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.)
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
342 comments Add your comment
Granny Godzilla
July 27th, 2010
3:12 pm
Fellow lefties…..good work today.
You got ‘em claiming we hate America and bursting into song.
It’s like an intertubes tea party…..
Jefferson
July 27th, 2010
3:15 pm
Keep kiss butt GOPers, it is an aquired taste.
Atlas Shrugging
July 27th, 2010
3:15 pm
Jay you such a socialist, go get a real job and do something that is productive, unlike your blog which is without question destructive. Your livelyhood is based solely on generating hatered between the repu-gnants and dem-wits, minorities and majorities, have and have nots, parasites and taxpayers, etc.
TaxPayer
July 27th, 2010
3:18 pm
Fix-It,
Take the red pill next. It’ll make you feel taller.
larry
July 27th, 2010
3:21 pm
All I can say is it will be nice seeing yet another Rep Govenor, Reps taking back Congress, lame-ducking Obama then taking back the Presidency then taking back America!!
I have the right song for ya!!
DREAM ON!!!
Normal
July 27th, 2010
3:23 pm
Scout
July 27th, 2010
3:00 pm
Just so’s ya know…
From “Laugh In”…
During the September 16, 1968 episode, Richard Nixon, running for president, appeared for a few seconds with a disbelieving vocal inflection, asking “Sock it to me?” Nixon was not doused or assaulted. An invitation was extended to Nixon’s opponent, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, but he declined.[2] According to George Schlatter, the show’s creator, “Humphrey later said that not doing it may have cost him the election”, and “[Nixon] said the rest of his life that appearing on Laugh-In is what got him elected. And I believe that. And I’ve had to live with that.”[3]
Laugh In also did an episode in ‘68 Called Twenty Years from Now in which they has Ronnie as the President. It was said to be very funny.
JS
July 27th, 2010
3:24 pm
Jay,
I think you’ll get to have it your way. Taxes ‘on the wealthy’ will be raised. Those ‘Bush tax cuts’ will be allowed to expire while the new healthcare taxes start up.
Please explain how this will improve the job market…and then we’ll see if you are right.
TaxPayer
July 27th, 2010
3:25 pm
So, BP will get themselves a 10 billion dollar tax credit to cover the cost of their spill. That should be enough to make the Republican’s apologies sound sincere.
Curious Observer
July 27th, 2010
3:29 pm
Those ‘Bush tax cuts’ will be allowed to expire while the new healthcare taxes start up.
Oh, grow up, please! Anybody who knows anything about national politics knows that the extension of those tax cuts is a mere bargaining chip. The Republicans will get the tax cuts extended in exchange for bending on other issues. It’s the way things have always worked in DC.
Fix-It
July 27th, 2010
3:29 pm
If Obozo had a half a brain he could kill 3 birds with one stone. Take all the people on state welfare programs that are not working, and can travel without family issues. Send them to the Louisiana coast to clean up. Have the hotels paid for with TARP funds and pay the workers minimum wage while they work. 1. The coast gets cleaned up, 2. The hotels bring in revenue, 3. The local economy will be helped from the workers spending money locally. Better yet have BP pay them and the hotels… I guess all that Ivy League education can’t think of these things, by the way if he is so smart why did he seal his school records? The first and only president to EVER seal school records.. WHY?
williebkind
July 27th, 2010
3:30 pm
Ok, the democrat is coming out of me…I say put a cap on max wages. You can not earn more than 5 million a year without being taxed 95%. The employers who would pay someone more than that is usually board members who simply look after each other. Atheletes, new commentators, news anchors, ceo’s, politicians, and managers make more than than is required to have the American dream. There is greed. Both parties are full of it. Now is it not shameful that Heinz ketchup can not pay the taxes for a yackt to be stored in the buyers home state.
Fix-It
July 27th, 2010
3:31 pm
Taxpayer, I don’t need your drugs, but I know many liberals that want them….Lord help us, taxpayer has something for you…
andygrd
July 27th, 2010
3:33 pm
AMVET, not sure if that stands for American Veteran, but if it does, Thank you for Serving. I retired from the military a number of years ago, and I am now in the private sector.
To address your comments…
andygrd, as in how CEO pay went up 240% in ten years while worker pay went up 4% during the same time? I would like your source on that statement. Workers pay only went up 4% in ten years, I don’t think so. My knowledge of the various industries does not support your comment.
Or maybe you were referring to upping the $300,000,000,000.00 every single year given away by Uncle Sam (YOU AND ME) in corporate welfare? And what is corporate welfare you speak of….
Perhaps you advocate that we need MORE of that fiscal conservatism that screws working Americans so fat cats and their corporate fleecing machines can make even greater profits? Yes we need more fiscal conservatism. And how is that screwing working Americans… in what way. What about the fleecing of America by repeal of the requirements for Project Labor Agreements, which hurt Small Businesses and favor of unions. You have to be a member of a union to work on a Federal Project. Hum…. President Bush stopped that practice and President Obama repealed it… Of course in favor of the unions. Higher cost to the American taxpayer……
Are you a CEO?
Did you get the memo? That trickle down/voodoo economics is a tragic joke?
No, I was a COO. I did get the memo, and it does work. Let me guess, you work, you come home, have a few beers, watch some senseless TV, and complain how life has treated you unfairly. And what have you done for yourself? Have to educated yourself to change jobs? I bet you work for a union and you are protected? You watch liberal TV, and you believe all that they tell you as gospel.. Because you fail to grasp the true implications.
Where is your proof for your comments above? I have seen you cite Youtube as a source… and you believe it? I suggest you pick up a non-partisan book and about the current state of economic affairs.
Outhouse GoKart
July 27th, 2010
3:36 pm
Obama hates the Boy Scouts of Amercia. If it was the Boy Scouts of The Islambs he would be front and center.
Fix-It
July 27th, 2010
3:37 pm
Here is something only a loser liberal could defend…. so come on let me hear the defense of this idiot Barney Frank, by the way if you or I was growing pot in our basement we would still be in jail…. But not Barney
http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2010/07/barney-frank-flips-out-over-dollar.html
neo-Carlinist
July 27th, 2010
3:39 pm
JB, a couple of tweaks. the internet was developed by a three-headed monster comprised of government (DoD), private sector government contractors (IBM, Honeywell, DEC, BBN, etc.) and universities (M.I.T., UCLA, etc.). it is somewhat misleading to suggest that the the government’s investment in internet “created jobs”. it created a .com bubble, which created vast wealth for a handful, but when the bubble popped, the jobs went away (this would be like saying the housing bubble “created jobs” in banking and the mortgage industry). that’s not to say the internet did not create opportunities for some, but again, when the real “wealth” created had more to do with “pump and dump” ponzi schemes on Wall Street, as opposed to the true value of technology; one has to wonder about the economic (as opposed to political) value of a “job”. the only way a “job” helps the economy is when the income produced at the “worker bee” level cycles through the economy – a portion goes back to Uncle Sam via income taxes, and a portion is used to purchase goods and services. our current model (hoarding cash) is choking the economy, and the biggest hoarders are the banks, who beleive they “own” the currency.
Fix-It
July 27th, 2010
3:40 pm
Why not the FairTax? Why do we need over 80,000 pages of tax code?
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
3:41 pm
Right is LEFT in Bookman’s logic!
jt
July 27th, 2010
3:41 pm
As if,
Even if we did raise the tax on the “rich” to 99%,
the money would go to pay down the deficit, or relieve the middle class. Riiiiight…..
I’m sure Rangel would be responsible.
jt
July 27th, 2010
3:45 pm
Also,
as per the federal goverment’s statistics ( for whatever those are worth),
and a speech by the Honorable Ron Paul yesterday,
we now have 11,000 security people per 1 Al Quida member.
That’s 11,000 to ONE.
Keeping us free.
Fix-It
July 27th, 2010
3:45 pm
Our loser government, both parties, have been doing one thing for so long they don’t know what else to do. They keep getting together to decide how to spend your money. They need a new mission, get together and decide what to cut, where to save money. Oh wait is that “Pay-Go”, the law the dimacrats passed and broke their own law with the next bill, sorry libs it is only a fact…
Why do the dimcrats want the death tax? Didn’t they get taxed on the money they made while alive? So why do they want 55% after death? I do believe that all goods should have the lable to show all the embedded taxes on the goods you buy. I think people would have a heart attack
popeye
July 27th, 2010
3:46 pm
josef…. “Well, yes and no. That’s why I keep asking where are all the public works infrastructural development projects”?
Have you checked out Indian Trail Road of late? How about Lawrenceville Highway? Maybe Pleasant Hill Rd? And probably a lot more. These are all under major reconstruction paid for
by the stimulus bill.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
3:50 pm
Business as usual with the NObama administration:
(CBS) With a $13 trillion debt, why is the Department of Justice spending money on parties and rollercoaster rides rather than investigating crime, drug cartels, prosecuting terrorists?
Untold millions of your tax dollars are paying for recreation in the name of crime prevention: pool parties, rollercoaster rides, and police donut-eating contests. The idea is that fun activities keep kids out of trouble, build self-esteem and prevent crime.
I feel safer…..mmm, mmm, mmm…
Goldie
July 27th, 2010
3:54 pm
Only Repubs are thoughtless enough to apologize to BP for being forced to pay for wrecking the Gulf coast!
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
3:58 pm
Goldie – Oh yeah, an ACCIDENT was their intention….get off your wealth envy.
Goldie
July 27th, 2010
4:05 pm
Hardly an ACCIDENT, Bend Over– BP knew they were working with defective equipment out in the Gulf and kept on drilling anyway! Oh, and they were supposed to have “an emergency plan” for cleaning up such disasters, yes? They cut-n-pasted operating manuals from the Arctic so that their plan in the Gulf called for cleaning up walruses also — all those BILLIONS of tax credits from Americans and they’re screwing up our oceans! If you’re not outraged at how BP has been operating, you’ve been watching too much Fox Noise!
Smelly Redneck Yokel
July 27th, 2010
4:08 pm
Why not the FairTax? Why do we need over 80,000 pages of tax code?
Dang straight! I wouldn’t mind paying a extra 80 cents for a loaf of bread or 50 cents more for a PBR. The guvmint wouldn’t get none of my paycheck then. Besides, eating a little roadkill never hurt no one.
Scout
July 27th, 2010
4:12 pm
Normal:
I saw the Nixon episode on “Laugh-In” live that night from my hospital bed at the Camp LeJeune Naval Hospital when I was recovering from malaria.
I thought it was very “tacky” then for the Commander in Chief (especially in time of war) and I think it’s “tacky” now.
Just sayin …………….
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
4:15 pm
Goldie – Prove it. Or, go on drinking your Gulf Oil Kool-aide. Besides if Obama didn’t have his head up his asss he’d be MORE involved instead of golf and Paul McCartney love fest.
AmVet
July 27th, 2010
4:24 pm
“Let me guess…”
No andygrd, don’t. It only makes you look ignorant. Excuse, ever more ignorant.
To wit, twit. “I have seen you cite Youtube as a source.”
??????
I’ve read MANY shockingly stupid things on this blog before, but that one is right near the top. Seriously.
For a supposed COO (Yeah, riiiight, and I’m the Queen of friggin’ England).) you are amazingly uninformed. You have no concept of corporate welfare? Stunning. Do you live under a rock? And you have nary an inkling of the shocking rate of raise in incomes between CEOs and workers over the past two decades in particular? Life sho must be comfy in that parallel reality of yours.
No worries. I could post corroboration, data, facts, evidence, links and information all day long to fully support those irrefutable facts and you would not grasp the basics. I know becuase i have seen numerous other fake conservatives do so on this very forum. Worse yet, you would never even have the courage to acknowledge those facts as reality. If you haven’t by now, there is almost no chance you ever will.
Like I say, it must be awfully dark up there…
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
4:40 pm
I guess this was BP’s fault too.
Not again! A new oil leak has hit the Gulf Coast today after a small boat collided with a wellhead near ecologically diverse Barataria Bay, La.
TGT
July 27th, 2010
4:56 pm
It’s a pretty graph, but it’s nearly meaningless. All it mostly does is illustrate the power of large numbers. Over that period of time, of course a larger amount of money will grow at a faster rate. (You pull out the top 1% of anything and it will significantly stand out.)
Also, consider it this way: the income for the top 1% grew at a factor of 3.7 times. The income for the middle 60% grew at a factor of 1.3 times. It doesn’t appear so ominous looking at this way.
Also, what would you have the govt. do Jay, redistribute? Do you think higher taxes on the very wealthy would change this graph much? I doubt it. Most of them didn’t become wealthy by being stupid. Is there anything short of literally taking the money from the top 1% and writing checks to the other groups that would satisfy you libs?! The tax structure should be fair for all. The tax structure that enables a poor man to become rich should not change (much) once he becomes rich.
Also, where did the much of the lower 99% draw their income from? That’s right. From the top 1% and the wealth that they create.
TGT
July 27th, 2010
4:58 pm
Excuse me: Also, where did
themuch of the lower 99% draw their income from? That’s right. From the top 1% and the wealth that they create.TGT
July 27th, 2010
5:07 pm
That last statement would include you Jay. You work for Cox Enterprises whose majority owner Anne Cox Chambers is #26 on Forbes 400 richest Americans:
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/54/rich-list-09_Anne-Cox-Chambers_OR0X.html
(And, hold on libs, She INHERITED IT! Where was that death tax!)
Be careful Jay, don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you.
andygrd
July 27th, 2010
8:53 pm
AM VET… typical bleeding heart liberal…All talk and you are unable to backup your comments… So typical and sad…..
First, you really must learn to type, spell and construct coherent sentences.
Second, you watch too much TV… especially the liberal stations.
Third, if you can’t cite creditable sources, you should really sit on the porch……
The US today « Later On
July 28th, 2010
12:58 pm
[...] Benen: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s estimable Jay Bookman tried to wrap his head around the current political landscape, and felt like he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. Here we are in the smoldering ruins of an [...]
Michael
July 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
Ye Gods….The STUPID in these comments is strong. My sincere condolences, Mr. Bookman. Nice post, by the way.
Zorro
July 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
Dear Bend Over, BP drilled the well with their equipment and their employees. When things went disastrously wrong, they alone are responsible and should pay for all the damages. Who in their right mind would disagree with that? If you don’t think BP should pay for it, who should? Would you prefer a President that didn’t make BP pay for it? And who would that be?
Zorro
July 28th, 2010
5:12 pm
Dear Bend Over, Goldie doesn’t have to prove anything to you. There is ample information on the internet alone regarding BPs long, long record of saving themselves money by cutting corners on safety. Compared to the other oil companies, BP seems to be in a class by themselves in terms of reckless and irresponsible behavior. But if you really want the facts, go find them, and don’t expect other bloggers to do the research for you.
Southern Beale
July 28th, 2010
5:34 pm
Let me add: here we are nearly four months into a massive oil spill polluting the Gulf of Mexico, the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, and we are unable to pass legislation that would prioritize clean energy and wean us off the oil tit. Meanwhile, Republicans and industry throw hissy fits over a precautionary moratorium on 33 ultra-deep oil rigs, when over 3,000 oil wells keep pumping out oil in the Gulf, business as usual. Our complacent media, Mr. Bookman notwithstanding, appears not to notice.
Yes we live in a crazy, crazy world. I stopped trying to make sense of it months ago.
In Media Res « Just Above Sunset
July 29th, 2010
3:54 am
[...] But Americans are perpetual adolescents and want an ending. So we make things up. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jay Bookman hints at that with his assessment of the current political landscape: [...]
Connell
July 29th, 2010
2:43 pm
Not hard to spot the class traitors. They’re watching Fox News. It’s easier to be told “the truth” than to think things through all by your lonesome. … Why anyone who earns less than $100,000 a year would identify with the Republican Party defies all logic. I suppose some fellows just like sucking up to rich folks. Know your place, right? Know who your betters are.