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The Rich Get Richer While Nurses, Teachers, and Firefighters Get Trounced
The Deficit Hawks Target Nurses and Firefighters
Many people might think that the country's problems stem from the fact that too much money has been going to the very rich. Over the last three decades, the richest one percent of the population has increased its share of national income by almost 10 percentage points (Excel spreadsheet). This comes to $1.5 trillion a year, or as the deficit hawks are fond of saying, $90 trillion over the next 75 years.
To put this in context, the size of this upward redistribution to the richest one percent over the last three decades is roughly large enough to double the income of all the households in the bottom half of the income distribution. The upward redistribution amounts to an average of more than 1.2 million dollars a year for each of the families in the richest one percent of the population.
And this upward redistribution was brought about by deliberate policy. We pursued a trade and high dollar policy that was intended to put downward pressure on the wages of manufacturing workers. The Federal Reserve Board deliberately kept unemployment higher than necessary in order to weaken workers bargaining power. We extended patent monopolies to allow drug companies to jack up prices, raking in hundreds of billions a year. And, we gave the Wall Street banks the benefit of "too big to fail" status so they can borrow with a government subsidy.
These policies and others fueled this enormous upward redistribution. But the deficit hawks don't want us talking about any of these things.
The deficit hawks insist that we have to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits now! They are busy hyperventilating over the enormous deficits, the result of the economic collapse, which was in turn the result of their economic mismanagement. (Wait, we are not supposed to talk about that.)
And the deficit hawks have clear ideas on how they want to deal with the costs of Social Security and Medicare over coming decades. And, it does not involve taking money from the tiny group of wealthy people who have profited enormously at the expense of the middle class over the last three decades.
Nor are the deficit hawks interested in reining in the drug companies, the insurance companies or the doctors. The bloated prices and exorbitant pay of these actors is the main reason that U.S. health care costs are so wildly out of line with health care costs in other wealthy countries.
But deficit hawks don't get paid to go after rich people or the health care industry. Deficit hawks get paid to go after the benefits of middle-income people. This is why we were treated to a Washington Post column by finance industry executive Robert Pozen telling liberals that they should support his plan for raising the retirement age and cutting Social Security benefits for higher-income earners.
When Pozen talks about cutting benefits for higher-income earners he is not thinking of people like Peter Peterson or Robert Rubin. He has his gun sights on people earning $40,000 to $80,000 a year. In other words, Pozen wants to cut benefits for workers like schoolteachers, firefighters and nurses.
These are workers that definitely enjoy somewhat higher pay and a higher standard of living than most of the workforce, but only in Washington deficit hawks' circles are these people living lavish lifestyles that need to be cut back. These workers are quite explicitly the target of the Washington deficit hawk gang.
The deficit hawk crew will even shed some crocodile tears for the poor who earn near the minimum wage and live near the poverty level. They would raise their benefits if not for those greedy plumbers and mechanics who insist on getting the Social Security benefits that they paid for.
In the next few weeks we will be treated to an endless parade of budget experts who will be yapping about "entitlements" and insisting that middle-income workers are living too lavishly. While all these experts have really impressive credentials it is important to remember that these credentials did not prevent this highly paid crew from overlooking the largest asset bubble in the history of the world.
If this group had paid a tenth as much attention to the housing bubble as they are now paying to the deficit projections, we would not be sitting around with 25 million who are unemployed, under-employed or out of the workforce altogether. The deficit hawks are very good when it comes to whining about the deficit and demanding sacrifices from middle-class workers. They just aren't very good when it comes to understanding the economy.
38 Comments so far
Show All"They" have become intolerable. We can no longer put up with "them". It would be one thing if we could just "ignore them", rebuild a new economic order and "they" just go away and leave us alone. But, "they" won't. "They" have got to go. It's kind of like cancer; it has to be completely excised from the body. And, NO, by excising these "cancers" we do not "become the cancers". That is total bull shit.
Since "they" think that by "their" "legal" status, or monetery wealth protects them and would allow for MURDERING the vast populace, WE will have to come at "them" from other angles. "Their" families, "their" schools, neighborhoods, country and other clubs, any place where "they" like to go and put on "their" airs; these are all legitimate targets. I am not concerned over the right to exist of "these" people and "their" families- the offspring of a viper is a viper. "They" are committing suicide and think that "they" are just laughing all the way to the bank.
More like HELL- that's where "they" need to be sent. And, we know WHO "they" are.
Furthermore, this is not a threat. It is a WARNING.
I don't think you are actually being radical in what you are saying. As "nice" as we "civilized" progressives like to think of ourselves as, the bottom line is that we are in a class war where the growing fascist - yes, FASCIST (merging of corporate and state power over the common people, exactly what we have in the U.S.) oligarchs that rule this country are blatantly - BLATANTLY - destroying the middle and working classes of this country. Austerity, my ass. They can't be any more obvious in what they are doing to the vast majority of Americans who are not uber-rich like they are. It is a war. Period. And I'm sorry, but yes violent revolution may very well be the only way to change things, in the near future. It isn't as if we haven't tried, protested, spoken out. But the elite oligarchs simply do not listen. Our "representatives" do not listen. They continue to dismantle everything that protects the interests of We the People for the sake of the oligarchs. So yes - war is war. And violence as a last resort against those waging war against us may be the only way to ever make a difference. Look at Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, etc. They started out yelling and holding signs. Eventually, in several cases, blood had to be spilled.
The progressive left may not like it, but sometimes when you are being backed into a corner and a knife is being raised over your head, you simply must fight back violently. It's either that or curl into a ball and pray. When all the "peaceful" options - voting, protesting, fucking BEGGING - don't work any longer because the powers-that-be have rendered them all completely useless and ineffective, there is still one option that DOES have great power: we outnumber the oligarchs by hundreds of millions, and if they threaten us and our freedoms and well-being much more, it WILL boil over into violence against the oligarchs. Sorry, but at that point they will have asked for it.
If what you're suggesting is that we go after them and their families violently, I must say I personally think that's a bad idea. Traditional armed revolution in today's world seems to me like the old late 19th early 20th century bomb throwing anarchist ideology (I know they were a capitalist propaganda image but some were real; one posted here the other day saying we all deserve to get trashed for our complicity in the government's war making) -- disrupt things till it all falls apart then somehow what remains will self-assemble into a fair, just, compassionate, green and ecologically sound society without the corrupting nuisance of government but with liberty, justice, employment, and health care for all. I'd have to agree with Kenneth Clark, the art historian who did one of the first PBS miniseries "Civilization," who said that anarchy is a most attractive political doctrine but far too optimistic.
It doesn't have to automatically be "death" and destruction- there are other ways to go at it- but don't think for a second that they won't employ death and destruction because they absolutely will.
A major united front that shows them that they are indeed cornered is what I am about. At this time, anyway.
My fondest dream would be to have liberals, progressives, and leftists of all sorts show a united front, but that doesn't seem to be happening yet. Can't even unite here on the pages of Common Dreams. Liberals and leftists are mad but they have no real way of expressing their anger at the establishment, so they take it out on each other and squabble over trifles.
So far the establishment shows very little sign of feeling "cornered." I hope people who think like you can find a way to make that happen.
Thank you- I am trying and will continue to do so. I just can't put up with this type of "world" any more.
I disagree wiith Baker when he says that "THEY just aren't very good when it comes to understanding the economy".
"THEY" DO understand that control of the US economy is for sale to those who own the DC politicians and "THEY" own the politicians.
"THEY" not only paid lots of attention to the housing bubble and all of the other scams that caused the 2008 economic meltdown, THEY enabled and facilitated the scams. None of the them made ANY mistakes, everything continues to go according to plan...the plan being the greatest wealth transfer episode in US history.
EXACTLY ... evidently we're not supposed to notice who's on the losing end
and who's on the winning end? This is warfare by the few rich on the many --
who are constantly be further and further impoverished by the rich!!
Capitalism is an instrument of elites intende to move the wealth and natural
resources of nations from the many to the few -- and it does that quite
successfully!!
deleted by author, improperly placed.
Who says "they" don't understand the economy. They understand very well how to squeeze the rest of us out of any income we have left. Maybe what "they" don't understand is how furious the rest of us are. That will be a hard lesson for them to learn. But its coming.
Who said "'They' don't understand the economy"? Of course "they" understand "their" economy very well- "they" write and rewrite the rules every day.
You are correct as to their lack of appreciation for our growing fury and what it portends for them. We must unite and aim that fury.
"If this group had paid a tenth as much attention to the housing bubble as they are now paying to the deficit projections, we would not be sitting around with 25 million who are unemployed, under-employed or out of the workforce altogether. The deficit hawks are very good when it comes to whining about the deficit and demanding sacrifices from middle-class workers. They just aren't very good when it comes to understanding the economy."
On the contrary, the "deficit hawks" seem to understand the economy quite well: more for us and our patrons and less for you losers. Every crisis is an opportunity to divert more wealth away from the mass of Americans and into the coffers of the plutocracy.
A healthy Middle Class is no longer of interest to them. Let the rabble fight among themselves for scraps and tell them it was the liberals, or Mexicans, or teachers who robbed them.
Seems to be working out for them so far.
Good comment Randy.
Since 1970, USA productivity has doubled.
So, you should be working half as many hours to maintain a 1970's standard of living; or, your wages should have doubled for the same number of hours worked.
But US wages have fallen 7% since 1970 (all adjusted for inflation).
Democrats have participated in this class war for over four decades now. It doesn't matter what Democrats say, the 40-years-long result is concentration of wealth.
In the next election, you can:
1. Vote Democratic, as you have done for the last 40 years, and continue Democratic assistance in this class war;
2. Vote third-party, which decreases Democratic votes and helps elect Republicans;
3. Not vote, decreases voter turnout and helps elect Republicans;
4. Vote Republican and throw out the fake liberals in the Democratic party and continue to vote Republican until real liberals run as Democrats.
Voting Republican is your only option to achieve something useful - you get rid of the fake Dems.
Only 4% of liberals, in each congressional district, switching their vote from fake Democrats to Republican would be an 8% voter swing - not too many fake Democrats could survive.
Crazy world we live in, where a liberals only hope for change is to vote Republican.
Even crazier is believing that there could be ANY change with either the Democrat or Republican party- they represent a single bird with 2 right wings and can no longer fly.
And sLIMsHady is very likely a wuffle bird, that is, a bird that from birth flies in smaller and smaller concentric circles until if flies up its own a**hole.
egg2001,
You are one very few who share my views. They called me a Repug, Reichties, shill and operative. I am getting use to it. Beside attacking my English. You are correct the only way to unleash the mass of protests is to vote in the Repug. That's the fastest and most effective change I believe in.
How about including clerks and secretaries in that lot. I retired as one of those last year and we were paid a notch or so below the occupations listed. They called us "pink collar workers" because formerly most of them were female. When I started four decades ago, there were many jobs where I was the first male ever at a desk with a typewriter.
Two years ago, before I retired, they pulled a scam on us. They "deskilled" us, that is, they eliminated all our positions, then rehired us at newly created lower paid positions, all on the same day so nobody had seniority. Seniority was a major union benefit allowing those who put in the time to stand a better chance of not being laid off during budget crises (last hired, first fired -- Horace would, I think, disapprove), and their "deskilling" eliminated that for our classifications. The union fought it, but not very effectively. There was no public outcry. We got a few small concessions, but for the most part the tactic worked.
Clerks and secretaries don't have a sympathetic public following the way fire fighters and nurses do. We don't directly save lives. We get the paperwork done. Those who work directly with us know that we make an important contribution but to those who don't, we're just part of the eliminatable portion of the bureaucracy.
Good points, Paranoid. Clerks and secretaries actually do honest work, thus are considered marginal by the economy geniuses. The savvy boys do not understand work nor respect it. For them, the true economy consists of playing with Monopoly money.
The kind of tricks you describe go on everywhere. Often they are coupled with reducing benefits such as health insurance. Meanwhile, the guys in the Board Room laugh it up with those loud cold corporate "Huh Huh Huh" sounds and give themselves bonuses for their cost-cutting expertise. No matter if the work product or customer service declines.
Apparently, the vast majority of parents of schoolchildren in New York City don't like the LIFO policy as it applies to school teachers--when there's a layoff, the burn-outs and other Rubber Room candidates (the Rubber Room was slated for elimination only last year) get to stay and the young, energetic and enthusiastic newbies get the sack.
All of this going on while today it's being reported that china will surpass the u.s. of a. in science very shortly. In 11 short years we have become a 3rd world nation eating our own.
oneDman,
I heard it from BBC and Guardian on-line.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011
/mar/28/china-us-publisher-scientific-papers
Maybe the medical industry, public/private schools/colleges, and the entire governmental human resources sector could do with a little reform. In super developed societies incredible amounts of money needs to concentrated in a few hands to even barely maintain the infra-structure. Nobody really wants anarchy. Middle class people should never give up the capacity to think and to make sure everyone has basic rights. There are places in the US where one can live on less than $10K/year. If you have chlidren this can be difficult. However, so many organizations and people help. Some cities are better in this regard. Although I usually argue for the other side, too many things are going on right now. All of us have to keep watch on the supposed 400, I guesss all men, who hold more wealth than 115 million Americans.
The logic underlying the deficit hawks thinking (if that is what it is) escapes me. About 100 years ago Henry Ford paid his assembly line workers $5.00 a day (an unheard of wage), so they could afford to buy his cars. It made sense then and it makes sense now - the more people who have some money, the more things they will buy from the companies controlled by the rich. The fewer people with money, the less money can be spent on the schlock made in China for WalMart and the others.
As I said, the logic escapes me.
It seems the purpose of American economic policy for 30 years has been to vacuum up American dollars, derivatize it, invest it overseas, and end up owning everything. It seems to have worked for them.
I read somewhere that 1000 families have more wealth than the rest of Earths 7 billion inhabitants. Amazing.
UBREW: Great analysis. Perhaps there's something to be said for cellular memory; and that a small group reincarnates to establish the latest version of feudalism. Their psyches seem very comfortable with a "lord of the manner" perception of resource entitlement(s).
A friend took me driving in the Ojai mountains up a nondescript road, and there, standing like a castle out on its own lookout point was Larry Hagman's estate. It was every bit a modern day castle...
There's no question that big money bought the think tanks, the media, and the politicians to mold the financial world to its members' liking. Meanwhile, I am astounded that people that ought to know better are buying into the right wing memes that it's the worker on the rung just above or adjacent to one's own, that is responsible for all the economic chicanery cum collapse.
We have been had, stooped, hood winked. They told us if we joined community watch groups, and became the United Stasi of America, we would be the procted.
What they did not tell you was, if you belong to unions, your the next enemy in line after we get you to rat on , spy, follow , harass all your fellow citizens.
When the rich make war, it's the poor that die, the more poor people a country can create, the more wars they can send them to fight.
Fascist Manifesto of the United Stasi of America.
101: USA elites, Bankers, Wall Street , military industrial complex
Fund Terrorists to create false flag events, go to war, ask for patriotic volunteers.
102: To keep the war going , control the media, control fear, and create poor people who have no jobs, so they will join the military.
Etc.etc.etc
If you are one of the 800000 annalists paid 80000 a year to spy on Americans, you dont care, do you.
If you are one of the 3000 contractors in Washington in the spy network making billions , you dont care, do you.
Just give a homeless person a disposable cell phone with three hot middle east phone numbers to call, and 100 dollars.
Baam !!! Your private no bid spy company's gets the credit for the discovery, and you get your multi million dollar contracts renewed.
Come on,we know we are getting screwed by you anti American , anti- 4th amendment freaks.
.
What we need is a new luddite movement that targets corporations and burns them to the ground. The way things are going it is going to come to that. All these Kumbaya candle burning peaceful protests won't get anywhere in the battle ahead. That is just a-historical fantasy. Remember the closure laws in England. Essentially this is the same thing in Wisconsin and Ohio, etc.
There will be blood; as history shows there always is. Or just impoverished surrender. That is always a possibility in a society so apathetic as AmeriKa.
Nurses, Teachers, and Firefighters can certainly withdraw their services from the filthy rich.
How about from the clean rich?
Nurses, Teachers, and Firefighters would not let a child or aged parent of the rich suffer. They would have nightmares and become something they are not. In contrast, the rich have no such compunctions about our families. They lose no sleep over our conditions of homelessness, joblessness, untreated illness, potential that dies on the vine for lack of education, soldiering which maims body and spirit.
If we allow ourselves to become cold, calculating, violent, tricky and selfish like the rich, we all lose. We just have to level the playing field between the people, the corporations and the rich: we must fairly tax ridiculous unearned income and reduce their political power. That we can do without losing our souls even one iota.
"we would not be sitting around with 25 million who are unemployed"
The 25 million who are unemployed are not the most valuable players, so they're ignored. The most valuable players, in the eyes of elites, are the aspiring sub-elites, who pay the taxes and churn the bucks that are necessary to whip up a large froth that the elites can scoop off the top of the vat. These over-achieving slaves are stoned on the petro-opiates and don't have much idea of their roles, but they are crucial water-carriers, and the bait dangled by Follywood will continue to mesmerize them as they continue to spin their rat wheels frantically.
Class warfare is continuing under Republicans as well as Democrats.
In my state of New Jersey our Teabag Governor Christie vetoed a Millionaire's
tax and continues to oppose it. Years ago his rich Republican compatriot
Gov Christine Todd Whitman began New Jersey down the slide to State bankruptcy
by granting her rich pals a $30,000 tax cut while the middle class got $300.
The middle class tax cut of $300 was promptly frittered away under Whitman when
she cut State aid to schools meaning local property taxes had to go up to sustain
local schools funding. The rich such as Whitman or Christie who do not send
their kids to public schools made out $27,700 ahead.
Whitman also started robbing from public teachers, firemen and other public employees pensions to pay for her tax cuts.
But the Democrats are just as duplicitous - they could have passed the
Millionaires tax before Christie came into office and reduced the NJ deficit
by $1 Billion. Instead they cynically kept it as a campaign issue to use against
Christie as they passed it knowing full well he would veto it.
In New York State, neoliberal Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo is worse -
he refused to propose a Millionaires Tax in his budget proposal despite widespread public support. Nor has he proposed a financial transactions tax
or any extra taxes on Wall Street, based in NYC, which could bring in
billions in tax revenues.
What is critical for all to understand is that we will NOT have double productivity in the next 20 years - the planet is running out of every resource - oil, water, food, fish, and places to dump our wastes.
The pie will NOT be growing making it more imperative than ever to share it
equally in a new Green sustainable lifestyle.
That about sums up the governors' gavotte in NY and NJ, orbit7er. All of them need to go.
That about sums up the governors' gavotte in NY and NJ, orbit7er. All of them need to go.
Tax the elite, multinationals and banks for the largest cost in our budget--military defense. Corps and banks are only able to open and prosper overseas due to the Wars our soldiers fought and continue to fight. Corps could not operate without the military protection provided by soldiers in the 100s of bases worldwide.
The elite who travel worldwide more than x amount annually also receive the benefits of military protection and the opening of new travel and business opportunities--think Vietnam, Iraq, etc.
Don't forget to tax the oil companies 50 percent for all the oil wars we are fighting too.
Everyone who posts is 100% correct or nearly so!
It is NOT necessary that we AGREE 100% on every issue.
Having said that, can we get on with what to do about our massive problems in the USA and in our world?
Use EVERY tool we have:
1) Protest! (It's NOT old fashioned or useless)
2) Starve the beast!
3) Elect radicals to overturn the 'system'. Run for office or support someone who will 'turn the system on it's head'! FIND someone to support.
4) Support/Join a Union!
5) Move ALL of your money to credit unions and attend their Board Meetings!
6) Accept the loss if you owe more on your mortgage than it's market value! Stop paying your mortgage. You will NEVER get back your equity.
7) Buy LOCAL, made in USA products. Boycott China's products and ALL products from other countries. (OK, keep buying 'Fair Trade' Products from other countries)
8) Go 100% organic!
9) Do NOT buy gasoline!
10) Be nice to yourself and other posters.
We are all trying to make our lives better for ourselves, family, neighbors. We DON"T have to hate - like 'They' do.
peace
V