Let's face it...America has some BIG financial issues. The bulk of us, (and I say 'us' because I land in the lowest income percentile), have absolutely no clout with our elected representatives. Eighty percent of all constituents are in that genre. The remaining 20% of the individuals in this country, including everyone in Congress, are the elite with the resources to lobby the government, get elected, pass legislation, earmark pet projects or slash budgets. SO...Short of an armed revolt, what possible incentive would ultra-wealthy elected officials have to seriously listen to OUR input? Look at these facts about our country:
1. Only 13% of Adults in this country "can perform complex and challenging literacy activities" (i) Maybe this fact explains the next eight...
2. 80% of the people control only 7% of the wealth. (a)
3. 1% of our population (the ultra wealthy) control $16 trillion (c) and have a lot of discretionary spending. They ARE the GDP! While the bulk of us can only afford to buy essentials, their unincumbered spending habits show positive results for the whole country!
4. "The top 10% have 80% to 90% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America." (a)
4. There are 261 millionaires in Congress, 55 of those have a net worth in excess of $10 million. The 435 Representatives have a median wealth of $765,010 while the 100 Sentators average a whopping $2.38 million! (e)
6. 91.9% of American's receive NO inheritance. The Estate Tax "...brings in about $245 million a year to local governments and about $60 million a year to the the state" in critical revenue (h). BUT...18 ultra wealthy families "have helped finance outside groups that have spent millions on fear-mongering ad campaigns intended to sway public opinion against the estate tax." (b) Thanks to their friends in the Halls of Congress, it's working! Wouldn't it be nice to get our minimum taxable income raised from $5.00 to $100,000? Anyone listening?
7. There were over 900 Faith-Based Earmarks in excess of $318 million from 1989 till 2007 in the budget. (f) More than half of them were granted in 2004 during the Bush administration. I don't want my tax dollars spent this way! Now, again, Republicans are pushing multiple legislations involving social and religious issues. One of them, abortion, nearly shut down the government last week and the lunatics are still refusing to sign the compromise! Maybe that is the reason SOCIAL ISSUES SHOULD NOT BE LEGISLATED!
8. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, "...blamed the Bush administration for leaving a trail of unpaid bills that created the current fiscal mess." (d) Yet, in one of their many ploys to get back into the White House, Republicans' are still laying our current crisis directly on President Obama. Instead of focusing on the real problems facing this country and its budget, it is politics as usual.
9. The U.S. debt limit is $14.3 Trillion! (g) OMG! The treasury must borrow money every month to pay our obligations. If we cannot significantly slice our budget, that limit will be reached in the next few months. Look at it this way...Your bills total $3000 per month. You only bring home $2500. Your credit cards are maxed out. You have no savings and no one will loan you money. Can we say bankruptcy?
While the bulk of the 80 percentile are content to have enough money to pay bills, buy food and still have something left for entertainment, most wealthy people only want to get richer. Getting into politics is very lucrative. That's OK. Go out and get elected! It's a rich man's game and some people have more talent in this area than others. Who cares! BUT...we expect adherence to the Constitution, legislation beneficial to everyone and a job well done! The point is, most of our elected officials are not producing!
They live in a world unencumbered by normal limitations. Nothing is beyond their reach. They either purchase what they want, pass legislation making it possible for them to get it, sweet talk a comittee into suggesting an agency fund it or have a lobbyist provide it as a gift. Nothing seems to satiate their hunger for more. I really believe the whole concept is like a huge game to them. Like all athletes they want to win. For some, cheating, telling lies and unethical behavior become second nature. Whatever fuels the Washington scene, it needs to be refocused!
Personal agendas should be secondary to fixing our country's problems. Without bi-partisan cooperation, our educational system will continue to decline, welfare will gobble up the budget, Medicare will never be fixed, unemployment will continue to grow, millions will not have good healthcare and Social Security will go broke. Quit trying to pad your pockets, help out your friends, manipulate social agendas and backstab your opponents. Forget party rhetoric and get the job done! Our patience is long past thin...
a: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
b: http://www.faireconomy.org/files/pdf/millions_billions.pdf
c: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/01/08/plutonomics/
d: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/taxes/in-a-3-8-trillion-budget-pork-is-hardly-the-biggest%20problem/19341731/
e: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20023147-503544.html
f: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/business/13lobby.htmlg.
g:http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/29/senate_increases_federal_borrowing_limit/
h: http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/04/12/is-the-estate-tax-repeal-dead/
i: http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp#1
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