Thirty-five years of trickle-down economics...

[kentuck]

...and much of America is finally beginning to see the results.

After an overdose of opportunity, bootstraps, and shining cities on the hill, they are finally awakening to reality. That is what we have had for thirty-five fucking years.

It is all about transferring as much wealth as possible to those at the very top and to hell with you and everybody else.

Over a 35-year period, we have seen productivity and profits increase dramatically as wages have stagnated. http://www.epi.org/publication/raising-americas-pay/ This is supply-side economics. It hasn't worked and it is not going to work.

The TPP trade treaty is only the culmination of what began 35 years ago.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Not much has trickled down, has it?

Unless you count being urinated on from a great height.

[yeoman6987]

10. We've had 16 years of democratic presidents and 20 years of house and senate

I just can't believe the democratic politicians are bad too with this. Yes Reagan was awful but we have had way ample of time to fix it even with just our side. Comes a time when you have to stop looking at 35 years ago and wonder about now.

[daleanime]

2. K&R.....

[PSPS]

3. You're wrong, apparently. I don't know why myself, but a swooner will be along shortly to tell you.

You see, anything Obama (and Mitch Mcconnell) like is, somehow, just the greatest thing because, well, because he says so!!1!1.

[hifiguy]

4. The dismantling of America began

January 20, 1981. And nothing, notoriously including two two-term "Democratic" presidents, has done anything to even slow it down.

[kentuck]

5. I thought Clinton had slowed it down until....

George W Bush came along...

[hifiguy]

6. NAFTA and "financial modernization" along with

allowing oligopolistic media consolidation were all strongly supported by Clinton. And they were definitely big parts of the plutocrats' agenda.

[kentuck]

7. Truth.

The economic policies of a Third-Wayer, then known as a DLC'er.

[bvar22]

28. A DLCer fat with Koch Brothers Money.

http://americablog.com/2010/08/koch-industries-gave-funding-to-the-dlc-and-served-on-its-executive-council.html

[JanMichael]

8. more likely the Internet explosion and internal destruction of the USSR was responsible.

Previously unknown ways to create ipos and dotcoms plus wild west looting of social programs did it.

Those situations are now the norm.

[kentuck]

9. A computer in every garage...

Or a chicken in every computer. Yep, the golden days of Democratic Party economics.

[Exilednight]

12. There is some serious truth to the fall of the USSR. During the

Era of "Soviet Agression", political elite of this country did not, could not, be seen as being second rate to the Soviet Union.

We needed to have the best universities, best schools, infrastructure and social programs. After the USSR fell, there was no one left to compete with or feel threatened by.

A country is only as good as its greatest rival.

[kentuck]

14. The only ones that felt threatened was the defense industry...

We were going to get a "Peace Dividend". Lawmakers were making plans about how to spend it. Then 9/11 happened and terrorism became a bigger threat to America than all the nuclear missiles in Russia's arsenal. If I'm not mistaken, Obama has asked for even another raise in our defense budget?

[jwirr]

19. And they needed to make it look as if all of us were sharing the benefits - like it was truly great

for all levels of society. And while the cold war lasted most of us did share in the benefits. Now that our fight is finished everything is trickling up.

[Exilednight]

23. Exactly. n/t

[pampango]

11. Wages rose and unemployment declined so Clinton did have more success than

the 12 years before and the 8 years after him. Gore might have continued that trend. As you say, "George W Bush came along..."

[kentuck]

13. Yes, there was a lot of demand for labor during Clinton's terms...

...so wages did go up.

Unemployment was below 4% for a while.

Many Democrats attributed raising taxes to 39% as top rate helped with the economy.

Many others say we were going thru a technological revolution, which was creating a lot of computer manufacturing job, chips, hard drives, etc.

Some might argue that the computer revolution was almost equal to the Industrial Revolution at turn of last century? It changed the way we worked. At first, there were a lot of jobs in the computer industry. Over time, machines and robots replaced a lot of human labor. We are still in the middle of this Computer Revolution and even more jobs will be lost. However, some jobs in new industries will be created. The concern might be that more jobs will be lost than are created. That is what has been happening for some time now. Many attribute these "fair trade" treaties to American losing a lot of jobs to the global market, and the cheaper labor over in Asia.

Clinton had some questionable policies also. NAFTA was a very controversial piece of legislation when he signed it, with a majority of Republicans voting with him.

It didn't matter because as soon as Dubya Bush came into office, taxes were cut, money was spent like drunken sailors, on wars and invasions and Medicare or whatever, and we were up to our eyeballs in supply-side Reaganomics.

But I ramble...

[cantbeserious]

15. I Will No Longer Settle For The Lesser Of Two Evils - Go Bernie Go

eom

[kentuck]

16. You have to change the way people think before you can change the way they vote.

Go Bernie!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

17. I don't want an 'opportunity' to compete against third worlders for a job, I want an actual job.

And I'm pretty sick and tired of even Democrats like the President using RW rhetoric about 'opportunities' and 'fair chances'.

No opportunity, no chance, just an actual job that pays a living wage.

[kentuck]

18. Also, they prefer to talk about the losses in the middle class...

...rather than the losses for the poor and working classes.

[pampango]

21. We're all in this together. German workers compete against 'third worlders' quite well.

And they maintain high wages, strong unions and a healthy middle class. "Third Worlders" are not our enemy. Our problems come from the regressive tax system, anti-union policies and shattered safety net perpetrated by our very own 1%.

[kentuck]

22. We need to change the way we look at these matters, as far as "taxes" go, in my opinion.

I don't think we should call them "taxes" anymore.

We should call them "royalties".

If you use top-of-the-line American labor, you must pay a royalty- in the form of social security and health insurance. If you use our highways, power companies, and infrastructure, then you must pay a royalty. If you want to make products overseas, then sell them here, then you must pay a "royalty".

We could do away with our present "tax" system and go to a "royalty" system, whereby businesses would pay royalties to produce and compete in the American marketplace. They should pay dearly if they use American resources or if they destroy American resources. Our environment should be of utmost importance to us.

Just this citizen's opinion.

[certainot]

20. democracy could have fixed it, but the left ignored rw radio

reagan killed the fairness doctrine in 87. then the right bought up a shitload of radio stations, many of them broadcasting college sports, and then they dominated the country with 25 years of unchallenged lying crap about the godliness of reagan and the beauty of piss-all-over-america economics. and the left ignored it. and still does.

[bvar22]

29. It was the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed by Bill Clinton,

that deregulated Communications. The prohibitions that protected our media from BIG MONEY were removed, and people like foreign owner Rupert Murdoch were able to buy up ALL of the media in certain areas. That is how we go Rush on every station, and Clear Channel on every other station.

[valerief]

24. We're drowning in their trickled-down piss. nt

[Helen Borg]

25. Amtrak has trickled down pretty well though... Sigh...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. What gets me is when they say an increase in pay will increase prices....

And therefore it will hurt the poor.

You don't want to hurt the poor,....do you?

When someone says that I want to grab them by the tie so they can't dodge the incoming punches.

But that's me.

[liberal_at_heart]

27. K&R