS GREAT, DON''T WORRY, BE HAPPY!
Well, King George, the emperor has no clothes, and supply side economics and tax breaks for the super wealthy are not helping America! time for new leadership!

[sparks224]

Income Inequality Hits Post-WWII Record

FDR has finally been defeated.
Hooray for the Reagan revolution!

[sparks224]

Income Inequality Hits Post-WWII Record

The really sad part is this is what all those working class Republicans have been voting for all along and they didn''t even know it.

[ioweign]

Using ibsteve2u''''s logic you can''''t blame bush for anything that has happened since the democrats gained control of congress. I love how it''''s always someone else''''s fault. I almost want a democrat president and congress so you''''ll wake up when you''''re paying more taxes that you''''ll never get back. Who will you blame then. You assume that bush has all the power in the world, but clinton had none?

Posted by bthrasher102 at 04:30 PM : Oct 12, 2007

The National Debt Ceiling has been raise 5 times under Bush.

The National Debt was $5.6 trillion when Bush started - it is now $9.1 trillion.

How much is Iraq costing and how are you going to pay for the Bush/Cheney war ?

The next president is going to have to clean up after Bush and that will probably mean an increase in taxes to pay for the mess we see now !

[ioweign]

Is it suprising? Everytime an issue the opposition is branded traitorous because it is a time of war. What is funny is this is an occupation not a war. What sacrifices have been made collectively to sustain this "War"? Are we selling war bonds? Are we tapping industries to eliminate war profiteering? Have the oil companies who are profitting beyond belief made any concession since it is they who ultimately benefit from this conflict? Is it suprising that these multinationals are not bargaining for America''''s good? Walmarts, Halliburton,Blackwater,GE, boeing, these are the real traitors. They make the militaryindustrialcomplex. and they are the patrons of this administration. the next time you shop at walmart remember the american job you just eliminated.

Posted by NVME3 at 11:16 AM : Oct 12, 2007

And where is the draft ??

[brianbwb-2009]

We aren''''t communists so is this the normal consequence of a developed country in a democracy? Or, is this just the product of increasing technology leaving some workers behind?
Posted by donbl1

Neither, it is the result of corruption, protecting those who steal the most money.

When the people of a tiny country like Singapore live, on the average, far better than Americans, one can hardly call that developed.

The workers are being left behind because of outsourcing labor to slave wage countries like India, Indonesia, and China.

[formrusmcsgt]

"The IRS only started keeping these kinds of figures, which include capital gains, in 1986, so there''s some guessing involved. But academics say the rich haven''t gotten such a big slice of the pie since the Roaring ''20s."

When Bush got elected in 2000, I said he''d try to take Americ back to the beginning of the 20th century economically. He has succeeded in this if nothing else......

[drivelphobe]

Is this bad, unexpected news? Of course the wealthier individuals become more wealthy. They are invested,living within their means. With 20 million illegals added to the stats, what can you expect. Don''t forget the millions of scumbags that don''t report what they earn, working for cash! Our system works fine and those that try to stir up sympathy for the "poor" have a ploitical agenda.

Millions of people are on the road to financial independence via hard work, saving, education, investment and prudence. These basic tenets seem unknown to the masses of over-breeding scavengers living on credit cards and hopping from one job to another, thinking the government or the taxpayer owes then a better pay check.

The more the wealthy earn, the more taxes they pay and the more jobs they can export. There are fewer good employees left in this country. Many only want jobs with big pay, short hours, freedom to get on the internet whenever they want, and lots of benefits.

When a business owner can find good employees, they will share in the wealth of the business. Too many employees won''t put in the time to learn and become valuable. They expect the owner to take better care of them. They seem shocked when someone from "outside" the business has to be hired for the higher paying job, not realizing they could have had it if they had only put in the effort to improve thmeselves.

[brianbwb-2009]

When Bush got elected in 2000, I said he''''d try to take Americ back to the beginning of the 20th century economically. He has succeeded in this if nothing else......
Posted by formrusmcsgt

Actually Prostident Reagan was the first to expose the true agenda of the elitists, with his "trickle down" BS, which started the US war on the poverty stricken and the decimation of the middle class.

[archangelric]

drivelphobe: are you really that clueless? have you no sense?

People;

surely the same forces that keep worker salaries low would keep executive salaries low! Duh!

clearly, what you were taught in economics was worthless; it does not apply in the real world.

in the real world, executives get to set their own salaries (or choose the consultants who do so). in a 1989 study published by the philadelphia inquirer and widely distributed; executives of large coporations in japan and europe averaged 17 times their base workers salaries but the US average was 2014 times base workers salaries.

The US workers are getting less and sharing a smaller piece of the pie, and executives are getting more - a bigger piece of the pie.

Wake up, people. this is NOT free enterprise; this is PRIVATE enterprise. And it is very very bad for the 90+ % of us who actually work.