The Schism Grows....

-
Two fascinating stories coming out of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

First, a release issued by CBPP on 9/10/09 has this to say about the state of our economy:

"Poverty increased, median household income fell, and the percentage of Americans with employer-based health coverage continued to decline in 2008...."

Seems "trickle down" never worked all that well for those on the down-side of the policies.

However, there was good news in a release issued by CBPP on 9/9/09 - for the top income earners:

"Two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928..."

Seems Bush/Cheney knew how to enact policies that really rewarded their base - at the expense of everyone else.

Links to the releases below....

Poverty Rose, Median Income Declined, and Job-Based Health Insurance Continued to Weaken in 2008 - Recession Likely to Expand Ranks of Poor and Uninsured in 2009 and 2010

Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion - Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows

Comments

Ted K said…
A memory that will stick in my mind for awhile, is shortly after george bush left office he attended a women's basketball game at Baylor University. Of course you know Baylor is down in Texas. It was a big game verses Oklahoma so there was a significant crowd. When he left near the end of the game, he looked back and waved and it was like nobody even saw him.
Dick Cheney has been more lucky. They are going to name a building after him at Wyoming University. That decision only garnered mild protest.
September 14, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Ted K said…
Yes, him and the librarian. I assume he has friends at Baylor. The librarian came in case all the numbers on the scoreboard got confusing.
September 16, 2009 at 12:19 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The October Rose

-
Image
‘Tis the season to bring love and joy into the world – and here’s one of the loveliest stories of the year… It’s a story that begins in October 2008, when the economy is in a state of collapse; the culture is in crisis, and faith in humanity – at least, my faith in humanity – is at an all-time low. It is precisely at this time that my next-door neighbor, Annie Jennings, comes home from high school bearing an orange rose. She presents this flower to her mother, Ellen, with the announcement that she is one of the “Sweet 16,” a member of Libertyville High School’s Homecoming Court. Annie is not quite 18 years old, a high school senior with stick-straight, sandy blond hair, glasses and a big smile. We hire her to feed our cat whenever we head out of town and we leave knowing our cat is in very good hands. So when I learn of her selection as a member of the homecoming court, I am intrigued. This is the girl who watches my cat, after all. Ellen is curious about what it means to...
Read more

On the failure of "the invisible hand" to influence our financial sector

-
In Alan Greenspan's book, The Age of Turbulence , one of the issues he explores is the failure of economic populism in Latin America. Here are his thoughts: " The dictionary defines 'populism' as a political philosophy that supports the rights and power of the people, usually in opposition to a privileged elite. I see economic populism as a response by an impoverished populace to a failing society, one characterized by an economic elite who are perceived as oppressors. Under economic populism, the government accedes to the demands of the people, with little regard for either individual rights or the economic realities of how the wealth of a nation is increased or even sustained." So in Greenspan's view as a self-described Libertarian Republican, economic populism comes to life in "failing societies" that have significant income inequality and are dominated by an economic elite. And in Greenspan's mind, it is not the government that can make t...
Read more

"Good-bye to all that..."

-
Harry Patch died last week in England. It was the expected outcome for a man of 111. But it is a notable death because with Harry Patch goes the last living memory of trench warfare experienced nearly a century ago during The Great War - known now as World War 1. This story on CNN.com is a wonderful summary of Patch's life. He was a plumber before and after his stint in the trenches. He saw some of the worst warfare man has ever experienced: "He fought and was seriously wounded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele, in which 70,000 of his fellow soldiers died -- including three of his close friends." That's a placid little sentence to describe the slaughter of 70,000 men. A horror Patch refused to talk about until he turned 100 years old. Here's a YouTube video that shows some photos and film footage from the Battle of Passchendaele: You can hear the survivor's voice in this video shot at Passchendaele about two years ag...
Read more