The Census reveals that almost 50 percent of Americans can be considered either poor or barely keeping their heads above water as low-income earners.
Income inequality in America is greater than it has ever been and it is dragging the American economy down as the few get richer and millions more Americans get poorer!
The six members of the WalMart family alone control as much wealth as the poorest 90 million Americans combined.
The 400 richest Americans hold more combined wealth than the bottom 60 percent.
While prices have more than doubled since the 1980s, incomes have barely risen for the vast majority of working Americans.
This trend is the No. 1 reason our economy continues to falter. As most Americans fall further and further behind, they have less and less to spend and that reduces demand and any reason for small businesses to expand.
Common sense should tell us that putting more money into the hands of 180 million Americans who will spend it, is far more valuable to boosting economic growth than padding the offshore bank accounts of the rich and famous!
This next election is NOT about the size of government or how much they spend, it’s really about who our government really works for?
Are they making the right choices to better the lives of the majority of Americans or are they simply beholding to the 1 percent who want to be kingmakers and control Congress?
The past 30 years should clearly show us we need to make drastic changes now! Before it’s too late!
Rod Livdahl
Mesa
Leon Ceniceros posted at 1:48 pm on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
Wow.....I had to double check ...twice....was I reading the East Valley Tribune Newspaper of Mesa, Arizona, U.S.A......
or the.......PEOPLE'S DAILY NEWSPAPER, PEKING, QUANCHOW PROVINCE, RED CHINA ???
Would someone tell these "people"...that America is a "CAPITALIST' Country.....not a ..."COMMUNIST" Country.
There is no "RIGHT OF WEALTH RE-DISTRIBUTION" ...in the Constitution of the United States.
Sam Walton ..."WORKED"....for his Wealth...something the Left-Wing Libs and Democrats and their Socialist and Communist Camp followers might try to ....emulate instead of denigrate !!!
Sam Walton's Family inherited the "fruits of his labor"....the key word Folks for our "Welfare Kings and Welfare Queens" is......LABOR = WORK.
So all of you ..."OCCUPY WALL STREET"...."OCCUPY WIC"..."OCCUPY THE BANKS"....and other... "entitlees" ... might want to make and keep a.....New Year's Resolution = TURN JERRY SPRINGER OFF, GET OUT OF THE RECLINER AND GO OUT THERE AND GET A JOB.
If 20,000,000 Mexican Illegal Aliens can find work........SO CAN YOU.
VofReason posted at 1:26 pm on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
You think they just didn't take enough?
VofReason posted at 1:25 pm on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
Next election is not about how much we spend? Really. I would say that is exactly what the next election will be about. Seems to me that was exactly what the mid terms were about to. We know how that ended. Here is a thought, there will never be a day where everyone makes the same amount of money. Some will be smarter, luckier, and or work harder and will exceed the rest. This is the real world. Those who think that you can take money away from people who have and give it to people who don't need only look at LBJ. Remember, the war on poverty, how is that working out decades later?
wdgnas posted at 7:58 am on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
k33j88: exactly how do you redefine and streamline the tax code? does it include allowing me, one of the 50% of the citizens that pays income taxes, to pay more income taxes than 60% of the corporations?
Dale Whiting posted at 7:51 am on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
And Happy Hanukkah to you, too, k33j88. Anyone out there care to explain to the rest of us Quanza [or however it's spelled]?
This morning on "Morning Joe" they had a panel composed of a Roman Catholic Priest, a Muslim Emom[sp?], and a Jewish Rabbi, all speaking to the rise of religious prejudice which is uniformly antithetical to their individual faiths. It was great to hear this. We all need to hear and speak more about the universality of man. This panel all concurred that all of the faithful believe that all are God's children and as brothers and sisters we need to learn to love one another and stop the insane and antithetical behaviors our governments support.
In touching back on the subject of this letter, perhaps we ought to see that governments everywhere work for peace! After all, spending a trillion dollars on peace efforts in the middle east surely would have yielded more dividends that fighting terrorism has yielded!
k33j88 posted at 4:30 am on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
At the risk of sounding "politically incorrect": Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
k33j88 posted at 4:27 am on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
First and foremost, federal gov't statistics are tainted and twisted to promte the agenda of those who pull the pursestrings. Here's a hint: globalist bankers(federal reserve). Time to restore the power of minting coinage back to the Treasury Dept. Capitalism is not perfect and croney capitalism abounds. Greed is the unfortunate offspring of those who seek nothing but fattening of the bottm line. However, there are coorporations which are good stewards of our environment, enrich the community with cultural programs, and offer a standard of living second to none. I'm not about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Income equality you say? Let's start by removing the burdensome layers of beaurocratic red tape known as the federal register. Redefine and streamline the tax code. Eliminate the EPA, Dept of Education, Dept of Health and Human Services. Bring the laviathan, known as the federal gov't, to its knees and restore the limits defined in our Constitition. When the "feds" only objective is to increase in size and power, it loses its' ability and legal constitutionality, to serve its citizentry. Progressives(liberals) want an ever-expanding nanny state, they are not capitalists nor do they embrace the individual desire to become successful. Big gov't is their desire and collectivism is their goal.
Rich posted at 8:43 pm on Thu, Dec 22, 2011.
"This next election is NOT about the size of government or how much they spend, it’s really about who our government really works for?"
Not so. Government has become a massive, expensive bureaucracy that is useless, impotent. They can't work for anybody, and they don't. Until it becomes efficient, cost effective and stops spending at a rate that will eat the world's GDP in a decade, until it is vaguely useful, barely efficient and less than half the size it is now, it doesn't work for anyone, it won't work for anyone, and none of the supposed inequities you addressed will ever be addressed. I can come close to your arguments in Latin, via the Graachi. They are old, tired and all history has proven them to do is destroy empires. We used to be, according to John Steinbeck:'...temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” Until we start acting that way again, instead of poor, little, exploited, helpless people, quoting statistics that don't make sense, that we control. You don't like how much money Wally World's owners have, stop going there. We can vote that way tomorrow, no need for an election. This election is about the same thing every election ever has been. Which idiot that is unfit for gainful employment we get to hire.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:05 pm on Thu, Dec 22, 2011.
Rod,
Here's my take on the Editor's headline question "Just who does government work for?"
Elected officials work for those who contribute the most financing to their election, re-election, re-election, re-election . . . . And evetual transition to lobying!
And government employees work for a pay check. At one time we were told that those paychecks were modest in recognition of almost certain job security and early retirement. Then we were told that we had to pay more to get better people. So now government employees are working for larger paychecks and early and even double dipping retirements.
One of the largest sectors of government employees are active duty and reserve uniformed soldiers. Before 1976 we worked for practically a song. And before that, as troop strength had to be cut back after Vietnam, we were told that all new recruits must have a highschool education so enlistment dropped. Then to meet quotas were were told that more women would be recruited for "non-combat jobs." My job was Explosive Ordinance Disposal, the bomb squad and we began to see the first women graduate from Indian Head.
Today's EOD soldiers are fighting terrorism which included improvised road side explosvie devices and are paid much much more than was I. I honor their bravery and committment but have yet to see any of today's EOD forces being composed of ladies. And it would appear that many who have chosed to enlist in any specialty are doing so because the pay is good, a lot better than it was, and they need work.
But noone I know has ever hinted that government, either big or small, works for We the People, the 99%. Most all are in it for the money!
truth posted at 4:27 pm on Thu, Dec 22, 2011.
What has made this all possible is corporations can ship millions of jobs to third world markets where there are no polution regulations, huge loopholes where no taxes are paid and slave labor wages. The corporations are saying if Americans don't like it we have three billion people in China and India who will take the jobs we offer.