COL Gene COL Gene

WHY THE GROWING ECONOMY ISN'T HELPING THE AVERAGE AMERICAN!

▼

WHY THE GROWING ECONOMY ISN'T HELPING THE AVERAGE AMERICAN!

from JoeUser Forums



The Bush administration claims the economy is growing. It is true statistics show that corporate profits are increasing and there has been some job and GDP growth. The fact remains that the areas in which the economy is growing are not affecting the average person.

Recent studies have shown during the past year, the average price of homes has increased 20% while wages for middle income workers have increased only a few percent. The result is middle income America are worse off today in terms of being able to purchase a house. The same thing is true for health care and the increase in energy prices. The impact on the majority of Americans from this so-called growing economy is that they are worse off even with the economic growth. The middle income are worse off because their wage growth has not kept pace with the increased cost of healthcare, housing and energy. The poor have had NO wage growth. The group of Americans that are better off are those that receive a great deal of their income from dividends. Corporations have increased their profit margins and are paying larger dividends. The problem is that has not helped the middle income or poor Americans meet their day-to-day living expenses.

Especially problematic are the increased energy costs. They are MUCH worse then a tax increase because they impact the poor, the middle income and the wealthy alike. Tax increase generally do not impact the poor . It is no wonder why the polls show that most Americans do not approve of the way Bush is running the economy. The reality of the economic growth is it is NOT helping the poor and middle income Americans who are worse off today than they were in January 2001.
politics
10,969 views 32 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
No Zoomda YOU HAVE POVEN NOTHING. Tell me that wages have increased as much as housing, oil and healthcare. If you say that you are full of BS! The national news hase been reporting the impact on increased housing, oil and health costs on middle and low income Americans. Even Bush acknowledged the negative impact of higher oil and health costs! ARE YOU SAYING THAT BUSH IS INCORRECT?
Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top
I go back to the defecit because Bush has NO PLAN TO FIX THE PROBLEN. IT JUST GETS WORSE and we will ALL PAY! His plan is like slowing the spread of cancer. It will still KILL YOU but it will take a bit longer!
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #28 from JoeUser Forums Top
It was just shown to you that it isn't getting worse.


The
Commerce Department reported Thursday that total retail sales rose by 1.8 percent, the best showing in three months, but almost all of that strength came from auto sales, which soared by 6.7 percent


Excluding autos, retail sales were up a smaller 0.3 percent in July, which was just half the gain that economists had been expecting. Still analysts are forecasting a rebound in overall demand in coming months with consumer spending expected to remain strong, reflecting solid gains in employment.

In another report, the Labor Department said the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits declined last week by 6,000, the first drop in three weeks. The decrease left total claims at 308,000, a level that signals continued strength in the labor market.
Reply #29 from JoeUser Forums Top
OK, lets look at two of the items you talked about as increasing costs to the average american, Oil and Healthcare

1. Oil prices are not determined domestically. We buy our oil from overseas and they get to set the price. Sorry, but there's not a whole heck of a lot we can actually do about this one.

2. Health care costs are skyrocketing due to the ever increasing number of lawsuits filed against doctors and hospitals, in addition to the abuse of the HMO system. As it stands for most people, they have an unlimited number of doc visits per year where they pay a very low copay per visit. This means people are going to the doctor when their nose itches or when their joints ache a bit. Your paycheck contribution and your employer contribution to your healthplan is based on an estimate of the average number of times a person will need medical attention in a year. I mean actually NEED. There are enough people out there who go at the drop of a hat, that exceed what they are actually paying for in a year in insurance contributions and all that expense gets passed on to the insurance companies who then have to hike rates the next year. Many companies are going to the Health Savings and Health Reimbursement Accounts so you essentially have a balance for a year and when you run out of that pool of money you then have to pay a larger % of a visit or procedure. This is to encourage people to only go when they NEED to, not whenever they get a runny nose.

So oil is outside the control of the US for the most part. Health care costs are actually due to poor consumer behavior and the companies themselves are moving to fix the problem, there's not much the government can do to reduce the costs since as it stands right now, health insurance companies on a per case basis are operating so close to cost that there's no room to lower things without driving them out of business.

Housing goes in natural cycles, driven up by CONSUMER DEMAND. After a point they fall back down again.

Since markets go in cycles, you can't have wages increase to meet the upswing unless you're willing to see them decreased in the downswing. No one wants to see their paycheck reduced simply because the economy is doing well.

I'm a middle income American and I'm doing just peachy. In fact all of my friends who are just now out of college are middle income Americans and we're all doing just fine. I don't know a single true middle income American that is doing poorly because of the economy right now. Those that are doing poorly are the ones that mismanaged their money and are in trouble due to their own behavior.

You really need to get a new mantra, the national debt one is just old and tired and you really look like a crazed fool when you fall back to it in EVERY argument when you fail to make your point. It shows a weak mind.
Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top
You are the crazey person to believe $500 Billion in interest is rational. At the present time we borrow 1 of every 5 dollars we are spending.

The way we impact energy costs is to reduce demand ( mandated increase in auto milege. If Bush has done that 4 years ago, we would be seeing the results. The $14 Billion cost of the energy bill, much of which goes to oil companies who are making record profits, will be added to the National debt. Every added dollar we spend is added to the debt.

George Bush needs to admit that the basis of its economic and tax policies have not materialized. He may have believed in 2001 that we were going to realize $5.7 trillion surplus when he proposed a massive tax cuts. Problem is there were no surplus and the basis for his tax cuts which was to return the money to the overtaxed Americans was in error. It is time to level with people and admit that was mistaken and we need to do what is necessary now to balance the budget and begin paying down the debt. That will require spending cuts, better enforcement of existing tax laws and increases in tax rates. His solution, even if he is successful, is not a solution. Cut the annual deficit in half does it deal with the problem . No one focuses on the impact of speding a 1/2 trillion dollars a year on interest which buys us nothing. Is not pay one soldier , one prescription drug or help educate a single student. It pays for years when he refused to tax ourselves to the extent that we spent money. It is time for Bush to admit his economic and tax policies simply all are not working.
Reply #31 from JoeUser Forums Top
The growing economy is helping, Gene. It's just, you know, the rising cost of housing and healthcare is hurting, at the same time.

So what's your solution, anyway? House prices are determined by the market: they're that high because that's what people are willing to pay. What are you going to do? Order them not pay that much for a house? Seize all the private real estate in the country, and have a government-run housing market?

Build a bunch of affordable housing? Okay, but that costs money, which means taxes, which means a hit to the economy. Either you tax the lower and middle classes more, which cuts into economic growth, or you tax the upper class more, which... also cuts into economic growth (after all, the more you tax the rich, the more they look for ways to keep their money out of your jurisdiction).

What about health care? How do you plan to make that cheaper? Should we scale our benefits back to what was common in 1973, instead of always insisting on the latest and greatest, the cutting edge, the newfangled quack cures? That would make health care cheaper, but suckier, too. Or should we do it the Canadian way, and make you stand in line for days, in order to get your critical care at an affordable price? The only problem with the Canadian model is that it requires higher taxes, which, again, would negatively impact your precious economy.

I propose that housing prices are going up because that's what housing prices do, and that healthcare costs are going up because we're greedy bastards fixated on the new hotness and exceedingly unsatisfied by anything less than cutting edge.

I further propose that the good economy is one of the most significant mitigating factors, that keeps the housing and healthcare trends from ruining us entirely.
Reply #32 from JoeUser Forums Top
The point of this Blog is that the elements that are imporving do not impact the majority of American workers. The Bush fiscal, tax and business policies are not intended to improve the well being of the low and middle income American worker but are designed to promote higher corporate profits and benefit the higher income workers. His policies are working for the intended groups which do not include the vast majority of Americans. Even though many corporations are doing well, that economic improvement is not filtering down to their workers. In fact many companies are cutting benefits and passing more of the costs onto the workers.