America’s political challenge, in one little chart

A Fred chart

• Link
• Report this comment

mmmmm … charty goodness!

• Link
• Report this comment

WEALTH ENVY! card in 3…2…1….

• Link
• Report this comment

Seems that the American worker has been getting shafted, without lube, since the 1970’s. It’s probably coincidental that the attacks on organized labor as well as supply sided economics takeover happened around the same time.

As much as the conservatives like to talk about Obama turning us into Greece, that process has been going on for a long, long time. When that powder keg explodes, Greece will look like a Girl Scout’s picnic in the park.

• Link
• Report this comment

Ohhhhh, someone is going to tell us how great it is that Walmart does not pay most of its workers sufficient wages to stay above poverty and to feed their family and about the wonder health plans that they have that most cannot participate in.

• Link
• Report this comment

Keep

I saw that last night. I think I gave myself a slight concussion from the ensuing facepalm.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Clearly the peasants are being given too much free stuff.”

well, I don’t know about you, but I hold that truth to be self-evident

• Link
• Report this comment

When someone can do your job better for less money, you have reason to worry.

• Link
• Report this comment

I find the direction of the wages/profits fascinating during the ‘dot-com boom.’ This is generally thought to be a period of business profits soaring with the stock market, but the chart illustrates a different dynamic…interesting…

• Link
• Report this comment

Interesting! I do not shop at Walmart, I do not eatat Papa John’s or Applebees, etc. Save your money and do not feed the corporate machines and their greed.

• Link
• Report this comment

When that powder keg explodes, Greece will look like a Girl Scout’s picnic in the park.

The billionaire defense team doesn’t get this. They think the working class will always keep working for peanuts, thrown from CEO’s who have an inherent moral right to big paychecks.

Historically this never holds up, and you’re correct—the collapse is always ugly for everyone.

• Link
• Report this comment

When that powder keg explodes

Huh?

Really?

I don’t see that keg essplodin’, not in our kids’ lifetimes anyway.

Because…when they handed out the normal human instinct to join forces, to carry torches and pitchforks, and to place deserving plutocrats’ heads atop pikes, to us Americans?

God must’ve been out taking a whizz or something.

• Link
• Report this comment

brosephus, I’d be embarrassed if I were that poster but its obvious that our conned have become immune to being made to look foolish.

Stands, did you see the piece on a recent study that shows that more people eligible for assistance don’t take it as compared to govt waste and fraud. And of the waste and fraud, only 30% of that is actual fraud.

• Link
• Report this comment

At what point will the cons stop fighting against their own pay checks.

When will the cons stop being self defeatists and fight to increase their own pay checks.

• Link
• Report this comment

…the corporations need more tax breaks so that they can create more jobs for the lazy takers.

Eff your effin’ jobs.

It was right around the 70s that we went from careers to jobs.

Careers, with fully funded pension plans and full health coverage for employees and their families.

• Link
• Report this comment

we were all thinking, in 1980, ‘hey this all sounds like unicorns & skittles
man, i don’t know….will this work?’

well, guess what – that apprehension you had before we went down this
road – turns out, it was well-founded. It didn’t work.

I still think falling for that crap, and voting for Ronald Reagan in 1980
is the greatest mistake of my life. And now we have ‘merka’s medical
chart to prove it.

We need to ditch this utterly completely miserably failed system and
start over with a new system soon into the new age, in 18 days.

• Link
• Report this comment

No one in government is smart enough or objective enough to interfere in people’s lives in the interest of *fairness.* It is sure to result in injustice.

• Link
• Report this comment

Find the White House OMB chart showing that between 2006 and 2007 the debt/income gap had narrowed to the point that we were headed toward surplus.

• Link
• Report this comment

Workers get 43.5%. Corporate is about 11%. What accounts for the other 45.5%?

• Link
• Report this comment

If the corporate profit is paid out to the stockholders in the public company and the workers have stock in the company,should this be included in workers profit, also the dividends are paid out to whom…..This graph does not say that the coporate chieftans get the money, to what or whom does the money go, the “corporation” owners and for public co. (home depot) that is to US the stockholder.
Now a chart looking at income discrpency over the last 40 yeasr will have them “at the barricades” and to the guillotine, hand over the basket–please!

Finally what is wascur and what is fred. Throwing charts around can be fun, without a decription of the X and Y axis is not. I once remember trying to teach a Kaplan -Meyer curve…….

• Link
• Report this comment

JHM – I think Erwin’s Cat could stand to look at it closely as well.

Okay…because of my zero sum comment downstairs?

• Link
• Report this comment

ad — “I resisted the urge to boycott Walmart for a long time, but I’ve finally had it. It’s not the Chinese goods, or how they treat their employees (although those would be reason enough), but the fact that they’ve cut so many employees you can’t check out of the store in a reasonable amount of time, plus, their labor saving, self-checkout terminals are a POS (and I don’t mean point of sale).”

My wife and I never go to Wally World of our own volition, but my elderly mom occasionally asks to go for something or other (once or twice a year) and won’t hear of going elsewhere for whatever it is. And each time I go in there, I’m appalled at how disorderly the shelves are, how spills stay in place and uncleaned, and how employees are difficult at best to find — and never know a damn thing about what you want, not even where it might be in the store.

I’ll gladly pay the higher prices and shop at Target; at least their employees ASK if they can help you and don’t need to be chased down.

• Link
• Report this comment

E. Cat — “Okay…because of my zero sum comment downstairs?”

Indeed sir, you’ve picked up on my thinking precisely.

• Link
• Report this comment

I’m part of the 100% that are absolutely sick and tired of the partisan gridlock in Washington (meh, maybe 96-98%, there are some sickos out there!). Stop reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator that ends up being nothing more than percentage numbers that turn Americans against one another!

It seems as though everyone but the people we have elected understand that marginal tax increases AND spending cuts must occur for us to even begin digging ourselves out of this massive hole created by profligate spending on wars and other unnecessary misadventures.

If you are an elected official in Washington D.C., you suck. Your approval ratings are continually dismal because you can’t even agree on whether rain is wet and the fiscal cliff is quickly becoming an annual American pastime. Every single one of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

• Link
• Report this comment

Please explain the increasiing revelency of Marx (really engel’s) work…..Don’t see increase in militancy with globalization, the industries will simply shift to the less volatile countires;not for all industies as it is difficult to move a steel mill overnight, but many of the tech industries are highly mobile..”sty of greedy filthy pigs that it is”—–”more BBQ sauce ,please”

• Link
• Report this comment

Paul,

Well, you have a brain but if I could convince the stubborn cons to stop mindlessly fighting for record corporate profits and fight for their own paychecks instead, the red States would go back to blue.

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay Bookman writes: “Bernie Marcus of Home Depot is fond of complaining that he and Arthur Blank could never have created that company in today’s business climate — in reality times have never been better in terms of corporate profitability.”
—————————————————
Jay, lets put our thinking caps on for a moment. Yes, corporate profits are very high. One reason they’re so high is that large coporations are the most well-equipped to deal with massive regulations and red-tape. Such regulation and red-tape are a strong head-wind against start-ups being able to get off the ground and from smaller compaies from being able to innovate and grow. That leaves large corporations a playing field where they face less competition from newer companies. That, in a nutshell, was what Bernie Marcus was getting at. He wasn’t saying that the massive company Home Depot has become is unable to make it under today’s regulatory environment. He was saying that Home Depot the start-up would not have been able to get off the ground had the regulatory environment been then what it is today. Bernie Marcus is no dummy. He knows exactly what he is talking about.

• Link
• Report this comment

F. Sinkiewicz — “It accounts for our prosperity.”

ZOMG SOSHULIZUM

Everyone knows that prosperity is not shared; it is OWNED by them what’s got the gold.

That’s how the Golden Rule came by its name — them what’s got the gold make the rules.

• Link
• Report this comment

Well, my measly paycheck wouldn’t even make a small ink dot in that chart.

But since I hope to be a millionaire some day I reckon that’s the price I have to pay. I’m only $988,212 away from my goal.

So if it’s Free Innerprize it must be a good thing. One day I’ll start catching the Trickle Down from all the profits and then I’ll see the payoff. It’s only been 30 years or so since the Trickle Down promise was made. Good things take time.

Have a good p.m. everybody.

• Link
• Report this comment

Wow, look at those “W” years. We should definitely go back to those policies…..NOT!

• Link
• Report this comment

Dharma Bum

December 4th, 2012
12:19 pm

We could definitely hang..very well put. A big reason behind the gridlock is simply money…campaign money and other promises to keep unrealistic spending and/or reasonable conversations about revenues. Until the private money is out and lobbying is neutered, dysfunctional outcomes will continue to be the norm..

• Link
• Report this comment

We could grow our way out of this dilemma. Just one more ten or twenty year war. Fiscal cliff solved.
War! What is it good for? Solving fiscal cliffs.

• Link
• Report this comment

Da man keepin us down.

• Link
• Report this comment

You too nunya.

Fight for declining wages then wonder why you are broke.

• Link
• Report this comment

Yup, what to do in a post-labor economy? Eventually, technology is going to get to the point that we really need fewer people for just about everything. So, if we have more people, what are they going to do absent government policy that puts them to work if work is the ideal? Those who want to shrink government need to ask themselves what the alternative would look like. Do we want to kick everybody who isn’t lucky enough to be in the prime of life to the curb? Do you want to give up on military power and let the world fight its own wars (knowing that absent US deterrence, a lot more of them would be fought)?

• Link
• Report this comment

Oh no getalife, I suggest we pay Walmart and McDonalds employees an initial salary of $70,000 with full health coverage for the employee and all family members, and a defined benefit pension.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Oh no getalife, I suggest we pay Walmart and McDonalds employees an initial salary of $70,000 with full health coverage for the employee and all family members, and a defined benefit pension”

well, a living wage that you can actually LIVE ON would be nice.
I’d be happy with a single-payer system so that companies didn’t have the health care overhead (would also adress the “all family members” issue
and, if everyone can contribute to a 401K, that would be fine for me, too

• Link
• Report this comment

why not – bonuses are commensurate with profits for the CEO.

USinUK, have to disagree with you on this one. CEO bonuses are commensurate with losses, profit, terminations. No matter what, the CEO gets a bonus.

• Link
• Report this comment

One more time: Public company, profits-where do they go:A0corporate officers B) factories,depreciation..C) Owners, stockholders-those of us who hold an Index fund (Bogle Head) or stock in the companyD0 taxes E) nowhere, it is hoarded….Please someone correct this.
Corporation will not exist very long unless they return their profits to the stockholders-you and I ….Probably too simple, not my field(obviously)..HELP

• Link
• Report this comment

“USinUK, have to disagree with you on this one. CEO bonuses are commensurate with losses, profit, terminations. No matter what, the CEO gets a bonus.”

including an extra special bonus if he so thoroughly screws the company that he drives them out of business!

• Link
• Report this comment

Add stock options after three months.

• Link
• Report this comment

suggest we pay Walmart and McDonalds employees an initial salary of $70,000 with full health coverage for the employee and all family members, and a defined benefit pension.

Considering their owners are multi-billionares, i doubt it would a crimp in their wallet.

• Link
• Report this comment

Corporation will not exist very long unless they return their profits to the stockholders-you and I have demand for their product or service.

• Link
• Report this comment

Sometimes its worth a butt whoopin’ to knock someone’s teeth out.

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay,

Looks like your reading comprehension failed you. Bernie Marcus never said HD is not profitable. What he said is that if he and Arthur had to start hd all over again from the beginning that they wouldn’t be able to do so due to onerous regulation. Pay attention sir.

• Link
• Report this comment

“What he said is that if he and Arthur had to start hd all over again from the beginning that they wouldn’t be able to do so due to onerous regulation”

um. I believe YOUR reading comprehension failed you – he listed a bunch of companies that are new companies that are thriving.

• Link
• Report this comment

companies seem to do just fine here and in Europe with 22 days paid vacation.

not to mention 6 months of maternity leave.

UnU, Americans who’ve not had business dealings with Yurp…they have no clue.

I’d had close contact with what’s probably the most conservative nation in Western Yurp–ye olde Confederation Hellveteak?

They canned a colleague of mine who had been working over there on a visa, from America. This American citizen, instead of being deported like you’d imagine they’d do to such a “moocher”…

well, he got 80% of his salary for 12 months. Which he, quite reasonably, used to get to see Yurp, being that he figured he’d never get another deal like that in his life, certainly not here in the Land of the Free/home of the Brave.

Anyway, somehow that republic is still intact, even after that episode of moocherism.

• Link
• Report this comment

No doubt. McDonalds should pay their employees $70k per year. I do wonder though how long they are going to be employed selling $20 big Macs.

• Link
• Report this comment

I am an Engineer. No need to pay people who ask, “may I take your order,” for a living anything more than $7.00 per hour.

You might want to google the phrase “cycle of abuse” and maybe get yourself into a 12 step program of some sort.

• Link
• Report this comment

…for a living anything more than $7.00 per hour.

THIS is the level of self destructive, immoral stupidity that now dominates the fascistic right wing in America…

Perhaps someday, sociologists, psychologists, etc will understand how these people got this messed up…

• Link
• Report this comment

No need to pay people who ask, “may I take your order,” for a living anything more than $7.00 per hour.

Well, then, dont gripe when the go on Medicaid and Peachcare.

• Link
• Report this comment

As government grows and consumes more and more, it is quite natural that wages will shrink. The large corporations will do fine as they already have market-share and are better equipped to handle regulation. Plus, they don’t pay taxes as those are passed to the consumer. The small companies are the ones that suffer under too much government.

• Link
• Report this comment

While there are many reasons to explain this chart, the idea of maximizing profitability AT ANY COST is the primary culprit. It is great to reward success/profitability. Unfortunately human nature dictates that (many) people will hurt others if it means they will benefit. Management and employees became adversaries. Outsourcing was a way to reduce labor costs. Then off-shoring made that idea outmoded. Put your polluting factory in a country where they didn’t care about pollution. Americans think they are “green” even if they buy a product made someplace where the heavy metal slag is poisoning the aquifer because that product is energy-efficient.

“Beat the System” should be the mantra of the far-right. It doesn’t matter how you get yours. It doesn’t matter that others suffer so that you can get yours. It doesn’t matter if you cheat a little, pollute a little, lie a little…just as long as you get yours. Hanging a silver cross around your neck and selling chicken sandwiches doesn’t make you compassionate…it’s just a means to an end for you.

Sad…..

• Link
• Report this comment

Larry,

at 7.00ph, they can afford to pay out of their own pocket, for their own insurance, just like I have to pay out of my own pocket for my own health insurance. Tell me again why am I being forced to take care of people who did not take care of themself ?

• Link
• Report this comment

Yes, their continuous disply of utmost competence and intelligence should be rewarded beyond measure. $70k is too little for our friendly Walmart and McDonalds workers. Can ah take ya order? Gimme $100k right now.

• Link
• Report this comment

Look cons, you and your media and party did a great job of killing American wages so I will call you wage killers. This mindless self defeatism has to stop.

If not for you, do it for your kids and their kids wage killers.

• Link
• Report this comment

Clem — “ceos are dime a dozen….can you say nardelli”

I look forward to the day when CEO jobs are outsourced to dudes with names like Ravi, Sunil and Pradeep. When the American Pinstripe Crew figures out that their gigs can be outsourced just like assembly line workers or IT code monkeys, THEN you’ll see them changing their tune. Their heads will spin around so fast you’ll think it’s a chorus line rehearsal for “Exorcist: The Musical.”

• Link
• Report this comment

at 7.00ph, they can afford to pay out of their own pocket, for their own insurance, just like I have to pay out of my own pocket for my own health insurance. Tell me again why am I being forced to take care of people who did not take care of themself ?

At 7 dollars an hour, they can afford to pay health insurance for a family out of their own pocket ?
Plus, rent, utilities, food, clothing, school costs, automobile costs , plus payroll taxes out of $7 an hour?

You funny. You are so hilarious. Where’s the screen cleaner at?

• Link
• Report this comment

Oy the stupidity of posts that call Obama a punk….. When you have nothing apparently, go idiot early by calling the President names.

• Link
• Report this comment

Jeffrey — “Corporations are people.”

Greedy, bloated people.

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Corbin, understandable poll, if the repubs give in on the tax raise for the top bracket, all bets are off. We don’t really understand it anyway, Krugman sez there’s no cliff. Personally , I habe afriendnamed Cliff and he would be upset if he was told he did not exist…OH, you mean FINANCIAL cliff……

@ Joe, read anyhting about the corruption in India…..

• Link
• Report this comment

And those guys that stand on the side of the road and dance with their Little Caesar’s and We Buy Gold signs should get at least $200,000 in salary. They are providing a valuable service and great entertainment.

• Link
• Report this comment

Heck of a job wage killers.

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay, our betters do not wish for a large middle class, they want a large class of obeidient slave consumers .. who will work for a mere pittance and never question their masters … and of course buy all the crappy stuff from china-mart ….

• Link
• Report this comment

Doom — “Those greedy, bloated Walmark associates.”

Not the associates. The people who *shop* there.

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

• Link
• Report this comment

New card in honor of the kooks.The dreaded nardelli card. Because every CEO is a screwup just like nardelli.

• Link
• Report this comment

Make the minimum wage $18 an hour.

• Link
• Report this comment

Kill those wages doomy.

• Link
• Report this comment

No, no SL, you must not work hard to earn your $70k. It depresses your fellow workers when they see you working hard. You must learn to relax and let the money flow to you.

• Link
• Report this comment

Some jobs require skill and some don’t. If you put in the work to make yourself marketable, then you get a job that pays well. If you don’t, you end up complaining on a blog about how unfair employers are that they don’t pay well for jobs that require little more than creating carbon dioxide.

• Link
• Report this comment

Looks like the profit peaks with Obama just like Bush and the wages
continue down. Will the people get finished with both parties ? Obama’s
final four may tell the tale.

• Link
• Report this comment

you too can make 70k a year.

why limit yourself?

• Link
• Report this comment

Some are born to failure and some have failure thrust upon them. And Nardelli’s in a whole different class

And he got hired again after leaving HD with a 22 million dollar parachute. At Chrysler, no less. But i dont know what kind of parachute he got after leaving there.

• Link
• Report this comment

These self destructive neocon nuts will never learn their trickle down lessons.

And their kids and neighbors and communities will continue to get screwed.

But a few more electoral beatdowns like the last one may just hasten their demise.

Occupy that.

• Link
• Report this comment

It’s not now nor has it ever been government’s role to redistribute
wealth. The sheeple that get off axing the feds to get more & more
involved in all of our’s daily life need to look in the mirror & ax themselves why they are unable to provide for themselves. The streets are paved with gold.

• Link
• Report this comment

Thulsa Doom
December 4th, 2012
12:56 pm

Jay,

Looks like your reading comprehension failed you. Bernie Marcus never said HD is not profitable. What he said is that if he and Arthur had to start hd all over again from the beginning that they wouldn’t be able to do so due to onerous regulation. Pay attention sir.

jay’s actual comment in the article was as follows:

Bernie Marcus of Home Depot is fond of complaining that he and Arthur Blank could never have created that company in today’s business climate.

your next brain cramp shall be penalized by your being required to run 10 laps around your house!

• Link
• Report this comment

If I wore my pants below my buttocks, it would be difficult for me to get a job as well.

• Link
• Report this comment

@ larry, google Ex-Senator Dodd and the lobbying firm he works for, it’s endemic, crosses party lines…Doesn’t get us anywhere with the Fiscal cliff. Still don’t have any explanations on the coordinates for the graph, JAY. JAY–

• Link
• Report this comment

How are “wages” defined? Including SSN and Medicare taxes (15.3% total) vs. FICA taxes of little or nothing in 1946 and Medicare not starting until 1965. How about benefits? (medical insurance now dwarfs everything else). Unemployment taxes? All are parts of ‘compensation’ but are they inlcuded in ‘wages’?

And let’s not forget that corporate distributions (those dividended to shareholders) are taxed again at individual level. “after tax profits” (what is that supposed to represent,not like someone gets to use that money again without paying tax on it when they get it?).

Benefits (such as more vacation/time off/holidays, etc. and those items listed above) are clearly much greater than they used to be, are these included in the ‘blue”.

• Link
• Report this comment

If I wore my pants below my buttocks, it would be difficult for me to get a job as well.

So you have perfected the way to put your head up there and keep your pants above your buttocks at the same time…. I think there are a few other conned that would love to know your secret.

• Link
• Report this comment

doom
**Someone like Barack Obama isn’t fit to shine the mans shoes. And i almost forgot about the millions he has given to charity. This is a great man relative to a punk like Obama.**

Nice work doomy, conflating the potus with a market capitalist, two very different animals, indeed. Try laying off all the obama hate and focusing on the congress, that’s where the real problem lies, especially with a punk minority leader in the senate who is a grand obstructionist along with the iced tea party faction in the house that seems to have trouble tying their shoelaces – what a crew!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

if they knew the number of hours of the average work week in 1900.

You know–the good old days. Where those who want to take our country back, want to take our country back too, apparently.

• Link
• Report this comment

stands, we must never progressive according to the conned. Why we be lucky to not live in caves.

• Link
• Report this comment

progress not progressive

• Link
• Report this comment

As government grows and consumes more and more

I wonder WHY government grows and grows….

Is it because a certain segment of our population wants to blow up entire countries when 4 Americans get killed? You know that military action costs $$$.

Is it because a certain segment of our population wants to enjoy having a world class highway, rails, air traffic, and sea traffic system without making those who benefit the most from its use (i.e. corporations) pay a single damn cent for using it? You know that upkeep of those systems costs major $$$.

Or is it because a certain segment of our population sees us as policemen of the world and we have to have the most advanced and latest gadgets for blowing people up? You know those gadgets costs $$$.

Or, finally is it because our population is constantly growing and as such, protecting and supporting an ever growing population will cause government size and cost to grow????

• Link
• Report this comment

spaceman,

i can run much father than that. i know what Jay did and didn’t say. the point of the article is on corporate profits. and I’m making the point to him that his overall theme of enormous corporate profits doesn’t have a damn thing to do with starting a business.

• Link
• Report this comment

I think I misplaced my welfare check, can I get another ?

• Link
• Report this comment

That’s are modern day republicans:
up is down,
no is yes
losing is winning.

• Link
• Report this comment

Few Places to Hide as Taxes Trend Higher Worldwide

(one of those headlines that has me reaching for my teensy tiny violin.)

• Link
• Report this comment

I do not need to live on welfare or food stamps, because I was smart enough to get an edumahcashun, along with a job, that pays me so much money, that will never qualify for food stamps or welfare. Wow, there is actually something out there, that will say NO to me. LOL

• Link
• Report this comment

Doom: Because every CEO is a screwup just like nardelli.

When dissecting companies like Hostess and it’s parent company, I think you’re almost right. I’d take the every out and replace it with “some”, “many”, or “most”.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Or must government serve only as a disinterested bystander during this historic transfer of economic wealth and power?”

Maybe economic wealth and power is reverting back to the norm.

• Link
• Report this comment

HIgher Taxes around the world: Great for America.
Higher Taxes in America: Not So Much

• Link
• Report this comment

brosephus

When nick satan comes to town, hide the children, lock the doors and may the fighting irish deliver us from evil!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

getalife,

I do not follow stupid liberals, sorry, but I will not waste my time to see what booker is going thru.

• Link
• Report this comment

And the (W)orst Ever had TONS of executive experience.

BFD.

When you’re a sellout and corporate wh*re, what does it matter?

• Link
• Report this comment

Mick

Hey, you asked for us to send him down there, so we granted your wish.

• Link
• Report this comment

Mick,

And on last Saturday evening a blanket of fear descended upon south bend, Indiana

• Link
• Report this comment

It is time to end the industrial age and bring back the agrarian economy! Where are the Luddites when we need them?

• Link
• Report this comment

My current employer is actually hiring, but I have a feeling 98% of the readers are not qualified.

• Link
• Report this comment

the man had ZERO exec experience before becoming potus.

Ummmm, I think that “He who’s name is to never be mentioned again” proved that exec experience doesn’t mean jack sh*t when living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave…

• Link
• Report this comment

Ummmm, I think that “He who’s name is to never be mentioned again” proved that exec experience doesn’t mean jack sh*t when living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave…

CARTER ???

• Link
• Report this comment

observer: we cannot go back to an agrearian economy any more than we could go back to 1920’s isolationism.

• Link
• Report this comment

completely off topic:

Seems that Mr. Agenda 21 is leaving the GA Assembly…

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/chip-rogers-leaving-state-senate/nTMbb/

• Link
• Report this comment

brosephus….would you be referring to president bush the younger?!?

• Link
• Report this comment

bro,

so tell me. was it the CEO who made the absurd rule that twinkies and wonder bread had to be delivered in separate trucks, thus creating extraordinary expense and inefficiency? or was it those dumass union rules? hostess had poor management but out of control labor costs certainly didn’t help the situation.

• Link
• Report this comment

brosephus: regaring mr. agenda 21…..that stuff about spending more time with family is really so much eyewash. he could have declined to run for re-election last year and thus saved the taxpayers the expense of a special election.

i understand that young mr. wingfield is very upset about the departure of mr. agenda 21.

• Link
• Report this comment

would you be referring to president bush the younger?!?

I think he’s the most recent POTUS with private sector exec experience.

• Link
• Report this comment

Thulsa, you must know that bread and twinkies should never be allowed to cohabitate, don’t you?

• Link
• Report this comment

It seems the conservatives on this blog got nothin’ except for some variation on “poor is good (for them other folks).”

Or social darwinism – I got mine, therefore I’m better than “them,” and that’s why I got mine…

• Link
• Report this comment

DannyX,

is your mom an elected official ?

• Link
• Report this comment

Mick,

an mba isn’t a requisite requirement for potus. but some modicum of achievement or success other than bullshyting your way through a political career should be.

• Link
• Report this comment

2 Stupid Liberal, while i do not agree with your sentiment, what you say has merit. In terms of skilled labor the U.S. has few qualified workers, that has been the subject of several reports from Indiana where factories cannot find skilled workers. This supports the trade school concept that several have championed in these columns, this is not MENSA work but requires training and a work force willing to put the time and energy to work…..Ex. The apprentice School at Newport News ship building

• Link
• Report this comment

hostess had poor management but out of control labor costs certainly didn’t help the situation.

Doom

I guess you totally ignore the constant CEO shuffling, right? Eight CEO’s in how many years? The union has nothing to do with that. Did the union borrow the money from equity firms? Did the union control the private capital group that bought the company and refused to put money into it?

You love to blame unions for stuff, yet you completely ignore the fact that unions are not the ones who make the corporate decisions. You’re the typical Republican/Conservative or whatever you wanna call yourself in that you wanna blame everybody EXCEPT the people who actually make the decisions for all the bad sh*t that happens.

Had Hostess turned the greatest profit in the history of companies, I bet you and every other corporate fellating jackass in this country would hail the CEO as the best thing since the invention of the wheel. You wouldn’t give the union or the rank-and-file workers a smidget of credit for the work that put the company at the top. However, when bad happens, it’s never the fault of the execs, it’s always the workers. That line of thinking is pure unadulterated 100% Grade A USDA Certified Organic Bovine Fecal Matter!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

kamchak….well said, young sir…..the firtilizer is about to his the ventilator!

• Link
• Report this comment

Hey Brocephus, wasn’t that video perfect? Dude is riding along all fat, dumb and happy, but safely. He takes just a LITTLE tick to the left and then veers HARD right which tosses him off the “cliff” where he crashes and burns lol.

Like I said a perfect visual metaphor for the Republicans…………

• Link
• Report this comment

keep the white bread and the twinkies in seperate but equal shipping vehicles.

• Link
• Report this comment

JAY

Your are wrong. This is what’s wrong with politics and our biggest challenge…flawed results will impair nothing:

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breaking-news/atlanta-city-council-votes-on-50-percent-pay-incre/nTL23/

http://kwgn.com/2012/11/06/cost-of-2012-election-breaking-records-4-2-billion-and-counting/

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/the-human-cost-of-corruption-in-the-u-s-senate-cutting-food-stamps-while-giving-the-sugar-lobby-billions/

I could go one for days..

• Link
• Report this comment

There is another good ole boy to replace rogers.

Probably busted with a mistress.

• Link
• Report this comment

Brosephus™

December 4th, 2012
2:01 pm

It’s code for “i got a lobbyist job?

• Link
• Report this comment

But, Jay if we can get more tax cuts / loopholes for Corporations they promise to create more jobs…

• Link
• Report this comment

We need to cut medicare and welfare! LOL

• Link
• Report this comment

you concur that bread and twinkies should not co-habitate the same truck, right?

Honestly, I wouldn’t even give a rat’s ass if they rode in cars…

————————-

true, but they can and do drive a decision

So, why do they never get the glory when things go right if that’s the case? That’s why I hate the whole line of thinking that singles out anybody for praise/critique when ALL parties are responsible.

• Link
• Report this comment

They do get the glory. They’re not going to let Twinkies ride in the same truck with Wonder Bread. Who do those truck drivers think they are?

• Link
• Report this comment

“George W. Bush: Immigration Reform Needed To Boost Economy” HP

The w disaster return to politics.

• Link
• Report this comment

STUPID LIBERAL

December 4th, 2012
12:58 pm

I do not make 70k a year, and I am an Engineer. No need to pay people who ask, “may I take your order,” for a living anything more than $7.00 per hour.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

You either just started or you are a crappy engineer.

• Link
• Report this comment

He seemed to do just fine with two Presidential campaigns. Those were pretty successful ventures of his.

And the Senate campaign before that, and his State Senate campaigns, and the Harvard Review, and running the Developing Communities Project. But yeah, it’s all just BS, he’s like a tooootal failure, man.

Or maybe the whining whiners are just whining again. Dunno.

• Link
• Report this comment

Is it too early to start thinking about the next summer Olympics?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5DouXRv0k

• Link
• Report this comment

Obama is a real genious. If you want to expand an economy with no jobs, and very low wages, just force everyone to buy expensive healthcare and that should stimulate the economy.

• Link
• Report this comment

He was actually a writer for a French motorcycle publication and that was a test ride of the vehicle. They liked it so much they posted it on their website. Talk about being tossed under the bus…

wowser.

• Link
• Report this comment

chip rogers leaving…excellent; now if we could get thulsa doom to leave as well

• Link
• Report this comment

Csby @ 2:13

As Kamchak often advises people, when doing the sock puppet thingie, always double check your name before hitting “Submit Comment”. It saves you the embarassment of being outed..

• Link
• Report this comment

Fred ™

December 4th, 2012
2:13 pm

STUPID LIBERAL

December 4th, 2012
12:58 pm

I do not make 70k a year, and I am an Engineer. No need to pay people who ask, “may I take your order,” for a living anything more than $7.00 per hour.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

You either just started or you are a crappy engineer.

I have 10 years experience. I get paid per project, before Obama came into the picture, I was turning down money. Since Obama killed our economy, I am begging for work. Notice how I have time to bring some common since to a board filled with ignorance ?

• Link
• Report this comment

I seriously doubt stupid is an engineer.

“Obama is a real genious”

I rest my case.

• Link
• Report this comment

get, i’m not sure we can help them.

mrsstsimons says if they’re determined to commit suicide, there’s
not a lot you can do to stop them.

• Link
• Report this comment

leech / liberal, not much of a difference.

• Link
• Report this comment

S. Liberal — “Notice how I have time to bring some common since to a board filled with ignorance ?”

No time for common SENSE, though, it would appear.

• Link
• Report this comment

America’s political challenge is to find some politicians with backbone instead of the one’s we currently have who just wanna work very few days, collect excessive pay checks and bide their time for ridiculous retirement pensions and benefits!!!

• Link
• Report this comment

Why did they turn off comments on the Chip Rogers story?

Too many folks arguing about who he wants to gay marry or what?

• Link
• Report this comment

Chip Rogers made a wise choice. That’s all I’ll say heheh.

ok, karma sammich, that’s it i promise….

• Link
• Report this comment

2013 is going to be very tough of you guys. If I was the bleeding heart type, I would probably donate some money to the red cross, but nah, let em eat cake.

• Link
• Report this comment

Free Stuff:
(low estimate)
$330 x 99wks reduced to $330 x19
$300 x 12 for food
$600 x 12 for housing
$250 x 12 for power
$80 x12 for cell phone
$200 x 12 for medical and medicine
$50 x 12 for travel expenses

So if someone pays taxes on the free stuff, it is still free stuff and they have not earned any of it.

• Link
• Report this comment

Csby

December 4th, 2012
2:13 pm

Ruh, roh.

Looks like another person has failed to spell check their usual nom-de-blog when signing back in after doing the sock-puppet thingie.

• Link
• Report this comment

I think I’m going to try to get a job at Waffle house being a cook. I can’t get any Restaurant owners to believe me when I say I want a job as an entry level cook.

Speaking of cook, it’s time to cook. Ya’ll have fun. Oh and if Donovan gets another break from the fryer at McDonalds, tell him I left hi a post downstairs please. (you might want to read it yourself Brocephus lol).

• Link
• Report this comment

Fred ™

December 4th, 2012
2:13 pm

Sanitation Engineer?

• Link
• Report this comment

A more accurate comparison would include worker’s paychecks plus fringe benefits. The corporate profit calculation wouldn’t have any significant variables over time, but worker’s fringe benefits would.

• Link
• Report this comment

Stevie Ray: LOL, naw, they make more than $70,000 what with overtime and everything……..

• Link
• Report this comment

you would think the Hostess CEO geniuses would be able to negotiate rule changes between two different unions (teamsters and bakery) and to work through what some, completely ignorant of reality, try to claim is the union’s fault…… but nope, what they did instead was demand pay cuts and abandoning pension plans. Only an idiot would blame the failure of Hostess on “union rules” but we see an idiot made the claim here.

• Link
• Report this comment

mv**2 = what??

• Link
• Report this comment

It ain’t hard promising free stuff to the ignorant masses fully supported and echoed by a fawning MSM.

Here’s an idea–why don’t YOU run for office somewhere and tell us how easy it is?

• Link
• Report this comment

The topic of this blog does not include kinetic energy

• Link
• Report this comment

alex (from earlier, just catching up): “Don’t see increase in militancy with globalization, the industries will simply shift to the less volatile countires;not for all industies as it is difficult to move a steel mill overnight”

Have you been reading anything about labor militancy in China currently?

China is ready to explode with it.

• Link
• Report this comment

Why did they turn off comments on the Chip Rogers story?

Too many folks arguing about who he wants to gay marry or what?

I noticed they pulled one of your comments “for violation of the visitor agreement.”

They seem to be a lot less tolerant about that than Jay.

• Link
• Report this comment

why they do this is because UNIONS in the USA have wages soooo high for workers that it has made corporations to turn a large profit from thousands of miles away

Once again, when you have to lie to make a point, you don’t really have a point to make. Union membership and clout has been on a steady decline since the 1970s. At the same time, outsourcing and “free trade” has been increasing during the same time span. As long as a company had to pay tariffs on goods shipped into this company, it was cheaper to use labor here. Remove that cost from the supply chain, and then it becomes cheaper to use foreign labor. Why else have all these corporations been paying their congresspeople to push for free trade agreements? Unions have nothing to do with that other than being the scapegoat.

• Link
• Report this comment

” put the blame on President Obama because they can’t find work.”

especially the ones with “common since”

• Link
• Report this comment

Dead guy with Alzheimer’s says what?

“A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”

awww.

• Link
• Report this comment

water33

December 4th, 2012
2:50 pm

Cons? Libs? As long as we have both sides, we will always be screwed. I hate to break it to all of you but Democrats and Republicans are both IDIOTS. They do not have the answers and have no intention of working together to make the country better. Their goals are plain and simple. When in power, work to keep it. When not in power, work to get it. It’s sickening reading the same stupid arguments on every political subject. Do you really consider youselves balanced when you’re all so partisan?

This guy makes more SENSE, than all of us combined.

• Link
• Report this comment

UNIONS in the USA have wages soooo high for workers that it has made corporations to turn a large profit from thousands of miles away.

In 2011, 6.9% of private sector workers were members of a union.

Is it you contention that less than 7% of the workforce can bully corporate America?

• Link
• Report this comment

Do you really consider youselves balanced when you’re all so partisan?

Yes!!!!! They do.

• Link
• Report this comment

^^^^ too funny LOL

• Link
• Report this comment

F. Sinkwich: “We’ve gone over this before. / This is called PRODUCTIVITY. It’s a good thing. It accounts for our prosperity”

Good for WHOM?

It’s good for capitalists (the 1%), I would contend, and not so much for the rest (99%).

If you’ve studied anything about the history of capitalism since WWII you’ll perhaps know that productivity under post-war capitalism entered a severe crisis in the 1970s, as unemployment was far too low and inflation was getting out of hand.

So what happened? Well, capitalism extricated itself from the crisis with an orchestrated attack on labor in the interests of capital, starting with Volcker’s Federal Reserve which jacked up interest rates and sent unemployment soaring. And when the pain got to unbearable levels, what did they do? They kept their hands on the necks of the labor market until world markets were convinced that the Fed had the situation in hand. This was followed by an unprecedented attack on unions. And the rest, we know from the diagrams Jay posted above. Profitability has soared as wages have sagged.

So, given that we can probably safety assume you’re not one of the 1% Sinkwich, why do you keep assuming that this is a good thing when the numbers clearly show it is anything but?

• Link
• Report this comment

Nero

Most ‘boomers’ haven’t reached retirement age. I am sure reading was optional in your home school.

A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic post-World War II baby boom between the years 1946 and 1964

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Welcome, Yes I’ve been following the issue as much as actually gets out, I’m not as impressed with the movement as you are , but absolutely if there are significant worker rebellions then all bets are off, anyway there’s India and Africa ready witha labor force to fill the void……
Free trade agreements had to be put in place, the world demanded them and would have quit trading with us if we haf not. Perhaps it was a corporate “globalization ploy”, perhaps it was simply the early signs of globalization of the work force.

• Link
• Report this comment

Seriously, is there any rational person that thinks Unions are NOT needed anymore? The Unions in this Country were the organizations that protected the individuals from corporate greed. Notice that as corporate profits rise, worker wage falls, all the while laws are changed to handcuff unions – coincidence? No way.

Corporations have too much control over our politics. This is the first place to change things. Give the power back to the people and away from the banks, the drug companys, etc.

Next, change back the laws to allow real Unions full rights to protect the people. Should the Unions run amuck? No. But they certainly fulfill a role!

We need to restore balance in America. Otherwise we are all doomed.

• Link
• Report this comment

Just heard the CEO of FedEx state in an interview that raising the rates a few points is not going to hurt business, since in his opinion it’s investment that businesses make (capital investments, etc) that will lead to more jobs.

Who woulda thunk it.

• Link
• Report this comment

@Jay B. – LOL! Love your comment. These types of people are quick to give themselves credit if things go well, but also just as quick to blame ‘the other guy’ when things do not go well. They never consider that if they are responsible for their own success then they are also responsible for their own failure.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Elizabeth Warren will reportedly be tapped to serve on the Senate Banking Committee, the Boston Globe reports.”

House Republicans are absolutely lousy chess players. Can’t see one move ahead, let alone evaluate probabilities two or three moves downstream.

They should’ve confirmed her to protect consumers.

• Link
• Report this comment

Yes, Liberals love to blame other people and want to be rewarded for failing.

• Link
• Report this comment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2DUIWbZ5KQ

Keep the home fires burning
While Papa’s earning the pittance he calls his pay
You’ve got to get up so early in the morning
To keep your job, let alone find one these days

Hear them sing in the streets now
Hear the sound of marching feet now

Sifun’umsebenzi — work for all — we need to work to be
Sifun’umsebenzi — work for all — there’s a jobless army in the streets
Sifun’umsebenzi — work for all — in a wage, a hidden war
Sifun’umsebenzi — funumsebenzi

Papa sits alone in the kitchen
Thirty years a mining man
He still has to fight for the right to work
Whether times are good or bad

Hear them sing in the streets now
Hear the sound of marching feet now

Sifun’umsebenzi — wo thina sifun’umsebenzi
We need work for all
Hum o hum

• Link
• Report this comment

Education and the choice of a career in a high-demand field are important if you want to make any money. The rich and upper-middle class have figured that out. Blame your parents if they didn’t teach you the value of these things.

• Link
• Report this comment

JHM

When the American Pinstripe Crew figures out that their gigs can be outsourced just like assembly line workers or IT code monkeys

——————————————
I resemble that remark

• Link
• Report this comment

I say we begin to tear this country apart

So much for “Country First” patriotism and belief in democracy and the ideas of the founding fathers….. apparently part of the crazed 25% of the GOP who want to secede.

• Link
• Report this comment

Can’t wait for all the Gen-X and Gen-Y leeches start creeping up in age and realize the Boomer hogs left them with just the bill. Oh the s*** storm that’s gonna happen will make the 60s hippies look like afternoon tea. It’s gonna be awesome! A little insurrection will be good for the national soul.

• Link
• Report this comment

alex: “Free trade agreements had to be put in place, the world demanded them”

NAFTA and other agreements were pushed for by big capitalist interests. That’s who demanded them. That’s about it.

“Perhaps it was a corporate “globalization ploy”, perhaps it was simply the early signs of globalization of the work force.”

The latter part of that statement implies that globalization is perhaps some natural tendency towards which world markets tend on their own. But this is not true. Just as barriers to globalization were set up as part of an orchestrated effort, the removal of those barriers was also very deliberate and planned.

• Link
• Report this comment

Enter your comments here

• Link
• Report this comment

If house Repubs agree to tax increase, the Dems will cut entitlements and USA wins—–we are the pawns……..It’s called the game of LIFE (DC style)

• Link
• Report this comment

STUPID LIBERAL@12:58 pm

I do not make 70k a year, and I am an Engineer

——————————————————-

Learn to speak Hindi and move to Bangelore

• Link
• Report this comment

“but nope, what they did instead was demand pay cuts and abandoning pension plans”

Wow more free stuff like pensions! Anything else unions want from an honest days work.

• Link
• Report this comment

Even if the spineless and no ideas Repubs give in, the plantation Dems will balk at spending cuts because they are beholden to the leech class and Generation Greed. There will be no agreement. They’d rather have their political club to beat the GOP with than do the right thing.

• Link
• Report this comment

” Unions have nothing to do with that other than being the scapegoat”

Now that is a hooooot!

• Link
• Report this comment

The conservatives sure do have their work cut out for them. As soon as our communist leader ends his reign of horror, the conservative leadership will step in and undo the damage. It will take as long as it takes the American people and those on the east and west coast to realize if you dont work you dont eat.

• Link
• Report this comment

It will take as long as it takes the American people and those on the east and west coast to realize if you dont work you dont eat.

So you’re planning on a lot of dead infants, children and elderly as well as those with disabilities. Creating jobs in grave diggers as a method to get to full employment? Or perhaps counting on a plague?

• Link
• Report this comment

Unemployment is capitalists’ greatest and most cherished tool. It’s a tool for labor discipline.

And nobody (outside of radical circles) ever talks about it.

No wonder we’re in the predicament we’re in.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Union membership and clout has been on a steady decline since the 1970s”

True – because unions have pretty much strangled all the heavily unionized industries. So those jobs went overseas. You seem to believe that unions aren’t having as much effect because membership is down. You are getting your cause and effect reversed. Union membership is down because unions got their way. Their way strangled unionized industries. Therefore union membership is down.

• Link
• Report this comment

You’re a very good man, Keep Up The Good Fight. I’ve given up even trying to talk to him.

• Link
• Report this comment

Sure Stupid ….. Hey I saw your car the other day, right. You know with that bumper sticker that said “my dog creates more shovel ready jobs”. I was the one who asked why your dog couldn’t beat Obama in an election.

• Link
• Report this comment

Senate Republicans Kill Treaty on the Rights of the Disabled –
‎”The horrifying spectacle of Senate Republicans voting against the UN treaty on the rights of the disabled — and walking past Bob Dole in a wheelchair on their way to do it — should be news, real and big news.”

damn – now i want them to go extinct, go to hell, go fast & hard,
and not stand in line behind other cons to get there.

• Link
• Report this comment

keep

My post to stupid dovetailed perfectly into yours

• Link
• Report this comment

Tom, oh there is no talking to most of our conned….. only mocking Birthers, Benghazi nutcases, ODS sufferers and the deluded speedonut garbage rarely have anything intelligent to contribute. They just keep repeating the same disprove nonsensical claims.

• Link
• Report this comment

williebkind — “It will take as long as it takes the American people and those on the east and west coast to realize if you dont work you dont eat.”

Please, by all means run with that slogan in 2014 and 2016.

Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease

• Link
• Report this comment

getalife 11:57 am “At what point will the cons stop fighting against their own pay checks. When will the cons stop being self defeatists and fight to increase their own pay checks.”

I fight for it by doing my job to the best of my ability, increasing my knowledge, and don’t whine. But hey, if sitting on your fat #&$ doing nothing except complaining is how you want to get thru life, who am I to stop you. Stepping over you to advance my paycheck is what I do, not by “oh please give me what I don’t deserve.”

• Link
• Report this comment

alex

it’s tough to mature a Communist State

• Link
• Report this comment

Brosephus™

December 4th, 2012
11:45 am

Seems that the American worker has been getting shafted, without lube, since the 1970’s. It’s probably coincidental that the attacks on organized labor as well as supply sided economics takeover happened around the same time.

As much as the conservatives like to talk about Obama turning us into Greece, that process has been going on for a long, long time. When that powder keg explodes, Greece will look like a Girl Scout’s picnic in the park.

Bro, You’re probably right, so when do we stop the craziness? or do we just keep going down the same path. Seems to me that all parties are about the same.

• Link
• Report this comment

Keep Up,

I ride the 48 thomasville daily. There is plenty of room for a bumper sticker of that nature.

• Link
• Report this comment

Union membership has declined in mobile industiries, not heavy industries as they exist in the midwest and N.E.( and much of that continues to have problems because of over supply of production in the world, i.e. steel in china), after all if a company wants to close a billion dollar steel mill because of a union that is a billion dollar loss and companies are reluctant to do so..But then again there is Cleveland and Gary and Buffalo and….has little to do with anything but corporate profit…

• Link
• Report this comment

Republicans were at a loss as to how to handle Romney’s defeat. However, with brutal prodding from their Big Business masters, who want to ride the conservative gravy train as long as possible, a solution was found. Just go into complete denial, pretend the election never happened, and carry on as though it’s still early 2011. Above all, do NOT, under any circumstances, raise taxes on the rich. Better to let the nation go over the fiscal cliff as rich CEO’s will not suffer all that much. Then, blame everything on Obama and hope the majority of American voters will want things to get “back to normal” by having a white man in the White House.

• Link
• Report this comment

@ Common, absolutely….

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay, The Masterbaiter, I think everyone forgets that Automation plays a significant part in those profits. Less employees to pay and less benefits = more profits.

Can you still hear that sucking sound from NAFTA ?

• Link
• Report this comment

49% of Republicans believe that Obama was reelected becuase ACORN (defunct since 2010) stole the 2012 election for him…

• Link
• Report this comment

Union membership is down because unions got their way. Their way strangled unionized industries.

Not hardly. Union membership is down because of a concerted effort to kill them off completely. As I said earlier, unions are merely the scapegoat. Follow the money trail, as it’s all about greed.

————————-

You’re probably right, so when do we stop the craziness? or do we just keep going down the same path.

We’ve been on this path for 40 years. To think we can turn around in 5 years is foolish. It will take the same effort to get us out of this mess as it took to get us into it. The first thing that has to happen is that people need to realize how much the system is being used against them. The whole idea that tax cuts spur growth completely hides the truth that tax cuts spur wealth accumulation growth. Almost all policy issues over the past 40 years have been made by those with money FOR those with money.

• Link
• Report this comment

alex — ” just because the hand is invisible, doesn’t mean it won’t knock the crap out of you..”

Also known as Adam Smith’s Invisible Suckerpunch.

• Link
• Report this comment

Get us one on government spending,whats going in and whats coming out and you will see why the red is the way it is.

• Link
• Report this comment

josef

The north preferred pillage over rape, no balls to speak of

• Link
• Report this comment

COMMON SENSE…

There are some interesting studies on that subject…some of them by MAJOR historians!

• Link
• Report this comment

Unions brought terrific advancement to the workers, but with improved Govt. regulations, they became corrupt and dysfunctional and then with globalization became inconsequential, They remain important to counter balance the over-reach of the invisible hand in th eUSA

• Link
• Report this comment

K’CHAK

I did. It was funny.

• Link
• Report this comment

josef

And would one of them be YOU?

Don’t make me add to your royalty checks

• Link
• Report this comment

It’s been a hell of a lot longer than 40 years also.

No, it has not.

Prior to that the middle class in this country was vibrant and robust. Post WWII saw an explosuion in buying power and upward mobility. And at that point in our history there was no War on the Middle Class.

But alas, enter Lewis Powell, in the 1970s and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

And the sh*tstorm on American workers and their families has been pretty much unrelenting.

Read your history and learn.

• Link
• Report this comment

Some quick Googling on the Chip Rogers story seems to indicate that a power struggle was a-brewing down under the Gold Dome, and that Rogers was on the losing side. Recall that Rogers was mixed up in that effort to strip the Lt. Gov of much of his power in the Assembly.

It looks like Rogers got paid off with a job a Georgia Public Broadcasting to just STFU and GTFO. No idea if the sports handicapping thing was a factor or not.

• Link
• Report this comment

JOSEF

Since you were present prior to the war of Northern Agression I will defer to your on site presence

• Link
• Report this comment

josef @ 4:14pm

Josef

Well, had the South won, the majority’s hatred of Jews, Native Americans, and blacks, thinking of them as substandard people, would have continued, and you know what Honest Abe (and your beloved Jesus) said about a house divided.

Now go argue with yourself about who would have been better off, and throw in “gay” for a real challenge.

P.S. Like other people we know, Chruchill was a drunk!

• Link
• Report this comment

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains- Karl Mark.

The point is probably mute. America is by design an unequal society. What is the point of having equality where everyone has access to everything. Part of utility is to knowing that other people
can’t have the subject of the satisfaction.

• Link
• Report this comment

It is too confusing to comprehend

Yes, it’s just all, so, conFOOzing.

• Link
• Report this comment

“Karl Mark.” I knew that dude from HS chemistry!

“The point is probably mute.” I’ve got a button on the remote for that. I guess that’s moot.

• Link
• Report this comment

josef

I haven’t been able to trace my mother’s roots as she was the oldest and born in rural AL.

My father was 1st generation from Ireland and I do know where his dad and mom came from.

Just haven’t had the time and money to do the research. I will travel to Ireland when I retire and trace the lineage then.

BTW I may love it so much (the beer) I may stay.

• Link
• Report this comment

Keep

If Stupid runs under an (R) he may win and get a raise from 7.25 an hour

• Link
• Report this comment

Common, if he is getting $7.25 per hour, he’s already overpaid for his qualifications.

• Link
• Report this comment

Its a global economy. Many companies now make more profits in non-us markets than in U.S. markets

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay

Slavery was an abomination but most Southerners did not own slaves.

My mothers family came in the late 1800’s and were treated almost the same as slaves (sharecroppers) .

Many slave Owners lived the same ways as the people they owned. They ate the same food, lived in the same house. It was a stupid way to go though life but it was what it was in the time context.

• Link
• Report this comment

Hey Paul, Thanks for posting that link to the policies BUSH created that caused the financial collapse, but after reading it, the only references it even makes to Bush is that his fed chairman made some poor decisions. If you wouldn’t mind, would you please tell us specifically which Bush policy(s) caused the financial collapse and what Obama policy/bill reverses it. I’m so sick and tired of hearing about the “bad Bush policies that got us into this mess” I’d just once like one of you simple minded sheep to tell me what policies those are. Just once.

And surely, Paul, if they were such bad policies, the first thing Obama did was reverse them right? So tell me what bill that is that Obama pushed through to reverse all those bad policies.

Hurry back, tool.

• Link
• Report this comment

josef

What I have found was that SPELLING was not at it’s best in the earlier centuries.

I traced my late wife’s family from NC to IN on a one letter f’up

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay

December 4th, 2012
5:07 pm
“Sorry, it’s just that sometimes the romantic aroma of magnolia gets a little thick in here.”
———————————————-
Any time that happens, I would be more than happy to pop open a can of Connecticut Yankee whoop-azz air freshener.

• Link
• Report this comment

The tax rate paid by individuals with incomes in the top 1 percent averaged 23.39 percent, while all filers in the bottom 50 percent paid an average tax rate of 2.37 percent, according to a newest analysis on the distribution of federal income taxes.

In 2010, the top 1 percent of tax returns included 18.87 percent of all adjusted gross income and 37.38 percent of all federal individual income taxes paid. The top 5 percent earned 33.78 percent of income and paid 59.07 percent of taxes, and the top 10 percent earned 45.17 percent of income and paid 70.62 percent of taxes.

• Link
• Report this comment

Josef, 5:32 Amen.

• Link
• Report this comment

The real crisis is the ticking time bomb of entitlement programs and the welfare state.

There’s your sign.

• Link
• Report this comment

America’s political challenge, in one little set of facts@5:24 pm

and what taxes are you referring to?

Federal income taxes?

State income taxes?

City income taxes?

Sales tax?

Gas Tax?

Geesh at least define what taxes you are referring to.

• Link
• Report this comment

We have a real problem when Four Hundred Americans have wealth equal to the bottom 150,000,000 American — 400 vs 150,000,000!

Ol’ Timer, Take all your savings, start a business and you can be 401 but please don’t forget the Thousands that tried it and failed. I don’t think many of those people were born with their money, some yes, but most was made by brains & risk.

• Link
• Report this comment

If I, a white man am asked about slavery by an African-American, I can’t win for losing.

Say the question is should America have engaged in Negro slavery?

If I say yes, I’m branded as a to the core racist.

If I say absolutely not, then I’m saying generations of black Americans should never have been born.

If America had never engaged in Negro slavery, we would, today, have an African-American presence. It just would not be the SAME one we have now.

• Link
• Report this comment

Say the question is should America have engaged in Negro slavery?

Say, that I don’t really give a rat’s ass.

• Link
• Report this comment

Looks like the Corporations are getting more from their workers than ever before. Dern evil profits! Question for you Dems, if blame is going to Republicans if we fall off the fiscal cliff, then who gets credit if we don’t go over it (hint: can’t have cake and eat it too).

• Link
• Report this comment

One thing is for sure Jay, you know more about business and Home Depot than Bernie. In fact, you should start your own chain and put Home Depot out of business. Surely you would create more jobs and millionaire employees that Bernie did, he is clueless and should stick to donating millions for things like the aquarium.

• Link
• Report this comment

Jay

Here is another chart that very dramatically shows the wealth distribution in America today.

http://markc1.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bb2969e20153916ed29d970b-800wi

It is worse than you think.

• Link
• Report this comment

JAY

Ooops…I stand corrected on Virginia, I meant Maryland with some 170,000 African
Americans of whom some 87,000 were slaves…the study, and I don’t have a citation here just yet, I was thinking of had to do with the freeing and the move North of the freedmen.. it had to do with the percentage who had been freed…this doesn’t, of course, take into account those “sold down the river…” .The point being that slavery had already become economically untenable in the Tidewater.

AND

I see. Brazil, Cuba and Puerto Rico were “the mainstream of Western Civilization,” huh?

Parse-On Brownlow…I said IN the mainstream…and they weren’t…well, then which civilization were they IN the mainstream of… Australian Aboriginal…

• Link
• Report this comment

TOM
My real name is Josef Nix…okay? I used it for the first four years of my blogging here…

Learn by rote…I have an Isaac Harby education, Mate…know what that one is…

You’re the one who is going painting with a Gaugin brush…

• Link
• Report this comment

Josef

My real Name is Josef Nix?

I thought it was deluslional lickspittle, my apologies

• Link
• Report this comment

But when it comes to looking at Southern history, I don’t know who’s worse, the Moonlight and Magnolias set, the Yankee Shariaists, or the self-loathing Southerners…

…self-righteous victims?

• Link
• Report this comment

I love this “wealth distribution” BS! Since when does this country distribute wealth….one “earns it”….D’oh, started in 2008, and is continuing today.

Did some of you people ever think about where your retirement monies are invested? Companies that provide an ROI! Did you ever think where your 401(k) investments are, companies that provide an ROI! Did you ever think about where your pensions are invested? Companies that provide an ROI Yep, let’s get the government to make it “fair” for everyone, that’ll work!

• Link
• Report this comment

Nothing like a healthy dose of MSNBC/Moveon talking points there Jay……

• Link
• Report this comment

“Companies that provide an ROI!”

And how much of that record profit is actually going to the shareholders? I heard advice the other day on NOT putting your money into an annuity because interested rates are so LOW. So where IS that “ROI” going?

• Link
• Report this comment

The South will not rise again because their voters fight against their own paychecks.

They cling to a failed trickle down ideology, their guns and their Bibles.

Self defeatists that treated minorities like crap..

Bad karma.

• Link
• Report this comment

Common Sense

Have you ever read the original book, “Stars Fell on Alabama?” If not, it’s worth a read…

• Link
• Report this comment

Doggone-it! They’re called dividends, stock price up, securities, and re-investment in the organization to maximize market share & profits. Annuities are a completely different financial tool.

Question, would you rather have “your” money in the private sector or government?

• Link
• Report this comment

“Read the prospectus, doofus”

In other words…YOU don’t know.

• Link
• Report this comment

“hurtling toward the fiscal cliff’ -Diane Sawyer
What BS.

• Link
• Report this comment

Um, Doggone – public companies have to report where “ALL” of the monies go. Government, not so much.

• Link
• Report this comment

getalife

Minorities? If you mean Blacks…yes, but not a bad record on others…better than the rest of the country in a lot of cases, just being EOI. But as for your comment:

“The South will not rise again because their voters fight against their own paychecks”

That, sadly, has been pretty much the case for the last 400 years of Southern history…starting with the House of Burgesses and moving right along to the just past election…

• Link
• Report this comment

Enter your comments here”Um, Doggone – public companies have to report where “ALL” of the monies go”

Ok, so where DOES that money go? ‘Cause very little of it seems to have come MY way. My invested pension money has ALMOST recovered from the last crash. Still hasn’t recovered from the one before that.

• Link
• Report this comment

Now, come on Doggone – you’re going to look at an 8 yr span on investments? For retirement? Not making excuses, but there were some extenuating circumstances in ‘01 & ‘08. Hey, to each his own, wherever you are most comfortable with your monies, rock on!

• Link
• Report this comment

“Well, let’s see. The economy crashed not too long after Bush II took office and I lost half of my inveseted pension. Then it crashed again just before he left office, and I lost half ot what was left. Can’t say that I find the private sector to have taken very good care of my investments.”

Wow. You’re the only lib ilk here who hasn’t made a fortune since O’bozo became Preezy.

Pity.

• Link
• Report this comment

Not making excuses, but…

Caveat.

There’s your sign.

• Link
• Report this comment