Trickle Down by 1kiki

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Trickle Down

POSTED BY: 1KIKI
UPDATED: Saturday, September 17, 2011 08:30
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011 10:12 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Amid a still struggling economy, more people in America fell below the poverty line last year, according to new census data released Tuesday.

The nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010, its highest level since 1993. In 2009, 14.3% of people in America were living in poverty.

A record rise in the number of people without health insurance across the nation ... More than 50 million people were uninsured last year, almost one in six U.S. residents, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. The percentage with private insurance was the lowest since the government began keeping data in 1987.

Calling the current economic situation a recovery may be a bit of a misnomer, and even improvements in the employment numbers may be misleading, according to a recent report from the National Employment Law Project.

The report found that while all groups suffered during the Great Recession, mid-wage workers suffered the greatest losses. Between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2010, 60 percent of net job losses came from mid-wage occupations, while 21.3 and 18.7 percent came from lower and higher wage workers, respectively.

But the more striking portion of the report has to do with where the jobs that are being created fall on the wage scale. While job losses had been concentrated in the mid-wage group, the job growth that has been seen in the recovery has been largely focused in the lower-wage category.

Who says trickle-down doesn't work?

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:51 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Depressingly on point. More emphasis should be put on the fact that the jobs Rick Perry crows about "creating" are largely in minimum-wage, no-benefit jobs (AND that some of it came from the stimulus he's so fond of bad-mouthing). That's the way they'll want it, if the Tea Party keeps going.

I know WE have dropped from "middle class" to "lower middle class" and are struggling; my heart goes out to those who have dropped into "poor class", and I don't see it getting any better for a long, long time in the current political climate. It sickens me, what this country has come to.

I will never forget Stephen Colbert's bit on trickle down...it was so damned apt and was the real truth of trickle down. It will always stick in my mind, because it's the INTENTION of trickle down and always has been.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 5:26 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

And it happened on Obama's watch, so it's HIS fault. OBAMA'S POLICIES CAUSED IT!!!!

There, I beat Rap to it.

I saw the same article on CNN.com, and that was my first thought. By next week, that will be the Republican campaign slogan.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 5:34 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Probably. They have an excellent ability to fog the facts and blame everything on Obama, whether they blocked something he and the dems did to try and make it better or not. I give them points for spin talent, if nothing else.

The American people will have a rude awakening if they get the chance to find out what the right would do if they gained power; just look at what's happened on the state level since so many Republicans got governorships; THAT's something we want to emulate? We think it's bad now? Just watch the poverty-level numbers skyrocket!

Great Depression II. Coming to a town near you real soon (if it's not already here).

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 5:58 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

If you are religious, then I think you need to get down on your knees and pray that the GOP has sweeping wins through to the Presidential election, and that they seize control of every aspect of government.

As a nation, we need to hit rock-bottom in order to wake up, and as low as we are now, we haven't waken up yet.

It's not just 'the people' that need to wake up, either.

The Democrats have proven to be an ineffectual force and even a force for harm, as they feed the costly war machine that continues to consume our treasure and blood. I remember when the Democratic mantra was a daily cry for peace. An unrelenting demand for the End of War! Now such sentiments have been forgotten.

The Democrats need to find themselves, to remember what they are supposed to be good for. Perhaps in the next upwelling of public support, they will achieve greater success.

And for goodness sake, let them improve themselves, and not merely emulate their enemies as they scrabble ineffectually for victory.

America needs better than we have been given, across the board. To get it, I think we'll have to writhe in agony so severe that we will finally realize what's important to us. Wounded as we are, weakened as we are, suffering as we are...

We are not yet ready to do better.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 6:38 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I agree with almost all you've said, save the wish that they gain power. I'm buddhist, so I have no god to pray to, but that means I also care about everyone, and I wouldn't wish for things to get worse just so we can hit rock bottom. The idea shocks and sickens me. It's akin to throwing out the baby with the bath water. Too many are suffering now; to wish for more suffering is beyond my comprehension.

As far as the dems go, however, I agree. It's a shame there isn't someone to run AGAINST Obama, someone who could be a true, strong leader and HELP them find their "faith" again, because the way they have behaved the last couple of years sickens me greatly. I'm glad I changed to Inedependent years ago; if I hadn't, I certainly would have NOW! I don't want to be affiliated with the kind of woosified, pathetic group they have become. I wish with all my heart that they WOULD wake up, remember what they stand for, forget about any help or strength from Obama, remember Thomas Paine, and fight for what's right.

I'm not holding my breath. For one thing, if the country hasn't come close enough to hitting rock bottom now, I don't believe going further down will solve the problem.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 7:06 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"I wouldn't wish for things to get worse just so we can hit rock bottom. The idea shocks and sickens me. It's akin to throwing out the baby with the bath water. Too many are suffering now; to wish for more suffering is beyond my comprehension."

Hello,

It's easier to hope for things that you can actually imagine happening.

I have no faith in the idea that things will mysteriously and spontaneously make an about-face for no reason.

So, I have to hope for a reason. It is not a hope borne of cruelty, but rather of necessity. Nobody wants a sick addict to endure the pain of hitting rock-bottom, but most people recognize that such a state is the most likely springboard for improvement. Even caring medical professionals who abhor suffering recognize it. Intervention only seems to work when the patient has almost nothing left to lose.

I used to think that we had hit bottom already, and that we were ready to get better. But now I think we still have a ways to go. My hope is not in the diversion of the descent, which would truly be miraculous. My hope is in a swift subsequent recovery.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”

Jacob Hornberger

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Saturday, September 17, 2011 8:30 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Anthony,

Quote:
I have no faith in the idea that things will mysteriously and spontaneously make an about-face for no reason.

I never said "for no reason", but instead hope for people to wake up and realize what's happening, and use their power to reverse it. May not happen, but I'm allowed to hope.

As to things getting better, what about the Great Depression? Might have seemed hopeless then, too, but things DID turn around...

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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