Tumbling down into the rabbit hole of modern American politics
Income growth by income group, 1979-2007. Source: Consider the evidence (http://lanekenworthy.net/).
Let me see if I’ve got this straight:
Here we are in the smoldering ruins of an economy recently wrecked by Wall Street greed, in a country where for 30 years almost all income growth has been concentrated among the richest 1 percent of Americans (See graph to right). Rising populist anger, massive long-term unemployment and record home foreclosures serve as counterpoints to soaring corporate profits, while the Supreme Court rules that corporations are people and can spend limitless amounts of money trying to elect candidates willing to serve their interests.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party defends massive tax breaks for the wealthy while blocking aid to the unemployed, fights bitterly against regulations designed to prevent a repeat of the Wall Street meltdown, blocks legislation that would at least require corporate and special interests to identify themselves when they invest in elections and does all that while proclaiming itself to be the party of the little people.
Do I have that right? Or did somebody slip LSD into my coffee this morning? (Please, let it be the LSD. At least that will wear off eventually.)
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342 comments Add your comment
mm
July 27th, 2010
11:08 am
Jay,
And yet the righties will jump on here and defend it. Puzzling or startling?
Matti
July 27th, 2010
11:12 am
Mr. Bookman, why do you hate freedom, God, the troops, hard work, reliable pick-up trucks, the flag, apple pie, and everything good and decent?
Haha! Just kidding, but that’s their response when you list the facts. Tax breaks and deregulation DO work to stimulate the economy — because they SO. Reality is not needed.
TaxPayer
July 27th, 2010
11:12 am
Actually, I think it’s something in the southern water table. Probably put there by BP or Monsanto or… Anyway, Don’t drink the water!
RW-(the original)
July 27th, 2010
11:13 am
Senate 59-41 Democrat
House 253-178 Democrat
Presidency Democrat
and yet they whine…
mm
July 27th, 2010
11:19 am
RW,
And yet the wingnuts abuse the filibuster. And you deliver us your daily dose of drive-by whining.
Lisa Golden
July 27th, 2010
11:21 am
Maddening.
neo-Carlinist
July 27th, 2010
11:29 am
I can only wish I had LSD in my coffee this morning. to paraphrase my lord and savior George Carlin; “think about how dumb the average person is, and realize at least half the population is dumber”. I think the irony wrapped inside the riddle is; why do hardworking, tax-paying Americans continue to embrace a system that (another Carlin quote) “threw them overboard 30 years ago”? And for those keeping score, Obama is no different. The only difference between a Democrat and a Republican is over which side of the boat we are tossed (left or right)
Jefferson
July 27th, 2010
11:29 am
Somebody ain’t puttin’ in their fair share. Its what you have left that counts, not what you pay.
F. Sinkwich
July 27th, 2010
11:30 am
Gee, I’m shocked.
The achievers in our society keep doing what they do to be successful and they keep succeeding!
And conversely, the losers keep doing what they do to be losers, i.e, whine, blame others for their problems, envy success, vote for Obama, etc., and they keep losing!
I suggest there may be a lesson here.
Granny Godzilla
July 27th, 2010
11:31 am
Yes, why are the GOP calling for the biggest single increase to the deficit?
But, please don’t stop…and holler louder…..and make threats to secede….oh please don’t let it stop!
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:35 am
“(Please, let it be the LSD. At least that will wear off eventually.)”
if the graph starts talking to you, that’ll answer your question
finn mccool
July 27th, 2010
11:36 am
Shame on conservatives!
Let the “but…but…but…“ Begin
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:37 am
“The achievers in our society keep doing what they do to be successful and they keep succeeding!”
yeah. it’s amazing how that happens when the deck is stacked their way.
RW-(the original)
July 27th, 2010
11:37 am
Ah the filibuster. I remember a time way, way, way back in our history—about 2005—that Democrats said the filibuster was the thing that set us apart and made us a great nation. Something about the saucer that cooled the hot drink and all that.
F. Sinkwich
July 27th, 2010
11:38 am
Any particular reason you cut the chart off at 2007, Jay?
Hmmmmmm?
F. Sinkwich
July 27th, 2010
11:39 am
“…it’s amazing how that happens when the deck is stacked their way…”
Thanks for helping me prove my point.
finn mccool
July 27th, 2010
11:40 am
Sinkwich, if the winners keep winning, where are the jobs and why is amerrica in a recession?
If this is what it looks like when the winners are winning…wow!
@@
July 27th, 2010
11:40 am
jay, I’ll get back to you when I see the GOVERNMENT creating jobs instead of saving their own
jobs.
neo-Carlinist
July 27th, 2010
11:41 am
F.Sink, This has nothing to do with “achievers” and “losers”. Were AIG, Bear Sterns, WaMu, and Merrill Lynch “successful”?
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2010
11:41 am
“Any particular reason you cut the chart off at 2007, Jay?”
It might, just maybe, have something to do with the title of the chart being: “Inequality rising: inflation-adjusted household incomes, 1979-2007″
Ya think?
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:43 am
“Thanks for helping me prove my point.”
next thing, you’re going to say that they all pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps and that the “losers” at the bottom of the chart should do the same.
obama's fault
July 27th, 2010
11:44 am
Oh yes, the old lie….tax breaks for the wealthy blah blah blah. Don’t you realize that it is not just tax cuts for the wealthy but for everybody? And if it was tax cuts for just the wealthy, do you really think that they would be the ones paying for their lost income? Nope….it just gets passed on down to the rest of us. Meanwhile, over 50% of the people pay zero income tax. ZERO. And that is fair? And you don’t say a word about. Why?
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:44 am
Doggone – “It might, just maybe, have something to do with the title of the chart being: “Inequality rising: inflation-adjusted household incomes, 1979-2007″
not to mention, does he really think that there was a sudden surge in household incomes between 2008 and 2010?
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2010
11:45 am
“does he really think that there was a sudden surge in household incomes between 2008 and 2010?”
My best guess: yes, he does
finn mccool
July 27th, 2010
11:47 am
Jay, I believe you have some of that “trickle down“ in your cereal.
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:47 am
neo-carlin – “Were AIG, Bear Sterns, WaMu, and Merrill Lynch “successful”?”
don’t forget about the 42 Georgia banks
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
joe matarotz
July 27th, 2010
11:47 am
Jay, let’s see if we have this straight. Members of Congress are wealthy people. Members of Congress make the laws and set the policy of this country. Do you honestly believe that Congress would intentionally take it in the neck for the benefit of the rest of the U.S. citizens? In your case, it’s a rhetorical question. As a Democrat, you believe that the Government is looking out for your best interests. That’s why you swoon at the mere mention of Obama the Magnificent.
obama's fault
July 27th, 2010
11:48 am
Finn Mccool,
“Sinkwich, if the winners keep winning, where are the jobs and why is amerrica in a recession?”
Hey why don’t you ask the president and this Congress that question. They are the ones who promised the jobs when they passed the pork-filled stimulus plan that has been a complete failure. no more than 8% unemployment…..please.
JohnnyReb
July 27th, 2010
11:50 am
Capitalism is not perfect, but it has produced the most successful society in history – the USA. The answer, Jay, to your question as to why the public is embracing a flawed Republican party is, the public is not as dumb as some who post here think. The Dems are growing government. Government produces nothing – it just takes from one and gives to another. The Obama agenda is big government – take from one to give to another. Therefore unemployment, etc. The socialist policy failed with the Colonists. Show me a Dem party who can produce successful changes without taking from one to give to another, and I will show you untouchable voting majorities. The Dems have no solutions that are not Social Justice. Tricke up poverty is all they know.
Jay
July 27th, 2010
11:52 am
I didn’t put the chart together, Frank. As the credit points out, it was done by Lane Kenworthy and posted at his Consider the Evidence blog.
As to why Kenworthy ends it in 2007, it’s because that’s the most recent year for which the data are available. When he compiled a similar chart in 2008, it included data through 2005, because at the time THAT was the most recent data available. (http://lanekenworthy.net/2008/03/09/the-best-inequality-graph/)
Is that the answer you were looking for? Somehow I doubt it.
RW-(the original)
July 27th, 2010
11:52 am
F. Sinkwich,
Rather than looking at the timeframe of the chart you ought to look up the guy that created it. This Lane Kenworthy is out there, WAY out there, then again he’s a professor so I guess I’m being somewhat redundant.
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:53 am
“Hey why don’t you ask the president and this Congress that question.”
actually, I prefer to ask the companies that showed record profits during Q2 but still aren’t hiring …
… not to mention, the banks that received taxpayer $$$ but still aren’t lending …
but that’s just me.
YMMV
Jefferson
July 27th, 2010
11:53 am
You can’t have a societ of “haves” and “have nots”. The “have not” will TAKE it away if the gap gets too big. Ask Nick what happened in 1917, too big a gap.
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:54 am
“Is that the answer you were looking for? Somehow I doubt it.”
nope – you’re all part of that Apocolypso Journolisto Conspiracy!!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 27th, 2010
11:54 am
Well, I don’t know much about the other junk Bookman writes about but us Republicans need a Tax Cut real bad and if we don’t get our Tax Cut we’re going to drive our pickups up there to Washington and lay down on the Congress floor and hold our breath and kick and scream till we get our Tax Cut.
Like I said many times before we’re so Productive they ought to pay us just to live in this country. We could have another Tax Cut if they just put all the lazy 80 year olds to work and made the Welfare Queens go out and get a job and buy some linament for all the people we’re paying Medicaid for now.
Besides, I guess Bookman never heard of Trickle Down. After 30 years we’re still waiting and it’s a-comin’. People will change their mind when they start getting Trickled On. It will start as a little Trickle and pretty soon it will look like Niagra Falls and we’ll be swimming in money. If we can keep the librul Democrats from turning us into a Commie country and just let the Trickle Down work a little more.
Anyhow, it’s time for my beanie-weenies and a big old RC with a moon pie. Have a good p.m. everybody.
Jay
July 27th, 2010
11:55 am
“Meanwhile, over 50% of the people pay zero income tax. ZERO. And that is fair? And you don’t say a word about. Why?”
Maybe because that is a flat-out lie?
finn mccool
July 27th, 2010
11:56 am
Johnny reb, do you have a clue as to how long rome lasted. The us has only 235 years in the books so you might want to rethink your broad historical platitudes.
Scout
July 27th, 2010
11:58 am
Jay:
You have it right and that’s why captialism has made for the greatest country in the world and socialism/communism just doesn’t work.
The more rich the better (and I am not one) because that means a lot of money and jobs are floating around.
I just don’t see what that is so hard to understand? When the rich buy yachts ……….. people have work.
Saul Good
July 27th, 2010
11:58 am
O.F: “Meanwhile, over 50% of the people pay zero income tax. ZERO. And that is fair? And you don’t say a word about. Why?”
Source of THAT propaganda please?
JohnnyReb
July 27th, 2010
11:58 am
Finn, I stated successful, not length.
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
11:59 am
finn – all he knows is that it ended badly …
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2010
12:00 pm
“When the rich buy yachts ……….. people have work.”
but if the general population stops buying the goods/services that made the rich what they are…then they get less rich, they buy fewer yachts…and fewer people have jobs. Which means even less buying of goods/services.
The “rich” don’t create jobs…BUYERS create jobs.
USinUK
July 27th, 2010
12:01 pm
“The more rich the better (and I am not one) because that means a lot of money and jobs are floating around.”
scout – you’ve evidently missed the point of the graph – which is that there aren’t MORE rich – just that the top 1% have MORE wealth.
Jay
July 27th, 2010
12:01 pm
And @@, the government invented the Internet. How many jobs has that created?
The government built the interstate highway system. How many jobs did that create?
Back in the 1830s, state government in Georgia funded the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which in turn created Atlanta. How many jobs has that created?
Most of the nation’s current railroad system was built thanks to government subsidies. How many jobs has that created? Georgia Power is using billions in gov’t loan guarantees to build two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. How many jobs is that creating? The entire nuclear power industry owes its existence to government research and funding. How many jobs has that created?
The list goes on and on. Go to nations without an effective government: How many businesses do you find there? How much prosperity do you find there?
RW-(the original)
July 27th, 2010
12:01 pm
Not to split too fine a hair here, but do 50% of the people in the US even have an income?
Question Time
July 27th, 2010
12:01 pm
Jau, I’ve asked your compatriot Cynthia this question before and she never seems to be able to get around to answering it, so I’ll ask you. Given all of your knowledge of the world and economics, and throwing all political desires out, what percentage of your income should the federal government be allowed to confiscate and use for government defense, administration, and redistribution?
At last report, 48% of American taxpayers paid NO federal income tax, and bottom HALF pay less than 3% of all taxes. The top 1% (the group you are obviously so envious of) pays over 40% of all income tax collections.
Why don’t we just make the income tax 99% – that will cure you wealth envy as well as solve the budget problem. Whatta say, Jay??
obama's fault
July 27th, 2010
12:03 pm
Jay, Sorry….47%….my bad….. From the AP on April 7th, 2010.
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it’s simply somebody else’s problem.
About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That’s according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.”
And still not a word about even 47% of the people paying no taxes. Great job Jay. Way to show some sort of objectivity on it.
finn mccool
July 27th, 2010
12:04 pm
Scouts got the rich man`s back. You go girl!
Saul Good
July 27th, 2010
12:05 pm
Scout: “The more rich the better (and I am not one) because that means a lot of money and jobs are floating around.”
Truth be told…during the last administration the rolls of rich and poor both increased. Those that climbed the ladder and fell off the ladder both came from the middle class…yet WAY more fell off the ladder. Please tell me how “the more rich the better” added to our economy by 2008.
Know what “fuels” a rocking economy? A STRONG middle class. Those who are not afraid to spend…who feel confident about the jobs they have (or getting a new one)… That “wealth” created was phony… all it did was create a whole class of society living in homes they could not afford.
Look back to 1960 or so and beyond…every time we had a GREAT economy..it was when the middle class was doing well. Creating more “rich” through “tax cuts” has never created lasting jobs… in fact…it’s only lost more jobs when banks had to tighten their belts.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2010
12:06 pm
“And still not a word about even 47% of the people paying no taxes”
I would say the best way to fix that is to ensure they can earn enough money to be ABLE to pay taxes.
But, mind you, if it was in MY power to do it, I would elimate ALL taxes except for a retail sales tax based on how much is on the bottom of the cash register receipt.
My attitude is that no matter WHO you tax, ultimately it is the retail buyer who payes those taxes.