Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 5 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

No Matter What Bush Says, the Economy, and I'll Use His Expletive, is Shi# for 99% of Americans!!

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   4 comments
The new story about income inequality is that it is no longer about the rich versus the poor; it is now about the ultra rich versus the rest of us. President Bush tells us that the economy is charging ahead but in reality most people in it are being left behind. The Bolsheviks and the rest of the Republicans, with the support of the MSM talking heads refuse to acknowledge the true state of affairs. But most Americans look at their financial situation today and are not convinced by this rhetoric that the "good times are rolling".

The new Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., continued with the Administration's propaganda at his confirmation hearing in June when he said that "economic growth, job growth, productivity growth, hopefully will be followed by increases in wage income."

More smoke being blown up you know where!

The growing income gap - and the rise of the super-rich - demands attention. It is making America a less fair society, and a less stable one.

An indication of the growth in income inequity is born out by a study on total net worth that the Federal Reserve has conducted every three years since 1989, the wealthiest "1 percent" of Americans accounted for 33.4 percent of total net worth in 2004, compared to 30.1 percent in 1989. Over the same period, the other Americans in the top 10 percent saw their share of the nation's net worth basically stagnate, at about 36 percent, while the bottom 50 percent accounted for just "2.5 percent" of the wealth in 2004, compared to 3.0 percent in 1989.

As Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake!" Or as Barbara Bush said with a chuckle, of the Hurricane Katrina survivors living in the Huston Astrodome, "because so many of the people [harmed] were underprivileged anyway, "the disaster is working very well for them." Or as George W. Bush said while attending Harvard Law School, "People are poor because they are lazy."

These people and the super-rich Americans like them have no empathy for people like the 99% of Americans that are trying to scratch out a living and support their families, while they get hammered economically again and again as a result of corporate lobbyist written legislation that is championed by the Republicans and their corporatist clones in the Democratic Party (Can you say "the Democratic Leadership Council") who continue to feed from the public trough. These guys don't even read the legislation, all they know is that if they support it the campaign contributions will come flowing in and many, many expensive perks will be showered on them. Now if you think these super-rich elites or these "paid" politicians have your best interests at heart or that they are working for the "common good", I have a bridge that I want to sell you.

So let's take a look at what effect this entire largess for the wealthy has had on the American people and the American family.


The National Debt - Which Your Children and Your Children's Children Will Have to Pay Off:

" 10 year budget "SURPLUS" projected when Bush came into
office in 2001 - $5.6 trillion
" 10 year additional (Today's Deficit is $8.3 Trillion) budget DEFICITS
projected from now through 2016 under Bush policies - $8.5 Trillion
" The National Debt the Year before Bush Took Office - $5.6 Trillion
" The National Debt Today - $8.3 Trillion
" Current Increase in the Debt Per Day - $1.75 Billion



The Trade Deficit - What We're Really Paying For Those "Cheap T-Shirts":


" The Total 2005 Trade Deficit - $720 Billion
" The 2005 Trade Deficit with China Alone - $202 Billion
" The Projected 2006 Trade Deficit - Over $800 Billion


The Wealth Gap:


" The US Rank in the Gap between the Richest and Poorest Among the
Developed Countries - 1st
" The Percent of Wealth Owned by the Richest 1% of Americans - 33.4%
" The Percent of Wealth Owned by the bottom 90% of Americans - 30.4%
" The Percent of Wealth Owned by to bottom 50% of Americans - 2.5%


Jobs - Reinforcing my Claim that this Administration Touted Economic Recovery Has Been a "Jobless Recovery":


" The Percentage of the American Workforce Employed in 2000 - 64.4%
" The Percentage Employed Today - 62.9%
" The Net Job Creation During the Clinton Administration (8 Years) - 22.7 Million
" The Net Job Creation Under Bush (5 ½ Years) - 2.6 Million
" The Number of Manufacturing Jobs Lost Under Bush - 2.9 Million
" The Number of Jobs Needed Each Month to Cover Growing Workforce - 150,000
" The Average Number of Jobs Created Each Month Under Bush - 41,000
" The Official Unemployment Rate (7 Million People) - 4.6%
What This Rate Doesn't Count
o The Number of Long Term Unemployed Americans - 1.4 Million
o Discouraged Workers That Have Given Up - 323,000
o Underemployed and Part Time Workers - 14 Million
o The Number Working More Than One Job - 7.8 Million


Of the 30 occupations projected to have the greatest job growth between now and 2014, only six require as much as a bachelor's degree. Most are service jobs requiring only short term on-the-job training and are low or very low paying with minimum or no benefits. The first high tech job position ranked in the top 30 comes in at number "19" and is computer software engineers. (Only 222,000 of those will be required between now and 2014!). My question to the Bushevicks, "when our kids and our laid off workers are told that they need a higher education or retraining to get the jobs for the 21st Century, what are these fantastic high paying jobs and what mythical training is required?"

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Shayne Munger Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

A "liberal" And Proud of It!!

Member Temecula Valley DFA, PDA, Democrats.com, Moveon.org and others.
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

My Analysis of Excerpts of the Ken Mehlman Interview on Meet The Press Sunday August 13, 2006

Why I Support Democratic Candidate Louis Vandenberg for Congress in California's 44th District Congressional Race

The True Moral Values as Shown by the Dem Party

Oh What a Spin We're In

The GOP Debate

"Serving the People"..A Liberal Value

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend