Monday, March 7, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Several Things Happened Recently
Several things happened recently that I hope someone can explain to me:
1) Republicans trounced Democrats in the November mid-term election.
2) Congress voted to extend the “Bush Tax Cuts” which keep taxes reduced for the wealthiest taxpayers.
3) Congress voted not to extend job retraining dollars for a program targeted at people who lost their jobs due to their jobs being moved outside of the United States.
4) The Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill eliminating collective bargaining for public workers.
We are in the midst of a mess. Those at the very top of the economic pyramid had it tough for awhile but are slowly getting back to business as usual. Incredible Wall Street bonuses are back. Even the Bernie Madoff money is being returned to its rightful owners.
Those at the very bottom of the pyramid are not much worse off than they were before. I’m not implying that they are doing well or that their lives in general are in any way what I would like to live, but they are always up against it, and they still are.
It’s the folks in the middle that puzzle me.
The financial disaster that continues to face the middle class is as bad, and in many ways worse, than the Great Depression. The middle class in 1929 was much smaller than it is in 2011. That means that the impact on the middle class in the Great Recession affects many more people than it did in the Depression. And, in my opinion, things get worse every day, and we are 2 years into this thing.
Meanwhile, with all these wage earners and conspicuous consumers scrambling to figure out how they will live for the rest of their lives without the good job they used to have, domestic manufacturers continue to move jobs offshore in the quest for cheap labor.
While all this is going on Congress votes to eliminate a job retraining program? And Wisconsin votes to eliminate public unions which is simply a foreshadowing of job cuts and pay cuts. And the conservative factions continue to have the support of the people who are getting screwed.
I don’t get it. Trickle down economics has long ago been proven not to work. The theory, that funneling money to the wealthiest individuals and companies will cause them to reinvest in America and create jobs, is patently untrue. Ronald Reagan, who BTW is one of my heroes, tried it and realized that it was a good theory and that’s all it was.
Bail out the banks, and all they do is invest overseas. Bail out the large corporations, and they build factories overseas. Bail out the rich, and they invest in the stock market (which creates zero jobs) that was just sold to Frankfurt.
The middle class is being eliminated. We are regressing to pre-World War II times where the Great American Dream did not include private home ownership and gracious retirement and a college education for everyone. Hope for the middle class no longer exists.
Can anyone explain to me how and why the middle class has been collectively deluded into thinking that conservative Republicans are on their side? How can anyone in the middle class be excited about the Tea Party? It bothers me when something is patently obvious to me but others can’t see it.
Actually, in Wonderland, Alice said everything right side up is upside down. And come to think of it, they had tea parties there too. Hmmm…I wonder.
1) Republicans trounced Democrats in the November mid-term election.
2) Congress voted to extend the “Bush Tax Cuts” which keep taxes reduced for the wealthiest taxpayers.
3) Congress voted not to extend job retraining dollars for a program targeted at people who lost their jobs due to their jobs being moved outside of the United States.
4) The Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill eliminating collective bargaining for public workers.
We are in the midst of a mess. Those at the very top of the economic pyramid had it tough for awhile but are slowly getting back to business as usual. Incredible Wall Street bonuses are back. Even the Bernie Madoff money is being returned to its rightful owners.
Those at the very bottom of the pyramid are not much worse off than they were before. I’m not implying that they are doing well or that their lives in general are in any way what I would like to live, but they are always up against it, and they still are.
It’s the folks in the middle that puzzle me.
The financial disaster that continues to face the middle class is as bad, and in many ways worse, than the Great Depression. The middle class in 1929 was much smaller than it is in 2011. That means that the impact on the middle class in the Great Recession affects many more people than it did in the Depression. And, in my opinion, things get worse every day, and we are 2 years into this thing.
Meanwhile, with all these wage earners and conspicuous consumers scrambling to figure out how they will live for the rest of their lives without the good job they used to have, domestic manufacturers continue to move jobs offshore in the quest for cheap labor.
While all this is going on Congress votes to eliminate a job retraining program? And Wisconsin votes to eliminate public unions which is simply a foreshadowing of job cuts and pay cuts. And the conservative factions continue to have the support of the people who are getting screwed.
I don’t get it. Trickle down economics has long ago been proven not to work. The theory, that funneling money to the wealthiest individuals and companies will cause them to reinvest in America and create jobs, is patently untrue. Ronald Reagan, who BTW is one of my heroes, tried it and realized that it was a good theory and that’s all it was.
Bail out the banks, and all they do is invest overseas. Bail out the large corporations, and they build factories overseas. Bail out the rich, and they invest in the stock market (which creates zero jobs) that was just sold to Frankfurt.
The middle class is being eliminated. We are regressing to pre-World War II times where the Great American Dream did not include private home ownership and gracious retirement and a college education for everyone. Hope for the middle class no longer exists.
Can anyone explain to me how and why the middle class has been collectively deluded into thinking that conservative Republicans are on their side? How can anyone in the middle class be excited about the Tea Party? It bothers me when something is patently obvious to me but others can’t see it.
Actually, in Wonderland, Alice said everything right side up is upside down. And come to think of it, they had tea parties there too. Hmmm…I wonder.
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