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Originally Posted by ngdawg
Host, can't YOU just read what you're deriving your info from, quote bits and link the rest? My old eyes can't handle all that and if they could, my old brain wouldn't absorb it....
I can see where the numbers mentioned in the OP could come into play.
Mr. H earns 1.5 million a year and buys 3 Mercedes.
Mr. J earns 150,000 a year and buys 3 Toyotas
Mr. X earns 50,000 a year and buys a used Volvo and 2 bicycles.
It's all relative....the problem as I see it (as a usually struggling so-called middle classer), is that those that earn less don't get a break just because of that factor. If I want a Mercedes, I can't go to the dealer and say I'm paying X per cent because I only earn X dollars. That would balance things out a bit, but it ain't gonna happen.
The op-ed makes sense. F'rinstance: Our weekly insurance payout is $105. The company owner's weekly payout is $105. But, he earns more, so the chunk isn't as huge for him, essentially making his disposable income larger. Same with things like cable, cell phone bills, etc. They might vary, but not in keeping with income, so that those of us on the lower end of the pay scale see less play money than those on the higher end, so of course, our ratios are much less.
A friend of mine had a good analogy. He was told by his superiors that instead of overtime, he'd be given comp time for the extra hours. His response, "Yea, I'll just go into Home Depot and instead of cash, tell them I'm gonna pay them in comp time."
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ngdawg, I believe that wealth= power= political control. I believe that voting numbers in a democratic republic, should result in a triumph of the will of the sheer numbers, over the vested interests of the wealthiest few. IMO, that isn't happening in the US, and it hasn't since at least 1948.
I believe that the very wealthy beisiege the rest of us with a strategy of funding lobbies, think tanks, a media blitz to convince enough of us to vote against our own best interests, which is to tax the shit out of the wealthiest one percent, as we did do well, into the early 1960's. Outside of the legalization and enforcement of collective bargaining rights of workers, nothing else has significantly helped to "level" the playing field between the wealthiest, and the rest of us.
If you think that I am wrong, why do you think the records of the TNEC 1938to 1941 hearings and investigations into wealth and power in America, are still sealed?
http://www.archives.gov/research/gui...roups/144.html