Change You Can Believe In

[serpentdove]

[4 in 5 in U.S. Face Near-Poverty by Hope Yen Washington AP] "Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor and loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend..." Full text: 4 in 5 in U.S. Face Near-Poverty :Nineveh: Eccl 10:2, Jn 10:10, Am 8:5, Eze 38:3

See:

America's Mid-Life Crisis Pt 1, 2, 3 by Perry Stone

Related:

Venezuela
Obama [Gog]

 

[99lamb]

No doubt the manufacturing base was the strength of the middle class. Outsource jobs to countries that can do the same for less and you have the Ricardian Economic principle of comparative advantage,and job loss in the home country.
Here was an excerpt I thought interesting:
"Poverty is no longer an issue of 'them', it's an issue of 'us'," says Mark Rank, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who calculated the numbers. "Only when poverty is thought of as a mainstream event, rather than a fringe experience that just affects blacks and Hispanics, can we really begin to build broader support for programs that lift people in need."

The Professor doesn't address the tax structure that the U.S. has regarding tax on business, or the personal income tax, or for that matter education and the product 'it' has turned out and lastly government spending habits. Rather he wants to build more support systems i.e.,more government programs more government spending. Its a dead end mentality that continually looks to government for solutions.
Barry O, has now had 19 speeches where he has promised to turn a laser focus on the economy, we're 5 years into this failed economic recovery 7.7 to 7.8 percent unemployment, (under a republican 4.5% was considered the worst economy since the Depression), where only a collapse seems to be the goal - certainly not American economic recovery.

 

[serpentdove]

No doubt the manufacturing base was the strength of the middle class...

Now he's going to focus on the middle class. :Nineveh:

 

[Nick M]

Outsource jobs to countries that can do the same for less and you have the Ricardian Economic principle of comparative advantage,and job loss in the home country.

If our government did not treat producers like garbage, they would stick around. All the idiots that rejected NAFTA didn't realize that was a good deal and was slowing down the shift to China.

 

[99lamb]

Now he's going to focus on the middle class. :Nineveh:

destroy the middle class the backbone of the country and you destroy the country.The attacks on the country are multi-level, aimed at various institutions, it is difficult to see exactly what the end result will be, what type of country will the U.S. be, in 2016 and what role the u.s. will play in global affairs.

 

[aCultureWarrior]

If our government did not treat producers like garbage, they would stick around. All the idiots that rejected NAFTA didn't realize that was a good deal and was slowing down the shift to China.

NAFTA was a good deal?

 

[serpentdove]

[D]estroy the middle class the backbone of the country and you destroy the country.

He knows that. :Nineveh:

The attacks on the country are multi-level, aimed at various institutions, it is difficult to see exactly what the end result will be, what type of country will the U.S. be, in 2016 and what role the [U.S.] will play in global affairs.

There is a reason we :5020: are becoming more irrelevant daily. :reals: Eze 38-39

 

[99lamb]

serpentdove
He knows that. :Nineveh:


There is a reason we :5020: are becoming more irrelevant daily. :reals: Eze 38-39

The question is, what does America stand for? What ideals of American life are to be valued, certainly not the moral standards, and more and more with the increase in government dependents not the work ethic, international policies? So, what does modern America represent?
.

 

[Krsto]

[4 in 5 in U.S. Face Near-Poverty by Hope Yen Washington AP] "Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor and loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend..." Full text: 4 in 5 in U.S. Face Near-Poverty :Nineveh: Eccl 10:2, Jn 10:10

Why does everybody keep worrying about the widening gap between the rich and the poor? What they should be worrying about is whether the poor are richer today than yesterday. That can happen even when the gap is getting larger.

 

[Krsto]

The question is, what does America stand for? What ideals of American life are to be valued, certainly not the moral standards, and more and more with the increase in government dependents not the work ethic, international policies? So, what does modern America represent?
.

People in droves are still knocking our door down to get access to freedom and opportunity.

 

[serpentdove]

People in droves are still knocking our door down to get access to freedom and opportunity.

What door? They can walk right in.

 

[99lamb]

Krsto
Why does everybody keep worrying about the widening gap between the rich and the poor? What they should be worrying about is whether the poor are richer today than yesterday. That can happen even when the gap is getting larger.

Good point, but is that the case?
A raising tide lifts all ships answer, however with unemployment (7.7 to 7.8%), manufacturing jobs leaving and never to return,because it was the service industry that was supposed to be the next economic driver, the condition of the working poor has become more fragile,less savings, less retirement cushion - except for S.S., when we have less people needing government assistance I might be persuaded to reconsider.

 

[99lamb]

Krsto
People in droves are still knocking our door down to get access to freedom and opportunity.

True, no argument here. But clarify on "droves" are we talking about an underground economy,those who work off the books, live in a house with multiple families, send the money back home?
Or are we talking about the ones that come here legally?

And if we are talking about the ones that are here legally, to what economic strata are they working in, they are not unskilled labor? They might be people who went to our University system and were recruited out of college, but I don't see the unskilled laborer be a great asset to the economic engine.

 

[99lamb]

just for the fun of it:

NYC welfare food is shipped in barrels to the Dominican Republic - then sold on the black market.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/isle_take_that_welfare_scam_VBsTspIxia2GA9o2oS505L

So, not only does the American taxpayer pay for food stamps in this country they also pay for those abroad.

 

[Krsto]

True, no argument here. But clarify on "droves" are we talking about an underground economy,those who work off the books, live in a house with multiple families, send the money back home?
Or are we talking about the ones that come here legally?

And if we are talking about the ones that are here legally, to what economic strata are they working in, they are not unskilled labor? They might be people who went to our University system and were recruited out of college, but I don't see the unskilled laborer be a great asset to the economic engine.

I don't know why people worry about Mexicans sending money back home (one of my employees does it, I'm glad he's taking care of his aging mother and I helped by providing him with work). I don't see why people worry about jobs going overseas. We live in a global economy. Anything that helps a poor Mexican mom or an Indian software engineer or a Chinese factory worker helps Americans since any increase to their standard of living increases their buying power and ability to buy American goods.

I live in Washington state, the state with the highest exports per capita off all 50 states. We are acutely aware of the benefits of other countries having buying power and don't mind a bit if the other 49 states are helping out by buying their products. The more you buy overseas, the more we sell cherries, apples, software, airplanes, etc. You save money on what you buy and we make money on what they buy. Sorry Detroit, but your overpaid union workers and "Buy American" campaigns are not helping the American economy.

Furthermore, "Buy American" is un-Christian. God looks down on the Chineese, the Mexican, the Indian, and the American the same. He does not favor one ethnic group over another and neither should we.

 

[99lamb]

Krsto
I don't know why people worry about Mexicans sending money back home (one of my employees does it, I'm glad he's taking care of his aging mother and I helped by providing him with work).

I wasn't referring to Mexicans, in this instance.I was thinking about a story in NYC,that exposed the servitude of Chinese immigrants, living in apartments with 8 or more people. The sleeping conditions were arranged around work schedules (1st,2nd,3rd) not a good thing.

I don't see why people worry about jobs going overseas. We live in a global economy. Anything that helps a poor Mexican mom or an Indian software engineer or a Chinese factory worker helps Americans since any increase to their standard of living increases their buying power and ability to buy American goods.

Well, that may be your perspective, but the loss of jobs here is what concerns people. You can't buy cheaper goods, when you are unemployed, and the only goods you can afford are of cheap quality.

I live in Washington state, the state with the highest exports per capita off all 50 states. We are acutely aware of the benefits of other countries having buying power and don't mind a bit if the other 49 states are helping out by buying their products. The more you buy overseas, the more we sell cherries, apples, software, airplanes, etc. You save money on what you buy and we make money on what they buy. Sorry Detroit, but your overpaid union workers and "Buy American" campaigns are not helping the American economy.

To the highlighted part I will give a nod, when the union bargaining table forces companies to move /relocate to right to work states, or move overseas the Union has now become the problem.

Furthermore, "Buy American" is un-Christian. God looks down on the Chineese, the Mexican, the Indian, and the American the same. He does not favor one ethnic group over another and neither should we.

Don't think your analogy is correct, the governments of these countries are what is to be examined. How they treat their own people, the level of corruption, is the issue.
If open trade with the U.S. increases freedoms - great, if on the other hand exporting jobs overseas decreases the economic power here in the U.S. causing more people to slide into poverty, or take jobs that pay less thereby decreasing American's living standards, then all you have managed to do is lower the bar not raise it.

 

[serpentdove]

Homeownership at 18-Year Low Eccl 10:2, Jn 10:10

 

[serpentdove]

Obama: Top Tax Rate Should Be 28% for Corporations, 40% for Small Businesses :Nineveh: Ex 20:15

 

[serpentdove]

Study: Record Number 21 Million Young Adults Living With Parents

953,000 Jobs Created In 2013; 731,000 Are Part-Time

 

[PureX]

Why does everybody keep worrying about the widening gap between the rich and the poor? What they should be worrying about is whether the poor are richer today than yesterday. That can happen even when the gap is getting larger.

Regardless of how much overall wealth a nation has, when the disparity between the rich and everyone else becomes too great, the economy stagnates. The reason this happens is that everyone spends most of what they earn up to a point. But beyond that point, the money they take in becomes investment money, not spending money. Spent money constantly circulates as people get paid to produce goods and services, and then the spend it to consume goods and services. But investment money doesn't circulate very much. All investment money does, ultimately, is steadily draw wealth from the production/consumption cycle and pile it up in the investment pile. So that over time, it sucks so much wealth out of the production/consumption cycle that it begins to starve, and eventually there is less and less production to invest in.

And that's about where we are, now. The rich have lots of investment capital, but not a lot of places to invest it in, because the production/consumption cycle that everyone else lives in has been depleted of too much of it's wealth. Right now 2% of the population has control of 50% of the nation's wealth. But those 2% aren't buying any more than anyone else is. So they are only contributing 2% of all that wealth back into the production/consumption cycle, leaving 48% of the nation's wealth looking for investment opportunities. That's far too much. We don't need that much investment capital. What we need is more money in the pockets of consumers, who will spend it on products and services, which creates jobs, and paychecks, that in turn will fuel more consumption ... and as all this production/consumption increases, will then increase investment the opportunities as well.

The whole system needs to be balanced because money is like grease in a machine. The more the grease is spread around, the better the machine runs. When it piles up in one area, the other parts of the machine seise up.