Re: Another Great Depression?

Oh boy the old richest "1% crap".  Hey brain surgeon get a clue....no one
believes that crap.  Especially not all of those millions of Americans
couples who make a combined income greater than the liberal defined "rich"
threshold of $100K per year.

No wonder liberals keep losing elections.



<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> The last time that wealth was so concentrated at the top was back in the
> 1920's, when Republicans controlled all branches of government.  The
> result was the biggest economic Depression in American history, which
> culminated in the stock market crash of 1929.  We are in the same
> situation again, Republicans, today, in 2003, also control all 3
> branches of government, and they are up to their same old tricks, the
> best example of which is Bush's draconian tax cuts, most of which went
> to the richest 1%.
>
> Abel Malcolm
> http://www.bushrecall.com
> ______
>
> From: http://www.inequality.org/goinggoingfr.html
>
> The Collapse of the Middle Class --- by Congressman Bernie Sanders.
>
> THE CORPORATE MEDIA doesn't talk about it much, but the United States is
> rapidly on its way to becoming three separate nations.  First, there are
> a small number of incredibly wealthy people who own and control more and
> more of our country.  Second, there is a shrinking middle class in which
> ordinary people are, in most instances, working longer hours for lower
> wages and benefits.  Third, an increasing number of Americans are living
> in abject poverty - going hungry and sleeping out on the streets.
>
> There has always been a wealthy elite in this country, and there has
> always been a gap between the rich and the poor.  But the disparities in
> wealth and income that currently exist in this country have not been
> seen in over a hundred years. Today, the richest one percent own more
> wealth than the bottom ninety-five percent, and the CEOs of large
> corporations earn more than 500 times what their average employees make.
> The nation's 13,000 wealthiest families, 1/100th of one percent of the
> population, receive almost as much income as the poorest 20 million
> families in America.
>
> While the rich get richer and receive huge tax breaks from the White
> House, the middle class is struggling to keep its head above water.  The
> unemployment rate rose to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June, 2003.
> There are now 9.4 million unemployed, up more than 3 million since just
> before Bush became President.  Since March 2001, we have lost over 2.7
> million jobs in the private sector, including two million decent-paying
> manufacturing jobs - ten percent of our manufacturing sector.
> Frighteningly, the hemorrhaging of decent paying jobs is now moving into
> the white-collar sector.  Forrester Research Inc. predicts that at least
> 3.3 million information technology jobs will be lost to low-wage
> countries by 2015 with the expansion of digitization, the internet and
> high-speed data networks.
>
> But understanding the pain and anxiety of the middle class requires
> going beyond the unemployment numbers.  There are tens of millions of
> fully employed Americans who today earn, in inflation-adjusted dollars,
> less money than they received 30 years ago.  In 1973, private-sector
> workers in the United States were paid on average $9.08 an hour.  Today,
> in real wages, they are paid $8.33 per hour - more than 8 percent lower.
> Manufacturing jobs that once paid a living wage are now being done in
> China, Mexico and other low-wage countries as corporate America ships
> its plants abroad.
>
> With Wal-Mart replacing General Motors as our largest employer, many
> workers in the service economy not only earn low wages but also receive
> minimal benefits. Further, as the cost of health insurance and
> prescription drugs soar, more and more employers are forcing workers to
> assume a greater percentage of their health care costs.  It is not
> uncommon now that increases in health care costs surpass the wage
> increases that workers receive - leaving them even further behind.  With
> the support of the Bush Administration many companies are also reducing
> the pensions they promised to their older workers - threatening the
> retirement security of millions of Americans.
>
> One of the manifestations of the collapse of the middle class is the
> increased number of hours that Americans are now forced to work in order
> to pay the bills. Today, the average American employee works, by far,
> the longest hours of any worker in the industrialized world.
>
> And the situation is getting worse. According to statistics from the
> International Labor Organization the average American last year worked
> 1,978 hours, up from 1,942 hours in 1990 - an increase of almost a week
> of work.  We are now putting more hours into our work than at any time
> since the 1920s.
> Sixty-five years after the formal establishment of the 40-hour work week
> under the Fair Labor Standards Act, almost 40% of Americans now work
> more than 50 hours a week.
>
> And if the middle class is having it tough, what about the 33 million
> people in our society who are living in poverty, up 1.3 million in the
> past two years?  What about the 11 million trying to make it on a
> pathetic minimum wage of $5.15 an hour? What about the 42 million who
> lack any health insurance? What about the 3.5 million people who will
> experience homelessness in this year, 1.3 million of them children?
> What about the elderly who can't afford the outrageously high cost of
> the prescription drugs they need? What about the veterans who are on VA
> waiting lists for their health care?
>
> This country needs to radically rethink our national priorities.  The
> middle class is the backbone of America and it cannot be allowed to
> disintegrate.  We need to revitalize American democracy, and create a
> political climate where government makes decisions which reflect the
> needs of all the people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors. We
> need to see the middle class expand, not collapse.
>
> September 4, 2003
>
> Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the only Independent in the U.S. House of
> Representatives.
>
> http://www.inequality.org/goinggoingfr.html
>
> "In the end, through the long ages of our quest for light, it will be
> found that truth is still mightier than the sword":
>
> Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Graduated from West Point at the top of his
> class, then served brilliantly in WW1, WW2 & the Korean war)
>
> Educate yourself and go to these links:
>
> http://www.buzzflash.com & http://www.moveon.org &
> http://www.veteransforpeace.org & http://www.salon.com &
> http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm &
> http://www.barbrastreisand.com
>
>