Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty

[earthside]

36. Deflation accelerates.

We are in a deflationary turn-down right now.

Wages and benefits are less than they were a year ago, five years ago, a decade ago, etc.

Just like in the Great Depression, people just don't have enough money.

Because the top ten percent are essentially hoarding the money. The benefit of the Federal Reserves 'Quantitative Easing' is that it put money into the economy (although even that aimed it at the elites). Without QE, we are going to see a shrinking money supply for the rest of us.

Put that on top of increasing fees, natural resource inflation (because of scarcity and speculation), cuts in government services and increasing taxes at the state and local level ... and the poor, working and middle class are going to see a much worse economic environment.

And, sorry to say, the ACA is only marginally helping.

Democrats for 2014 ought to be proposing the biggest middle class tax cut in history; pay for it with a financial transaction tax; while continuing the push for an increase in the minimum wage.

That might encourage the liberal/progressive base to vote this year and stave off a Koch funded Repuglican wave.

Then, we really need a Bernie Sanders or Robert Reich or maybe Elizabeth Warren as the Democratic nominee in 2016.
And that will probably only slow down the decline of the U.S.

But a political strategy revolving around 'defending' the ACA and nominating Hillary over the next two years is a prescription for disaster and ... probably plutocratic fascism.