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True Dough

(17,090 posts)
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 11:11 AM Jun 2022

One of America's greatest problems summarized in a chart

I'm sure this has been posted before in various ways, but this illustrates what has gone so drastically wrong, and politicians (mostly on the right, IMO) have facilitated it:




Something MUST be done to reverse that. Taxing billionaires more sounds enticing to me, and Joe Biden has been touting exactly that. Go Joe!!

45 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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One of America's greatest problems summarized in a chart (Original Post) True Dough Jun 2022 OP
Kick dalton99a Jun 2022 #1
Thanks enough Jun 2022 #2
What happened in 1980? wryter2000 Jun 2022 #3
bingo nt intrepidity Jun 2022 #4
The beginning of the end for this country. wryter2000 Jun 2022 #6
all these shits owe it to limbaugh and sons - 1500 radio staiotns that echoed limbaugh/rove/heritage certainot Jun 2022 #41
It was more the shift in corporate philosophy Amishman Jun 2022 #7
Make stock buybacks illegal again. Lonestarblue Jun 2022 #18
Agreed. End stock buy back. BettyonRed Jun 2022 #20
Henry Ford tried this...the Dodge brothers took it to court and won OnlinePoker Jun 2022 #23
Costco manages wryter2000 Jun 2022 #24
Thank Milton Friedman TexasBushwhacker Jun 2022 #30
He also said that lawsuits would be used to keep the excesses under control. plimsoll Jun 2022 #31
Reaganomics is the big lie that kicked off the modern era of repub malfeasance...nt Wounded Bear Jun 2022 #8
Reagan proudly promoted greed. Trust_Reality Jun 2022 #32
THIS! THIS! THIS! OMGWTF Jun 2022 #22
Trickle-Down czarjak Jun 2022 #25
"What happened in 1980?" pazzyanne Jun 2022 #33
And "trickle down" economics, which wnylib Jun 2022 #39
I'm sure if we looked at 2014-2022, it would be even worse Poiuyt Jun 2022 #5
Especially the 2017 trump tax breaks...nt Wounded Bear Jun 2022 #10
Reagan Ruined Everything Novara Jun 2022 #9
He sure did! 😬😔😟😠 ShazzieB Jun 2022 #12
Yep. But we've kept his policies for almost 50 years. jimfields33 Jun 2022 #14
'Cause Big Business and the Donor Class likes'em peppertree Jun 2022 #26
Refer to the chart. I agree with you 100%. mjvpi Jun 2022 #38
I've always wondered why Bill Clinton didn't change the tax structure FakeNoose Jun 2022 #28
Post removed Post removed Jun 2022 #36
"We can have democracy in this country, or... FailureToCommunicate Jun 2022 #11
That's a meaningful quote True Dough Jun 2022 #13
Supply-side economic policies--dubbed "Reaganomics" KS Toronado Jun 2022 #15
This subject matter SHOULD be irrefutable True Dough Jun 2022 #17
It's obscene. Tax these greedy b*stards. Joinfortmill Jun 2022 #16
bookmarking--thanks panader0 Jun 2022 #19
I guarantee that half the Republicans looking at that chart would misinterpret it. Lonestarblue Jun 2022 #21
would like to this include post pandemic G_j Jun 2022 #27
Good chart. Martin68 Jun 2022 #29
All of the above ymetca Jun 2022 #34
You are right about Social Security and Medicare True Dough Jun 2022 #35
k & r LAS14 Jun 2022 #37
tinkle down since 1980. pansypoo53219 Jun 2022 #40
Kick and kick! burrowowl Jun 2022 #42
History tells us societies fail when all the wealth is at the top! The Jungle 1 Jun 2022 #43
Fuckin WOW !!! uponit7771 Jun 2022 #44
Almost as if trickle-down is a Big Fat Lie! rizlaplus Jun 2022 #45

wryter2000

(46,016 posts)
6. The beginning of the end for this country.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 11:25 AM
Jun 2022

After that, it only took Newt Gingrich to ruin the congress.

 

certainot

(9,090 posts)
41. all these shits owe it to limbaugh and sons - 1500 radio staiotns that echoed limbaugh/rove/heritage
Sun Jun 19, 2022, 12:59 AM
Jun 2022

foundation and later, kremlin think tanks

trump would don't have gotten anywhere close to the WH without limbaugh, like bush. gingrich piggybacked limbaugh and reagan owes his remake and rehab to limbaugh, who deified him and bush sr, north, rumsfeld, cheney etc instead of recognizing the treason and election fraud of the october surprise/iran.

the record partisanship, and ALEC's sudden success after years of struggle, coincides directly with the end of the fairness doctrine and the early years of the rw radio monopoly buildup in the late 80s early 90s

Amishman

(5,538 posts)
7. It was more the shift in corporate philosophy
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 11:26 AM
Jun 2022

Product quality, customer satisfaction, and employee wellbeing all became distant concerns behind maximizing profit. It became the norm that the former considerations only received attention when the latter was negatively impacted.

My suggested fixes:

Mandatory profit sharing with all employees.

Requiring companies that pay dividends, pay executive bonuses or stock options, or perform stock buybacks spend a matching sum on bonuses to non-exclusive employees. Perhaps double for stock buybacks. My current employer is stiffing employees with 3-4% raises while doing stock buybacks that work out to $25k per employee.

Tax the use of contractors.

Lonestarblue

(9,874 posts)
18. Make stock buybacks illegal again.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:37 PM
Jun 2022

They are a way for executives to manipulate market prices and feather their bonus nests, and the money for them comes at the expense of workers and job geowth.

OnlinePoker

(5,702 posts)
23. Henry Ford tried this...the Dodge brothers took it to court and won
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:58 PM
Jun 2022

Michigan supreme court ruled: ... that Henry Ford had to operate the Ford Motor Company in the interests of its shareholders, rather than in a charitable manner for the benefit of his employees or customers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

Basically, if you're a company owned by shareholders, there's not much you can do to benefit the employees over shareholders. This is why unions are so important so you can at least try to get profit sharing included in the contract.

wryter2000

(46,016 posts)
24. Costco manages
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 01:13 PM
Jun 2022

Experts say, and I believe them, that keeping your employees in the long term is better for your bottom line than being cheap with them.

I worked for Kaiser Permanente for 22 years, and I was nowhere near the longest-lived employee there. There were people who'd been there 40 years or more. I don't think KP is publicly traded. I know Costco is because I own a few shares of their stock, and it does very well.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,043 posts)
30. Thank Milton Friedman
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 04:35 PM
Jun 2022

He decided absolutely nothing mattered but increasing profits for shareholders. Reagan and his followers said GREAT!

plimsoll

(1,664 posts)
31. He also said that lawsuits would be used to keep the excesses under control.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 04:51 PM
Jun 2022

So the GOP decided that lawsuits should be curtailed. So, no regulatory agencies, and no legal remedies. They heard the part they wanted, and ignored the other parts.

Trust_Reality

(1,721 posts)
32. Reagan proudly promoted greed.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 05:07 PM
Jun 2022

His followers proudly displayed bumper stickers on their big RVs that said:

I'm Spending My Kid's Inheritance!

Reagan was a silver voiced, smooth talking, con man.

Poiuyt

(18,087 posts)
5. I'm sure if we looked at 2014-2022, it would be even worse
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 11:24 AM
Jun 2022

The tax policies in this country are terrible (unless you're a billionaire)

mjvpi

(1,384 posts)
38. Refer to the chart. I agree with you 100%.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 06:13 PM
Jun 2022

Citizens United decision and dark money in general give the wealthy a unbalanced voice in elections.

FakeNoose

(32,328 posts)
28. I've always wondered why Bill Clinton didn't change the tax structure
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 03:03 PM
Jun 2022

Clinton came in in 1992 with a fresh mandate after the Reagan/Bush1 years were finally over. Clinton could have made needed changes in the taxing matrix, but he didn't. The timing would have been right and he could have saved us from a lot of pain. Why didn't he do it?

Response to FakeNoose (Reply #28)

FailureToCommunicate

(13,988 posts)
11. "We can have democracy in this country, or...
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:07 PM
Jun 2022

we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." -- JUSTICE LOUIS BRANDEIS

Raygun was the beginning of the downward slide.

Of course Nixon and Ford we pretty bad as well before Reagan.

True Dough

(17,090 posts)
13. That's a meaningful quote
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:16 PM
Jun 2022

And I hope the Republicans find out its consequences without stealing our democracy!

KS Toronado

(16,900 posts)
15. Supply-side economic policies--dubbed "Reaganomics"
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:18 PM
Jun 2022

Should be talked about more headed into the midterms and how it keeps people poor.

True Dough

(17,090 posts)
17. This subject matter SHOULD be irrefutable
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:27 PM
Jun 2022

It's extremely difficult to converse with Republicans and find common ground, but if you raise this issue and say, "See, we're all worse off over the past four decades except for the ultra-wealthy. We have to do something about that and put more money back in the hands of the average American."

Of course things are likely to devolve into, "Your side is responsible for getting us here." But if we can avoid arguing over who's to blame and just agree that the rich have been robbing from the lower and middle classes, at least we have that much in common with the other side.

Lonestarblue

(9,874 posts)
21. I guarantee that half the Republicans looking at that chart would misinterpret it.
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 12:41 PM
Jun 2022

They would look at it and say, “See, the rich are paying 194% more in taxes than those at the bottom. That’s good.”

Economic education in this country is a joke.

ymetca

(1,182 posts)
34. All of the above
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 05:16 PM
Jun 2022

and repealing Glass-Steagall (you can thank Slick Willie for that one), which put the icing on the cake. Now hedge funders are literally carving up the spoils.

They are salivating over Social Security and Medicare now. The want ALL of it, so they can play crypto games on their yachts.

True Dough

(17,090 posts)
35. You are right about Social Security and Medicare
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 05:35 PM
Jun 2022

They're in jeopardy and we have to fight like hell to keep them!

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