Wealth distribution in America

I remember working at my second job as a kid. I did maintenance work at a brass foundry and at the owners home cutting the lawn and tending to his garden. He had built the foundry up to a great business and provided brass castings to hundreds of companies. He made great money and lived in the same neighborhood as his employees. His house was a little bigger than his neighbors and he had an extra lot where he loved gardening.

When he had a great year, he invested in new equipment and raised the salaries of his employees. He was a republican, but he paid a fair wage to his employees and they lived nicely on a living wage. He died about twenty years ago. The foundry was sold, and merged with a larger company in a community about twenty five miles from the original factory location. It is part of a public company now, and the employees income based on 1968 dollars are way down, and the new managers live in big houses in gated communities where they are surrounded by wealthy people. Wealth has no patriotism. Wealth has no loyalty. Wealth is fungible, and it can move off shore.

This factory owner paid over fifty percent of his income in taxes. He was a happy man. His employees were happy. The community was vibrant. Sure poverty existed, but the theft of America starts and ends with tax rates. It is time to return the upper bracket tax rates to what they were......America's wealth must be taxed as it was taxed, and our middle class and the people of the this country must become a priority.

Lets see if we tax businesses more as you say,
they
Will automatically
Pay
Their workers more lol

In other words... seagoat would've had the 8 TRILLION dollars obama had run up taken directly from earners.

Try to imagine that for a moment. The really sad part is that the only chance to sustain that debt is gdp growth.

Which is depressed by his suggested policy... lol. How's the construction of utopiaville going? Complete idiocy.

Yeah!  Everyone knows that the way to address debt and stimulate a prosperous economy is to cut taxes, start two elective wars, and then pass a medicare prescription drug plan!  

It worked so well for Bush!  Record surplus to record deficit!  Dot com boom to the worst economy since the great depression!

Best of times to worst of times, overnight!

There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

PkrBum wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

Can you be specific on that one? What policy are you referring to here?

It is simple to understand. However, I will give PK the benefit of the doubt. Why do you think the current debt situation is our first priority? I would suggest that earnings and revenue are far more important than debt, and I certainly believe in government reductions, but I would like to ask this simple question:

Pk do you believe that cutting the upper tax rates and trickle down economics was good policy for America?

I would argue that had the tax rates not changed since 1983, we would be virtually debt free. Am I wrong saying it was awful public policy?

by boards of FL Today at 10:32 am
PkrBum wrote:
“
There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.
”

Can you be specific on that one? What policy are you referring to here?
---
Obamacare

Follow the money... this ain't rocket psychiatry. Who has gotten richer? Who is suffering and has stagnant wages?

Results matter poindexter.

PkrBum wrote:Follow the money... this ain't rocket psychiatry. Who has gotten richer? Who is suffering and has stagnant wages?

Results matter poindexter.

I'm trying to clarify what you were referring to - specifically - when you said the following:

PkrBum wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

Can you not even clarify a past statement?  I realize being asked to state an opinion is beyond your scope, but can you not even clarify what you meant in a past statement that you already made?

What were you talking about in the above comment?  I swear this isn't a trick question.  You're not going to spring any sort of trap or anything.  This is only an online conversation in which you are simply being asked to specifically state what you were talking about in a past comment.  Can you do that?

Looks like I may need to lower your bar a bit more, which is surprising as I didn't realize there was any room left.

boards of FL wrote:

PkrBum wrote:Follow the money... this ain't rocket psychiatry. Who has gotten richer? Who is suffering and has stagnant wages?

Results matter poindexter.

I'm trying to clarify what you were referring to - specifically - when you said the following:

PkrBum wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

Can you not even clarify a past statement?  I realize being asked to state an opinion is beyond your scope, but can you not even clarify what you meant in a past statement that you already made?

What were you talking about in the above comment?  I swear this isn't a trick question.  You're not going to spring any sort of trap or anything.  This is only an online conversation in which you are simply being asked to specifically state what you were talking about in a past comment.  Can you do that?

Looks like I may need to lower your bar a bit more, which is surprising as I didn't realize there was any room left.

Where has the economic intervention gone? Who benefited? How much simpler can I make this?

The answer (for the deliberately opaque) is wall st, banks, investors, corporations, hedge funds, the wealthy.

Now for the GIANT leap... that group is the top end of the economic spectrum... hence the trickle down reality.

Just admit that you close your eyes and cover your ears when you don't like facts or they contradict your beliefs.

PkrBum wrote:

boards of FL wrote:

PkrBum wrote:Follow the money... this ain't rocket psychiatry. Who has gotten richer? Who is suffering and has stagnant wages?

Results matter poindexter.

I'm trying to clarify what you were referring to - specifically - when you said the following:

PkrBum wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

Can you not even clarify a past statement?  I realize being asked to state an opinion is beyond your scope, but can you not even clarify what you meant in a past statement that you already made?

What were you talking about in the above comment?  I swear this isn't a trick question.  You're not going to spring any sort of trap or anything.  This is only an online conversation in which you are simply being asked to specifically state what you were talking about in a past comment.  Can you do that?

Looks like I may need to lower your bar a bit more, which is surprising as I didn't realize there was any room left.

Where has the economic intervention gone? Who benefited? How much simpler can I make this?

The answer (for the deliberately opaque) is wall st, banks, investors, corporations, hedge funds, the wealthy.

Now for the GIANT leap... that group is the top end of the economic spectrum... hence the trickle down reality.

Just admit that you close your eyes and cover your ears when you don't like facts or they contradict your beliefs.

I'll try this one more time.

You said the following:

PkrBum wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

What were you talking about there, specifically?  You're saying that Obama is perpetrating the greatest trickle down scheme ever.  OK.  What is it?  Are you referring to a specific policy?  Are you referring to some executive action that he has taken?   I'm asking you to simply tell us what you were talking about there.

The answer should directly address what you were talking about and clear that up for us.  The answer should not be more rhetorical questions that further cloud the issue.  We're going for clarity and specificity here.

Final attempt:  Can you clarify what it was - specifically - that you were talking about in your "trickle down" comment?

http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts

Sometimes things just don't trickle....

What would you do if you knew your rich Uncle would cover your gambling losses..?   You might be tempted to keep gambling....When did bankers become poker players ?

.When did bankers become poker players ?


We need the Bankers to quit playing poker. We need the banks to be broken into smaller components with incentives given to community banks with board of directors made up of the local community making sound loans based on personal knowledge of their customers. We need to wrench control away from those who are too big to fail. I never saw a Chase Bank or Bank of America as a kid growing up......now they are at every corner in America. America needs these banks to be connected to the communities they serve....not blood suckers draining the wealth of this country and betting on red, with Uncle Sam covering all losses. We are giving these bastards 85 billion of subsidy a year, yet the local bank and board who followed all the rules are getting killed covering their losses.

I can't force you to understand that which you are apparently unwilling to consider. We see the gap between rich and poor growing... we see record corp profits... we see the middle class declining... we see increasing population dependant upon govt.

These are the results of the administration and fed reserve policies and solutions. Are you still blaming bush?

Failure is as much a major need in a free market system as success...Failure would have broken up the big banks into smaller better run banks and accomplished what you said is needed seaoat...Yes there would have been weeping and gnashing of teeth but all the bailouts did was encourage greater mismanagement of funds and much greater suffering to come but spread out over the middle class and insulating the banker rats escaping the ship just in time.

There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

I do not understand. Like Boards has requested, could you expand your thoughts? The trickle down of Reagan's failed economic policies involved tax cuts to the rich. The idea was that these folks could then trickle down their new found largess to other Americans.....it did not happen. Where has the President cut taxes to the wealthy? If you are making some kind of analogy, it sure needs explanation.

Cutting taxes to the wealthy= more money in the wealthy's pockets
Bailouts to the wealthy= more money in the wealthy's pockets

Either way the rich get rich and poor get poorer

Different solution same result....so stop the bailouts or increase the taxes


quit giving thieves money so they won't cause martial law...sounds a lot like a protection racket.

2seaoat wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

I do not understand. Like Boards has requested, could you expand your thoughts? The trickle down of Reagan's failed economic policies involved tax cuts to the rich. The idea was that these folks could then trickle down their new found largess to other Americans.....it did not happen. Where has the President cut taxes to the wealthy? If you are making some kind of analogy, it sure needs explanation.

First... you must acknowledge that the gap between rich and poor is growing under obama. That the enormous intervention benefitted and saved wall st, banks, corps, investors, the wealthy. That there was a strategy... those are the results.

I can't make it any simpler. They didn't come right out and call it trickle down for you... hence your resistance I guess.

Does it really matter if the largesse came from tax cuts or give aways or interest free loans or subsidy or air money?

No... it only matters to those that wish to frame an ideologic agenda. The results are the same... whatever you call it.

PkrBum wrote:I can't force you to understand that which you are apparently unwilling to consider. We see the gap between rich and poor growing... we see record corp profits... we see the middle class declining... we see increasing population dependant upon govt.

These are the results of the administration and fed reserve policies and solutions. Are you still blaming bush?

I can't consider that which you don't offer for consideration. I have asked you three times to clarify the specific policy or action that you're talking about here so that I can consider it. Unfortunately, it appears that you aren't able to do that. This is of no surprise of course. I think it is well established that you're an idiot who is only capable of throwing out vague one liners and then asking rhetorical questions when tasked with being more specific or substantive. This is just one more instance to add to the heaping pile of past conversations that point to that fact.

Regarding the rest of your comment, yes we do see all of that. There is a grossly distorted distribution of wealth and income in this country, and that trend has been in place since the 80's. Democrats are always looking to address this by adjusting the personal income tax structure, expanding healthcare access, and increasing wages and republicans are always fighting that and insisting that a gross distribution of wealth and income isn't even a problem. In fact, it is optimal!

I have tried to engage you on that topic as well, but - of course - words fail you again.

PkrBum wrote:

2seaoat wrote:There has never been a bigger trickle down scheme than that which obama has perpetrated... period.

I do not understand.  Like Boards has requested, could you expand your thoughts?   The trickle down of Reagan's failed economic policies involved tax cuts to the rich.  The idea was that these folks could then trickle down their new found largess to other Americans.....it did not happen.   Where has the President cut taxes to the wealthy?  If you are making some kind of analogy, it sure needs explanation.

First... you must acknowledge that the gap between rich and poor is growing under obama. That the enormous intervention benefitted and saved wall st, banks, corps, investors, the wealthy. That there was a strategy... those are the results.

I can't make it any simpler. They didn't come right out and call it trickle down for you... hence your resistance I guess.

Does it really matter if the largesse came from tax cuts or give aways or interest free loans or subsidy or air money?

No... it only matters to those that wish to frame an ideologic agenda. The results are the same... whatever you call it.

Here again, I can only guess about what you're talking about because - for whatever reason - you are incapable of specifically telling us what you're talking about.

If you're talking about TARP, you're confused because that was a program that was initiated under Bush.  Beyond that, TARP actually worked fairly well and helped avert a deeper crisis.  The US government even profited $54 billion as all monies were repaid with interest and dividends.

If you're referring to fed policy, well, Obama doesn't control that so you would again be confused there.

Beyond that, I don't think anyone has any clue as to what you're specifically talking about.  I'm starting to wonder if you even have any sense of what you're talking about or if you are perhaps just spouting bullshit.  I can't imagine any other reason that would explain why you aren't able to just come out and tell us what it is that you're talking about.

I can't make it any simpler for you. Bush crashed the economy... Obama has outdone reagan at trickle down.

It'd be nice if you leftists played by one set of rules and results.

boards of FL wrote:Yeah!  Everyone knows that the way to address debt and stimulate a prosperous economy is to cut taxes, start two elective wars, and then pass a medicare prescription drug plan!  

It worked so well for Bush!  Record surplus to record deficit!  Dot com boom to the worst economy since the great depression!  

Best of times to worst of times, overnight!

Why LIE? Oh, that's right, I forgot who posted this word salad.

Semi-retired President Obama set the WORLD record, for deficit exceeding $1 TRILLION a year for several years.

Are you saying the Dot Com boom was a great thing? It led to a recession leading into the President Bush administration.

As you know too, President Bush fought to slow or prevent the housing/mortgage/financial meltdown and was fought each time led by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.

boards of FL wrote:

PkrBum wrote:I can't force you to understand that which you are apparently unwilling to consider. We see the gap between rich and poor growing... we see record corp profits... we see the middle class declining... we see increasing population dependant upon govt.

These are the results of the administration and fed reserve policies and solutions. Are you still blaming bush?

I can't consider that which you don't offer for consideration.  I have asked you three times to clarify the specific policy or action that you're talking about here so that I can consider it.  Unfortunately, it appears that you aren't able to do that.  This is of no surprise of course.  I think it is well established that you're an idiot who is only capable of throwing out vague one liners and then asking rhetorical questions when tasked with being more specific or substantive.  This is just one more instance to add to the heaping pile of past conversations that point to that fact.

Regarding the rest of your comment, yes we do see all of that. There is a grossly distorted distribution of wealth and income in this country, and that trend has been in place since the 80's.  Democrats are always looking to address this by adjusting the personal income tax structure,  expanding healthcare access, and increasing wages and republicans are always fighting that and insisting that a gross distribution of wealth and income isn't even a problem.  In fact, it is optimal!  

I have tried to engage you on that topic as well, but - of course - words fail you again.  

You well know the policies of the semi-retired President Obama which has led to the widening of the gap between middle and low income workers and the top 5%.

IF you claim ignorance, how?  You must know the policies President Obama has in place, do you not?