Quote:
Originally posted by Hwed
John Kerry is an airhead, not to mention a gigolo who has never worked a day in his life, marrying wealth to live a life of privilege.. He pays $1000 for a haircut. This man is so disconnected from people who work hard for a living it's sad.
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That's great....Kerry as an elite airhead, in sharp contrast to Pres. Bush, with his poor upbringing (rich, powerful family, CIA director/vice-Pres/President father) and academic excellence (C student and admitted partier, no drugs since the 70s, though). That's the funniest thing I've heard since the attacks on Kerry's military record. Come on people....you don't have to like Kerry, but let's see a little perspective here.
To get back on topic, you describe supply-side economics well. It's important to recognize, however, that supply-side is only one of many economic theories, and a controversial one at that. What I've always found incredible about "trickle-down" is the idea that rising wages are bad except when they go into the hands of the upper class....how can anyone take that seriously?
How come the "equilibrium" of the "free market" has increasingly rewarded CEOs...in 1980, the average CEO earned 42 times that of an average factory worker in their company. By 1996, that number had swelled to 217 times the average salary. Given all of that growth in incomes for the ultra-wealthy, why have we seen real wages decline for most Americans? Why hasn't anything trickled down to the average American?
If you want a (very) dry yet unpartisan source of information on the truth of the growing inequality, see:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/incineq/p60asc.html
Other census docs can give you more raw numbers. This data only goes to 1996. There is no reason to believe that the situation has reversed itself since that time.