A little graphical information.

[glasseye]

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/ ... ref=sunday

[Amskeptic]

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/ ... ref=sunday

Ouch. We are a dumb bunch, those of us in the bottom 2/5ths.
Our productivity went up 80%, and we still couldn't convince boss to give us a raise?
Colin

[ruckman101]

All that trickling down (?).


neal

[Velokid1]

We just need to deregulate all those corporations. It would free them to do all the wonderful humanitarian work that their stockholders are demanding.

[Bleyseng]

It completely shows that " Trickle Down Economics" works ! (only for the top 1%)

Now we know why the GOP is fighting again for it!!!

[Velokid1]

Except it doesn't explain why the zillions of Republicans in the bottom 99% support it. I don't know if there IS an explanation for that.

[Sylvester]

I need to print this off, with the "Why Reagan hated the working man" explanation, and that Democrats vs Republicans sheet showing how well each has done in the states.

[steve74baywin]

I thought it was a neat set of graphs.
Too bad it's not as simple as voting in wealthy politicians from a certain side to change the way the cards are stacked. To vote in some rich cats that pretend to fit into a fake two sided system time and time again is what really surprises me. One needs to see how this rigged game was created. One needs to see how an "economy" controlled by government's coercive power will always be like a money system controlled by the mob, because it is a money system controlled by a mob, therefore it will be like it is.

[Velokid1]

Eat the rich. Tastes like chicken.

[Sylvester]

Except it doesn't explain why the zillions of Republicans in the bottom 99% support it. I don't know if there IS an explanation for that.

Possibly near to the reason a lot of average to poor Southerners supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Slavery and states rights when directly it had little to no affect on them.

[Velokid1]

You have to admit that the trickle down economics fairytale is an irresistible one for those who are able to suspend reason long enough to consider it viable. After all, how cool would it be to magically pay all your bills with a slow but steady flow of pennies leaking from the raging stream of cash that belongs to the wealthy elite? Really freakin' cool! Because those people are always going to be rich as hell, as we have seen for centuries, so it's a sure bet. Just let them trample all over you and the planet, then kick back, laugh, hug your wife and kids, and listen to the steady drip-drip-drip raining down upon your luxurious mobile home. Ahhhhhh... Calgon, take me away.

[steve74baywin]

You have to admit that the trickle down economics fairytale is an irresistible one for those who are able to suspend reason long enough to consider it viable.

I will give you that, but I think you should give me this.

You have to admit that getting the rich politicians to increase taxes on themselves for the benifit of the poor fairytale is an irresistible one for those who are able to suspend reason long enough to consider it viable.



Maybe one should look at it this way.
If the large group of people tell, ask or beg the government to use force to take from the wealthy to give to the poor several things are happening. One is the people are giving those in power a license to do such things. They are saying it is okay to use force on some for the advantage of others. It actually is something that happens without much thought. If you think about small groups of people, if you see they have no problem with farting in the room, you then have no problem farting in the room, it has been determined this is okay in his group. The license to violate ones rights for gain is being shown by the masses. Then those in power see it is okay by the group. Problem now is those in power are the wealthy, so even if they let you think they are taxing themselves, they are not, hence all the loop holes.

[Velokid1]

You have to admit that the trickle down economics fairytale is an irresistible one for those who are able to suspend reason long enough to consider it viable.

I will give you that, but I think you should give me this.

You have to admit that getting the rich politicians to increase taxes on themselves for the benifit of the poor fairytale is an irresistible one for those who are able to suspend reason long enough to consider it viable.

Nothing is black and white. You seem to be hinting at a fairytale where the wealthy are robbed so that the poor can live a fabulously comfortable lifestyle. What most people are asking for is the insanely wealthy to give up a very small percentage of their wealth for the greater good of the country and the people from whence their wealth came.

What we have now is a living fairytale that is as black and white as yours, and equally sinister: the wealthy elite are allowed to amass great wealth that was derived from the toil, labor and even deaths of many thousands of people, while being held to a weak legal standard and an even weaker moral standard. They are legally permitted to rob everyone else and then give back to the country that made their wealth possible a smaller percentage of their wealth than the guy running a stand at the farmer's market does.

Look at the graphs in the original post of this thread. Look at the distribution of wealth! Holy shit, Batman. None of us know the founding fathers personally (though we like to think we do because we've spent untold hours with our noses buried in books about them), and even if we did know them, I refuse to consider their 18th century opinions some sort of gospel... but can you honestly look at those graphs and tell me that THAT sort of disparity between the working class and the wealthy is what the founders of our country had in mind? Regardless of how the Constitution is interpreted, those guys are doing barrel rolls in their graves, guaranteed.

One is the people are giving those in power a license to do such things. They are saying it is okay to use force on some for the advantage of others.

Some may interpret the message that way, but the real message is "it is okay to use force on some for the benefit of the majority of the citizens of our country.

[steve74baywin]

The economic issues stem from what I call a controlled, rigged
system.

I will pick one circumstance for this example.
In todays system if we eliminate government jobs people point out
how that is the last thing we need, the economy will get worse, and in this system rightly so.
Let's use a simplified example for explanation purposes.
Let's say you have 100 people that form a community. They are in the
middle of your state and no one else lives in that state.
These people have needs, desires, goals and dreams like housing,
food, things for entertainment, etc.
So they as a community work for those things.
Now let's say 25% of them had government jobs and those jobs ended.
That would mean 25 people are now available to work. There are now 25 more people to work on the things the people want. Remember these 25 people already live in your community, they already use those things the community provides. Them being able to work has only good points. You now have 25 people to work on what the community needs and wants, housing, food, entertainment, etc.
Those farming for food or building houses would love the additional help, the whole community would.
Why is this a good thing in this example but a bad thing if it happened today? It is because of the economic and monetary system.
It is because the money is loaned by the private Federal Reserve Bank and controlled, regulated and manipulated by the economic system.

The same thing when they say "we need more jobs".
In the example of a community of 100 people with needs, desire and goals if they got to the end of the work week and some people didn't get to work it wouldn't be "We need more jobs". Not if everything they wanted to achieve was done. Instead they could say, hey, why work 8 hours a day for 5 days, let's just work for 6 hours a day seeing how we got everything done we needed and wanted.
Why is it not that way in this system we have today? Because of the rigged controlled economy.