I can't say it as well or as knowledgeably as Robert Reich. After President Obama's Rose Garden press conference this morning, subject: The Economy, Reich had this to say.
Trickle-down economics has been a cruel joke.
On the other hand — given projected budget deficits — if the rich don’t pay their fair share, the rest of us will have to bear more of a burden. And that burden inevitably will come in the form of either higher taxes or fewer public services.
If anyone’s declared class warfare it’s the people who inhabit the top rungs of big corporations and Wall Street (and who comprise a disproportionate number of America’s super rich). They’ve declared it on average workers.
The ratio of corporate profits to wages is higher than it’s been since before the Great Depression. And even as corporate salaries and perks keep rising, the median wage keeping dropping, and jobs continue to be shed.You’ve got the chairman of Merck taking home $17.9 million last year. This year Merck announces plans to boot 13,000 workers. The CEO of Bank of America takes in $10 million, and the bank announces it’s firing 30,000 workers.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but the way I see it we’ve got a huge budget deficit and a giant jobs problem. And under these circumstances it seems to me people at the top who have never had it so good should sacrifice a bit more, so the rest of us don’t have to sacrifice quite as much.
Yeah. Those salaries. Those layoffs. Those Congressmen who won't level the playing field.
Where the hell did THIS GUY go?
8 comments:
Amen. To all of it. I keep wanting more public figures to say exactly what Reich says here, that class warfare has already been waged, against the middle class and the poor. Taxing the rich isn't class warfare, it's fairness.
Yes, you're so right. I cannot understand why it seems to be such a terrible thing to tax the rich. Heck, in an environment like this, everyone is suffering. Except the rich, who are getting tax BREAKS. I so agree, Cali.
Even Warren Buffet agrees!
The "middle class" is the new term for "those who are screwed."
It's a baffling situation.
Amen! I would add though -- it's not just fairness, it's justice. I'm mystified by the people who proclaim that their Christian faith guides their votes, but who seem to have no sense of justice about the distribution of wealth in our country.
Robert Reich for President!
how many time i do not do what i want to do but do what i dont want to do
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