The Beggar's Waltz

"The comfort of the rich depends on an abundance of the poor." - Voltaire



And we the people... continue to dance the dance... of the Beggar's Waltz. The current Presidential debates on certain issues such as tax rates, middle class income, "socialism", and wealth distribution got me thinking about the actual numbers. What are the figures about the socio-economic make up of America?

First, let me point out, I will make reference to two separate terms... "average income" and "median household income." The first referring to each invididual PERSON, the second referring to each collective home, be it a home with one sole bread winner, or multiple people with their own separate sources of income coming into that home. I make that distinction because though the median household income in this nation is barely creeping upwards, if not alltogether stagnant, the average salary in this country is going down. Between 1974 and 2004, the average individual salary of an American male dropped 12.5%. The median household income has not reflected this, ONLY because over the last 35 years, there have been more and more women entering the workforce.

John McCain has said many times on the campaign trail, and I've heard it in other places (such as my arch-nemesis Rush Limbaugh), that 40% of Americans do not pay any taxes. They are, of course, taken out as federal withholdings on every paychecks, however about 40% of the American population gets a full refund during the April tax season. What noone ever mentions, is why they dont pay tax. Consider it some small minute resemblance of compassion for the poorest Americans. But 40% is a large portion of our total population. According to a tax study cited on Lou Dobbs one third of American workers earn less than $15,000 per year. 33% of our entire work force! Which seems in line with the Republican talking point that 40% of American workers pay no taxes. And according to the same study, 76% of American workers make less than $50,000 a year. And, of course, 95% of the American people make less than $250,000 per year, but no shock there. So, when there is mention of the upper middle class, Americans need to understand this is a very, very minute percentage of the entire United States population. Though they FULLY know better, the way these Republican pundits talk to the American people, some of these nitwits would give you the impression that...

a) Avg person makes about $50K/yr (untrue)
b) Avg household brings in about $75K/yr (untrue)
c) There is only about 5-8% of the population (all lazy) who make less than $15K/yr (untrue)

All, three are total... utter... garbage.

I've made mention on several previous occasions that after World War 2, America benefited from the decimation of Europe by becoming the leading world manufacturer. While Europe had to rebuild its infrustructure, all those displaced labor jobs came here. And though economic inequality was at one of its highest peaks right before the stock market crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression, government programs (FDR's new deal) and new (relatively) high wage manufacturing markets helped to bridge the economic gap.

However, in recent decades, we have begun to see a trend of manufacturing jobs outsourced to other nations at a significantly lower wage rate. We have also seen an influx of low wage "service" jobs, while simultaneously seeing dramatic increases in CEO compensation.

If it wasn't so blood-boiling, it would almost be humorous how supporters of big business, like to claim that raising wages, or returning business tax rates to pre-Bush levels will cause businesses to fail. Look at the above chart. While they keep "selling" the talking point to people of all income levels who are against tax increases, they have also began to hoard more and more of the total profits for themselves on the upper management level. How is it possible that the Average American male earns 12.5% less from 1974 to 2004 (click here for full story) while CEO's went from making 27 times to 262 times the average salary of their employees over roughly the exact same period?!!! How is this possible? Your wages go down and upper management compensation grows exponentially? But raising wages or a slight tax increase would kill jobs? Yeah... okay... sure. You tell that to the double-digit IQ'ed hamsters walking around. The only thing wage and/or tax hikes would kill are these (morally anathema) OPTIMIZED profit margins and personal wealth that has been skyrocketing for the very select few over the last 30 years.

And the fact that "a certain party" has continued to vote against raising the minimum wage... wow! I dont get why average Americans dont care about this issue. The minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum earning a single person can sustain themselves on alone. It may not directly affect you, but it gives you the mindset of those who are making decisions, and those OTHER decisions will affect you. I know the Democrats finally FORCED a bill through, but this should be noted. If you look at the above chart, adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is at its lowest levels since the mid 1950's! And the minimum wage has depreciated (in purchasing power) by 35% since its peak in 1968! I guess that was too much "spreading the wealth." And noone ever mentions the rising COST of living, in comparison to the standard of living. Compared to previous generations, I wonder why noone ever factors that in. University costs (college is free in Europe, btw) outpace inflation. Healthcare costs outpace inflation. However, if you look at the chart below, you can see that the "median" household income hasn't change at all over the last 40 years, while the top 5% keeps collecting more... and more... and more... and more... of the pie.

The cause of this issue (besides an uninformed/uninvolved electorate) is the laissez-faire capitalism that America has embraced. Every defense about business is profit. "You can't get the government involved... it will ruin profit." Everyone speaks about the invisible hand that automatically guides the markets to a place of equilibrium. The facts [that anyone can look up] clearly do not represent that. There is a corporate fascism going on. Institutionalized inequality... where big business DICTATES the earnings of the people. Fascist in terms of corporate decision making... corporate influence over government. Lobbying, we'll say... where there is enough influence to kill certain bills that most Americans dont keep up with, like the 8 previous minimum wage bills that died after Republican's killed legislation. Fighting government regulation, which helps companies police themselves... suppressing wage increases, busting up unionization and the buying/absorbtion of small businesses.

The American dream was not to go to work for some corporation. That is not a bad job or choice for a career in many cases, however, the American dream was entrepreneurship. Self-employment creates wealth. Ownership. The guy who owns a small burger restaurants earns more money than the guy who manages the McDonald's franchise, even though McDonald's is bringing in FAR more money. Why? Because McDonald's has a lot of boardroom executives that are taking home a large chunk of that money, where as, even though the guy who owns Chuck's Burgers grosses less, he's personally keeping more. There are small businesses that thrive but most markets, most workers, most cash flow goes through the "hands" of major corporations, and these corporations compensate the executive disproprotinately more than the average employee. In essence, the corporations are the source of most inequality... hoarding the majority of American wealth for the very, very few.

What is the difference between wealth and income? Income would be considered your earnings, whereas wealth would be what you currently OWN which can be appropriated or exchanged at some type of monetary value. Your paycheck reflects income. A Roth IRA reflects wealth. Home ownership (though not very liquid) reflects wealth. Business assets, financial securities, yachts... all examples of wealth. The above graph shows that the WEALTH in this nation has been secured by the hands of a very... very few. Wealth in the United States is far more disproportionate than income. The top 1% of Americans control 34.3% of US wealth. The top 10% own SEVENTY ONE PERCENT of all wealth. And if you look at the "smidget" on the far right, you will see the bottom 40%... all those evil evil people... those lazy people... who dont pay taxes, they have less than 1% of the wealth in this nation. The bottom 40% of Americans control .02% to be exact! Not 2% of the wealth... .02%. And these numbers count home ownership. If you dont count OWNER-occupied homes, the wealth disparity is even more scary. Why is that? Well, according to the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finance (click here), the top 10% owns 85% of all outstanding stock, 85% of all financial securities and 90% of all business assets.

The above chart shows the differences in income and wealth per economic group in America. We usually talk about INCOME, and with 76 out of every 100 Americans earning less than $50,000 per year... and 95 out of every 100 Americans earning less than $250,000 per year... there are major INCOME inequalities... but when you look at wealth, or the lack thereof... that should offend every American! We talk about the American dream and I would ask if the dream is dead. Dream deferred? Or dream denied. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS THE LARGEST WEALTH DISPARITY OF ANY INDUSTRIALIZED NATION IN THE WORLD. The "closest" would be England, where our top 1% controls 34.3% of all wealth, whereas in England the top 1% controls about 22%. And we can only use the term "closest" if you consider America's top one percent controlling 150% as much as England's top 1%... "close."

Maybe... just maybe, we will have more compassion the next time we're interacting with one of the low wage service jobs that make up a larger and larger portion of our workforce. 33% of Americans earn less than $15,000 per year. Be it... security guard, cashier, dry cleaning employee, fast foot worker, airport bagger, department store employee, grocery clerk, grocery stocker, janitor, house cleaner, gas station attendant, waitress, waiter, restaurant host, retail store clerk or any of the myriad of other low wage employees we interact with on regular basis.

When asked in an interview about the negative affects of inequal wealth distribution affecting the United States, NYU economic professor Edward Wolff said this:

"Typically when countries are more equal, education achievement and benfits are more equally distributed in the country. In a country like the United States, there are still huge disparities in resources going to education, so quality of schooling and schooling performance are unequal. If you have a society with large concentrations of poor families, average school achievement is usually a lot lower than where you have a much more homogenous middle class population, as you find in most Western European countries. So schooling suffers in this country, and, as a result, you get a labor force that is less well educated on average than in a country like the Netherlannds, Germany or even France. So the level of inequality results in less human capital being developed in this country, which ultimately affects economic performance." (entire article here)

IF... and I mean... IF... if there was a class war, as Republicans try to scare people with it, that war is over. People, might I add, who are on the wrong side of the that class war. We lost. Hopefully, the battle will begin anew. Until then.. we all... continued to dance the dance... as dictated to us... the Beggar's Waltz

McCain Needs Bush to Issue a Terror Alert (Pt 2)

*More of the "interesting" terror alert timeline. It worked so well, with all the problems affecting McCain's campaign, he could really use a Terror Alert as a subject changer. More ways how it helped President George W. Retard...

• Feb 6, 2003 - Powell pleads with the UN Security Council for a first strike against Iraq.
• Feb 9, 2003 - Citing credible threats that al Qaeda might be planning attacks on American targets, the U.S. government raised the national color-coded threat level Friday to orange, indicating a "high" risk of a terrorist attack. (This is when we were told to get that chemical warfare repelling duct tape. This was also a week before MAJOR anti-war demonstrations)
  
  
• May 12, 2003 - Jay Garner, the retired lieutenant general who was the top civil administrator in Iraq, left his post and other senior officials were also replaced. [For those who've read on the subject, you know Jay Garner was forced out for opposing Rumsfeld decisions (like disbanding the Iraqi army, among other) that would later prove devastating to the goal or rebuilding Iraq.]
• May 20, 2003 - The United States raises the nation's terror threat level Tuesday, saying the U.S. intelligence community believes al Qaeda has entered an "operational period worldwide" and might attack within the US.
  
  
  
• Jul 25, 2003 - After the Bush admin delayed its publication for months, Congress releases its 9/11 findings. The govt also deletes 28 pages of the report BELIEVED to detail Saudi funding of members of Al Qaeda in the Untied States prior to Sept. 11.
• Jul 28, 2003 - US troops charged with beating Iraqi POWs.
• Jul 29, 2003 - Department of Homeland Security issues a warning about the possibility of suicide attacks on airplanes.

• Sept 4, 2003 - The New York Times and Vanity Fair start investigating allegations that top White House officials personally approved the evacuation of dozens of influential Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, from the United States in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when most flights were still grounded.
• Sept 5, 2003 - A Department of Homeland Security advisory warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States.

• Dec 18, 2003 - 9/11 Chair Thomas Kean says the attacks were preventable.
• Dec. 19, 2003 - A fed appeals court ruled the govt can not detain U.S. citizen Jose Padilla indefinitely without pressing charges against him or allowing him access to the courts.
• Dec. 19, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal reports that auditors at the Pentagon are accusing Halliburton of refusing to hand over internal documents related to allegations that the oil service company overcharged the U.S. government in Iraq. (David Kay quits in Iraq, having found no WMD)
• Dec. 21, 2003 - Ridge raises the terror threat level.
  
  
• Mar 15, 2004 - Military families organize together to oppose the war
• Mar 17, 2004 - Condoleeza opts out of 9/11 Commission hearings. She repeats her refusal several times during the week, and later on appears on "60 Minutes" to explain her position.
• Mar 18, 2004 - News report that a "high target" Al Qaeda leader has been "surrounded" in the border with Pakistan. CNN suggests it may be Bin Laden or al-Zawahri. After fighting stops, its revealed there were no "high value" targets.
• Mar 21, 2004 - The State Department issues a terror alert.
  


• Mar 21, 2004 - (Bush critic) Richard Clarke gives an exclusive to 60 Minutes about his book “Against All Enemies” just days before he is due to testify before the 9/11 Commission. In the show, he claims Bush immediately asked for a link to be found between Iraq and 9/11, even after being told there was none.
• March 30, 2004 - Rice continues to refuse to testify publicly in front of 9/11 Commission.
• Apr 1, 2004 - US contractors (mercenaries from Blackwater) killed and mutilated in Iraq. Same day that Richard Clarke is all over the news and the Pentagon issues a report that medical evacuations in Iraq hit 18,000.
• Apr 2, 2004 - A bulletin sent from the FBI & Homeland Security warn of terrorists that may try to bomb buses and rail lines in major U.S. cities this summer.

• May 10, 2004 - Bush approval rating hits lowest point (46%)
• May 18, 2004 - Colin Powell tells Meet the Press that he was deliberately mislead about WMD information. Powell's aide tries to cut him off mid-air. (Surprisingly, he wasn't apart of the 2nd Bush term!!!)
• May 18, 2004 – Former Abu Ghraib Intel Staffer Says Army Concealed Involvement in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal.
• May 19, 2004 - Newsweek reports that President Bush's top lawyer warned two years ago that Bush could be prosecuted for war crimes as a result of how his administration was fighting the war on terror.
• May 19, 2004 - Tom Ridge testifies before 9/11 Commission on this second day of hearings in NYC.
• May 19, 2004 - Nothing but bad news about prisoner abuse in Iraq, including breaking news that the Pentagon was told about the abuses back in November. Senate Armed Forces Committee holds hearings on Abu Ghraib abuses.
• May 25, 2004 - Homeland Security issues a terror alert: Major terror attack possible this summer.
  
  
  
• Jun 7, 2004 - The Wall Street Journal publishes exclusive report demonstrating that the Pentagon provided legal rationales and loopholes in 2003 to use torture and methods of near-torture, and how to avoid various international treaties and US laws.
• Jun 14, 2004 - VP Dick Cheney is caught lying about the alleged ties of Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda. Cheney is unable to provide any evidence to his assertions after journalists inquire. On June 15, Bush defends Cheney's unsourced assertions but does not provide any evidence either that there was a "link" between Iraq and al Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks.
• Jun 15, 2004 - The Justice Department announces to the press they have thwarted an imminent terror plot to bomb malls in Ohio. Somali immigrant arrested and charged on the case. [Its later revealed the man was arrested in Nov, 2003 in relation to a plot from March 2000. That doesn't sound imminent.]
  
  
• Jul 6, 2004 - Kerry names Edwards as his running mate.
• Jul 8, 2004 - Tom Ridge holds a press conference on terror alerts over the summer and during the conventions.
• Jul 11, 2004 - Senior White House officials discuss the possibility of delaying the elections in case of a terrorist attack.
  
  
  
• July 22, 2004 - The 9/11 Commission releases their findings.
• July 26-29 - Democratic Convention
• Aug 1, 2004 - White House Projects Highest Deficit Ever.
• Aug 2, 2004 - The Department of Homeland Security raises the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas.
  

And the most important of all the Terror Alert charts... This is the one you'll NEVER get to see, they one they keep in some high level Republican campaign office...





"Yeah, um... the election is in a few days... lets go ahead and crank that thing all the way up to high. Yeah, just crank it up. Then, I'll go out there ask the American people... who do you trust to handle a crisis..."


McCain needs to plead with the Bush Administration... I'm sure they'll just go in the back room... where some dude is eating sandwiches and playing Playstation. Get a few towels... dust that sucker off... (remember, there have been almost no terror alerts in almost 4 years!!!) and get back to the basics.

McCain Needs Bush to Issue a Terror Alert (Pt 1)

John McCain needs to BEG the Bush administration to bring back the terror alerts! According to most polls, he is approximately 10points behind on the national level. But, national polls are irrelovent (ask, Gore), the issue are the state races, and in terms of electoral college votes, Obama is currently ahead. ALL of the toss up states are states that went Republican last election. McCain and Obama are fighting to win states which are currently toss-ups... like Colorado, Virginia, and a few other SouthEastern ("bible-belt") states which haven't gone Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. They say "haven't gone Democrat since '64" a lot on cable news when talking about state races. What they DONT mention is that LBJ voted for the CIVIL RIGHTS ACTand told his advisers right after signing it, that he would lose certain Southern states to the Republicans for a full generation. Actually, its been two generations, but thats a topic I've already addressed. But, if McCain is fighting to hold these type of states... you can see why his campaign has come out SWINGING the last two weeks. Some terror alerts might be just what the doctor ordered.






Lets say I'm wrong... and that the terror alert chart hasn't always been a joke, a way to scare double-digit IQ's into voting simplistically. Lets assume for a moment that they were serious and pivotal to informing the general public. THEN HOW DO THEY GO AWAY? I could be wrong, but, it seems that these "random" alarms totally disappeared after the 2004 Presidential election. Have we already won the war of hearts and minds? Did the terrorists give up after Bush won re-election?

"Curses, that Bush son... he defeated us... lets go home, Achmed!"

I mean, once you start giving out this information and claiming its vital... without saying the war on terror (a retard philosophy in and of itself) is over, how can these alerts cease to be important?




And what exactly are you supposed to do with that information anyway? The entire Terror Alert system is useless information if ever there was any. You do your day as normal at "Yummy Mummy" or "Fruit Brute" levels, but "Count Chocula" levels make you reconsider where you're going? "Frankenberry" is where you only go to school or work and immediately come home home... and "Booberry" is where we all hide under school desks and cry?

Most people dont keep up with politics, so, I know why these people do what they do. Willful ignorance of the American people. Who watched/remembers Bush debating McCain (fall 2000) and claiming that an America under George Bush's leadership will not engage in NATION BUILDING. Very interesting, in hindsight. Even, though, McCain stated over and over earlier in this campaign that he would not use his military service as a campaign tool, over the last month, its been one of the primary themes of his campaign. "He's the only man in this campaign who has fought for YOU!" (and all the hamsters clap) As a military man, the Terror Alerts would perhaps help him even more than they did Bush in 2004. Besides... everyone knows... his opponent is secretly a terrorist.

LETS TAKE A TRIP DOWN TERROR ALERT MEMORY LANE:

• Jan 10, 2002 - Bush questioned about connection to Ken Lay after Enron Collapse
• Feb 5, 2002 - Ken Lay is served a congressional subpoena. Journalists inquire about Enron's close ties to the Bush administration.
• Feb 12, 2002 - Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday called on "all Americans to be on the highest state of alert" after an FBI warning of a possible imminent terrorist attack.

• May 22, 2002 - Bush formally opposes independent investigation of 9/11, after a two day Congressional hearing with FBI director Robert Meuller and the agent who wrote the "Phoenix Memo" warning about Arab students in aviation schools having ties to militant groups.
• May 22, 2002 - The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee votes to issue subpoenas to the Bush administration for information on its contacts with bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp.
• May 24, 2002 - Railroad and other transit systems across the country received a Transportation Department warning based on "an unconfirmed, uncorroborated report", and were told to "remain in a heightened state of alert". Earlier this week, the government issued warnings about the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, leading to tightened security at an around those New York City locations.

• June 9, 2002 -- FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley talks to congress. Testifies she tried to notify her superiors about the suspicious flight students before 9/11. She compared the agency's bureaucracy to the "Little Shop Of Horrors," telling Congress the FBI could have done more to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
• June 10, 2002 - Attorney General John Ashcroft conducts an unusual and urgent press conference from Russia announcing the arrest of Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomb" suspect. Padilla [who had ACTUALLY been in secret custody since May 8th] had been captured, and transferred to the custody of the DOD from the Justice Department.

• Sept 20, 2002 - Bush decides to support an independent investigation after Congressional 9/11 inquiries, but the White House refuses to cooperate with documents about what they knew.
• Sept 20, 2002 - Bush administration is grilled by families of victims of 9/11 about their relunctance to cooperate with the 9/11 investigation.
• Sept 21, 2002 - The Pentagon completes and delivers to President Bush a highly detailed set of military options for attacking Iraq, said the New York Times, quoting Pentagon and White House officials on Saturday.
• Sept 23, 2002 - Former Vice President Al Gore warns that President Bush's doctrine allowing for a "pre-emptive" strike against Iraq could create a global "reign of fear."
• Sept 23, 2002 - Victory for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his ruling coalition came after a campaign in which he emphasized his strong opposition to a US war with Iraq.
• Sept 10-24, 2002 - The attorney general elevates the terror alert. Later on, based on a review of intelligence and an assessment of threats by the intelligence community, as well as the passing of the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the disruption of potential terrorist operations in the United States and abroad, the Attorney General in consultation with the Homeland Security Council has made the decision to return the threat level to an elevated risk of terrorist attack, or "yellow" level.