Two graphics that explain EVERYTHING: the Republican War on the 99%

[kpete]

http://icaruscalling.tumblr.com/post/19356645627/okay-i-found-the-source-for-this-map-its-from

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/30/258388/corporate-profits-recovery/
http://underthemountainbunker.com/2012/03/16/this-explains-everything-hours-at-minimum-wage-needed-to-afford-rent-map/

[gateley]

1. "In NO State can a minimum wage worker afford a two bedroom unit..."

America. The Greatest Nation In The World!

And Chart #2 shows how it happened.

[SkyDaddy7]

9. Chart 2 has little to do with it...

Chart 2 just shows 2yrs of data out of the past 30yrs or so that have lead to the inequality in this country. It did not happen in just the past 2-3yrs.

[valerief]

17. We live in NOW. It shows it's happening now. nt

[tooeyeten]

22. you're right sort of

But certainly the prior years created this massive disproportionate economic picture of the facts.

[gtar100]

10. Shows that "minimum wage" has more to do with how little business owners can get away with paying

and it has nothing to do with a "living wage".

Anyone who works 40 hours a week at an honest job deserves at least a "living wage".

I think it's time we put the rich back on the menu.

[The Wielding Truth]

23. And the conservative authoritarians have been mounting a war on unions.

[DireStrike]

2. I'd like to see chart number 2 for previous years.

While it is unprecedented, I bet most of the "growth" is usually in corporate profits. Wages have hardly grown at all for decades. This helps show that whenever you hear about "growth" on the teevee, it's code for "cash flowing to the wealthy".

[LiberalLovinLug]

8. So true

When you hear on the Business Networks that the GDP is up, or the Dow is up, and all the crowing about the economy going up by so many points...or however they couch it, no one ever clarifies exactly WHO or HOW that is affecting the average worker, which is next to nothing.

Its sad to think of the America that could have been if it hadn't regressed into such a mean dog-eat-dog top down society after FDR. The slow but sure redistribution of wealth to the upper .01% during the last 50 years has meant a denial of many benefits to the American public. With that kind of wealth, the USA could have had by now free college education, a national highspeed rail line, universal healthcare where no child IS left behind, and a generous stable Social Security coffer. USA would truely be the land of opportunity and the greatest country in the world to live in.

[bl968]

3. How you fix it

Executives of a Corporation may not make more than 3 times the pay of the lowest paid employee of the Corporation. All executive compensation calculations under this section must include all incentives and bonuses..

[usrname]

6. Yup...

Want to earn more money as the CEO? Pay your employees more money. A rising tide does lift all boats. But make sure it's a rising tide and not just a singular big wave that the CEO is riding on.

[SATIRical]

13. All it does is complicate things

If there is a secretary or janitor working for a company that also employs doctors or engineers with a lot of experience, they will have to underpay the Dr/engineer, pay the receptionist/janitor more than their level of skill really dictates OR (realistically) will subcontract for the service so that person is not on their roles for calculating wage.


On edit: changed to third person since I don't have a company or a secretary!

[poverlay]

12. That's genius. Love it! n/t

[MACARD]

15. Actually i believe this rule comes from the Japanese, except they place it at 10%

[TahitiNut]

24. I'd favor a change in FASB that mandated exec comp as POST-tax distribution of profits.

Executives, particularly officers, should be regarded as agents/proxies for ownership (NOT 'employees') and their compensation treated as after-tax distribution of earnings. In no way should they be treated as "employee compensation" and skew the relevant quick ratios and labor metrics. Also, being "tax deductible," it means, in effect, that every taxpayer subsidizes that redistribution of the wealth created by (real) labor. That's just horseshit.

[Newest Reality]

4. When people get

a bit excited by "news" about how the economy is doing better, (based on small drops in calculated UI claims or GDP/Wall St. data) I can understand their feelings of relief and how they welcome the news.

If you are directly affected by the news, then yes, it is good news for you. That means, you are either amongst a small percentile who are doing much better than the better you already had, or you somehow benefit from a niche or industry that grabs some cake and frosting. You are not swirling around in the cesspool of dire circumstance, watching watching family, friends and neighbors, as well as cities and towns, go third-world.

To me, based on myriads of systemic problems that are worsening and show little hope of improving for we, the 99%, those reports are like dog treats used as incentives or rewards. They succeed in garnering support and belief in making those who benefit most from any upturns both justified and fatter.

Now, wouldn't you want that from a nation in crises? That is, especially if you owned most of the media and had powerful, (monetary) influence on politicians? Calling a shenanigans on the facade would be crucial to abating our own economic crises, be it current or looming in the near-future.

Playing along with this may seem right and reasonable. However, it is done at our own peril, especially if our personal wealth is either non-existent or based on trappings and status. The slope gets slippery in a quick and easy way.

[Initech]

5. American CEO : worker pay : 475:1. Never forget that.

That's higher than the next 30 countries combined!!

[CrispyQ]

14. Unfuckingbelievable.

http://tmotr.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/going-for-broke-will-legislate-for-food/

snip...

In the 1950?s the pay separation between the CEO’s and average workers in what we now call the Fortune 500 companies used to be about 20 to 1 (a CEO made 20 dollars for every dollar a mid level manager made. ) 20 to 1 was here in American and extreme compared to the rest of the world where even now it is more commonly about half of that. During the 1980s the pay gap between CEO’s and average workers grew from 42:1 to almost 85:1. By 2004 it had jumped to 301 : 1. And now???… well now, right here in the good old US of A, the ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay is running 475 to 1 while in Japan, a very profitable nation with a very good standard of living, the ratio is 11 to 1. The average Japanese CEO would kill himself in shame if his company failed so badly that it needed to be bailed out by the government in order to stop the world economy from crashing. American CEO’s take bonuses of 15 million dollars for doing that.

In case you need somebody to characterize that for you… that’s a bad thing. This level of greed is not a sign of American business success and superiority. It is an example of institutionalized insanity because these companies can and do lose billions of dollars in a single year and the CEO’s still make the monster money.

===



graphic from this site: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2814/chart_ratio-of-pay-between-ceos-and-workers-in-var

[BlancheSplanchnik]

18. correct. and despicable.

if we all didn't have to fight off the unending idiot attacks of the reich wing, and if Washington(tm) were better connected to reality, and if Dem voters would get their asses out for House election years, and if the media weren't monopolized by propaganda tycoons........

we might actually be able to make some fucking progress

[L0oniX]

7. The people at the top don't care which party gets the blame and IMO both parties are to blame.

When you look at how cronie capitalism has taken hold over our gov it becomes obvious that it isn't so much a party problem as it is the rotten core of our gov that is owned by anyone with enough money. Also for those who are for free market capitalism, consider this ...Wallstreet got bailed out! That means that free market capitalism was suspended under the lie of fear of a collapse which delivered the bail out. It's one or the other. Either it is capitalism or it is welfare for the rich. Capitalism lets the penalty for failure occur. If you think that is a problem of party then you have been brain washed by the DLC or whatever it was that caused you to think it was just the repukes. It's not! It is those in the gov that are under the full influence of money and that money is not coming from us except for the massive bail out that they got @ >1% and then reinvested into gov bonds @ 3%. When the truth matters more than politics then people can get a real clue on what is destroying our democracy.

Don't believe me ...I don't know that much but there are those that do and you can check it out here: http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-broadcast-crony-capitalism/

Also see:
David Stockman on Crony Capitalism
Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson on Engineered Inequality
Encore Broadcast: On Winner-Take-All Politics
Worth Watching: ‘Three Little Pigs’
Encore Broadcast: Crony Capitalism

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. just watched part of that

believe it or not, I didn't know about Bill Moyers until a friend recently introduced me to his program.

Lucky my friend has Tivo, so I can watch the whole thing.....or, now with your ilnk, that's perfect

[abelenkpe]

11. Why does anyone

defend republican efforts to do away with and/or lower minimum wage?

[sabrina 1]

16. That red chart looks like Pacman gobbling up all the little people's money.

Someone should create a game based on this.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

21. no need.....

we're living it.......

[fascisthunter]

20. basically, the richest live off the backs of the rest of us

NO ONE should have that right.