Reality Check

[Barbella]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

 

[Caroljo]

Oh boy.....the response to this is going to be good! Like Investor's Business Daily said....only thing strong and steady about this economy are the excuses we get. Now, patiently waiting for the first lib to tell us what a lie this is and how great everything is......5...4....3...2...1

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

O-ba-ma!
O-ba-ma!
O-ba-ma!

 

[JV-12]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

Can’t you light just one candle instead of cursing the darkness?

Need I remind you that the Obama Administration takes action when the chips are down? They spend their way out of problems. Such as in the stimulus package handout world, the City of Los Angeles was awarded $111 million dollars which was used to create or save 55 jobs! Although I do not recall seeing that on any of the major networks?

http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jborowski/los-angeles-government-creates-only-55-jobs-with-1

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

Can we look forward to support from Pugs to revise the laws that shifted wealth upward, so that wealth gets shifted back downward?

 

[PhilFish]

Can we look forward to support from Pugs to revise the laws that shifted wealth upward, so that wealth gets shifted back downward?

shifted, or that did not allow enough of it to be taxed?

 

[Figjam]

Had bush's collapse been only as bad as the average of the past 10 market failures, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger...

Just sayin'

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

shifted, or that did not allow enough of it to be taxed?

Depends on your perspective - if one thinks that the wealth gap is not wide enough as is, one would conclude that tax rates applicable to the very wealthy have been too high.

But this is not only about tax rates - it's about all government policies that have shifted wealth upward.

 

[PhilFish]

Depends on your perspective - if one thinks that the wealth gap is not wide enough as is, one would conclude that tax rates applicable to the very wealthy have been too high.

But this is not only about tax rates - it's about all government policies that have shifted wealth upward.

Other than tax cuts. what government policy shifts wealth upward..

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

Other than tax cuts. what government policy shifts wealth upward..

Sheesh, how much time do you have?

Refusals to boost the minimum wage.

A score of legislative, regulatory and judical rulings disabling unions or reducing their effectiveness.

Trade laws allowing for the outsourcing of jobs to other nations where there are absurdly low wages and horrible working conditions.

Laws encouraging the "franchisng of America," and relaxation of laws forbidding anti-competitive conduct, making it nearly impossible for a mom-and-pop to open a small business that could compete with corporate America.

Books are written on the subject. It is hard to think of a legislative or judicial change in the last few decades that has not had the effect of shifting wealth upward.

 

[PhilFish]

Sheesh, how much time do you have?

Refusals to boost the minimum wage.

A score of legislative, regulatory and judical rulings disabling unions or reducing their effectiveness.

Trade laws allowing for the outsourcing of jobs to other nations where there are absurdly low wages and horrible working conditions.

Laws encouraging the "franchisng of America," and relaxation of laws forbidding anti-competitive conduct, making it nearly impossible for a mom-and-pop to open a small business that could compete with corporate America.

Books are written on the subject. It is hard to think of a legislative or judicial change in the last few decades that has not had the effect of shifting wealth upward.

Like Nafta, fer instance?

a refusal, is not a policy, is it? the existing policy is what it is, although it does need to change.

and, have union enrollments shrunk despite legislation, or because of?

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

Like Nafta, fer instance?

a refusal, is not a policy, is it? the existing policy is what it is, although it does need to change.

and, have union enrollments shrunk despite legislation, or because of?

I'm not real interested in quiblling over whether decisions not to act are decisions. As you surely know, people have constantly advocated for decades for higher minimum wages, pro-union laws (instead of union-busting laws like "right to work" laws) and the like. Monies interest have fought them off, and made things worse for working people in countless ways. Wealth was not massively shifted upward by accident.

I'm also not real interested in pretending to be able to ascertain how many union members there would be in the absence of the legal onslaught against unions in recent decades. We know it would be more, and the precise number is not relevant to my point.

You asked what type of legislative and judicial decisions have shifted wealth upward, and I told you.

The day I see Pugs supporting a reversal of any of them will be the day I take them seriously when they yammer about how the working poor and middle class are not flourishing as much as they should.

 

[PhilFish]

I'm not real interested in quiblling over whether decisions not to act are decisions. As you surely know, people have constantly advocated for decades for higher minimum wages, pro-union laws (instead of union-busting laws like "right to work" laws) and the like. Monies interest have fought them off, and made things worse for working people in countless ways. Wealth was not massively shifted upward by accident.

I'm also not real interested in pretending to be able to ascertain how many union members there would be in the absence of the legal onslaught against unions in recent decades. We know it would be more, and the precise number is not relevant to my point.

You asked what type of legislative and judicial decisions have shifted wealth upward, and I told you.

The day I see Pugs supporting a reversal of any of them will be the day I take them seriously when they yammer about how the working poor and middle class are not flourishing as much as they should.

sort of like the left... that is.. all yammer. yet, the poor and middle class now stand worse off still...

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

sort of like the left... that is.. all yammer. yet, the poor and middle class now stand worse off still...

Yes, the left is quite similar to the right on these issues, except that the left favor reversing such governmental policies in order to reverse some of the upward shifting of wealth, and the right argue for keeping those policies as is, except for perhaps making them more oppressive to the working poor and middle class.

 

[PhilFish]

Yes, the left is quite similar to the right on these issues, except that the left favor reversing such governmental policies in order to reverse some of the upward shifting of wealth, and the right argue for keeping those policies as is, except for perhaps making them more oppressive to the working poor and middle class.

I think, not so much, other than by way of lip service from the left... because as it stands... it continues unabated.

(as an aside, it shifted pretty good today..vis a vis the markets... and gains taken...or positions vacated...)

 

[Bugsy McGurk]

I think, not so much, other than by way of lip service from the left... because as it stands... it continues unabated.

(as an aside, it shifted pretty good today..vis a vis the markets... and gains taken...or positions vacated...)

I suppose labeling relentless calls for action on these things "lip service" makes it possible to pretend there is no difference between the left and the right on such issues, but that's delusional. We all know that no such measures can get through the GOP House, and we all know that activist GOP judges take a wrecking ball to unions, and otherwise boost the wealthy, every chance they get.

P.S. The market drop hurts everybody - it does not shift wealth downward.

 

[Boca]

Can we look forward to support from Pugs to revise the laws that shifted wealth upward, so that wealth gets shifted back downward?

You want to talk about wealth redistribution when the topic was jobs....why am I not surprised?

 

[middleview]

Other than tax cuts. what government policy shifts wealth upward..

Check into how Mitt Romney managed to grow a 401k into millions and avoid paying taxes altogether...It is tax policy, not just tax cuts.

How do you suppose Dick Cheney got rich? He certainly wasn't wealthy as a government employee.

SEC enforcement policy and legislation related to derivatives made a lot of Wall Street types rich as well.

 

[Jen]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

It's odd how some people still beat the drum that the economy is improving. Where are they getting that idea?

 

[Arkady]

“Real median household income of $51,000 is 8% lower than in 2007. Almost four million people have been out of work for more than six months, three times the pre-recession average. One-third of black men aren’t even in the labor force, the highest mark since records began in 1972. And there are fewer people with jobs in the U.S. today than six years ago.”—Bloomberg, January 2014 (click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/obama-can-t-shake-economy-s-downside-amid-signs-of-growth.html

).

“The share of Americans either working or looking for work sank to 62.8%

in December, tying October for the lowest level since 1977 – an era when women were much less likely to work. People have simply just given up looking for work.” – New York Times, Jan. 10, 2014 (see here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/debating-why-the-work-force-is-shrinking/

)

“Had Obama's recovery been only as good as the average of the past 10 recoveries, the economy would be $1.3 trillion larger…And had job growth been just average, there'd be 7.3 million more people with jobs today. That means 64% of those now looking for work would be employed. The only things that have shown strong and steady growth under Obama are excuses.”– Investor’s Business Daily, November 2013 http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110713-678405-obama-recovery-remains-worst-since-the-depression.htm

“Everybody gets so much information all day long they lose their common sense.”--Gertrude Stein

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/01/23/true-state-union/

I won't make excuses. It's inexcusable. We KNOW how to get an economy growing strongly again after a major financial crisis. There are people still alive who saw it done. We know that what it takes is a major expansion of government spending and government employment. We simply refuse to act on it, and that willful self-destruction is nothing I'm going to make excuses for. Instead, we're going in the exact opposite direction. Government employment has plummeted in the last several years, and government spending growth has been some of the lowest in modern American history. We're doing EXACTLY what economics 101 says you shouldn't do in our situation. We're imposing counter-productive government austerity on the situation. It's like trying to leech a patient who is suffering from severe anemia. Of course the patient isn't recovering well! It's quackery, and we're paying the price we deserve for it.