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Guest Post: Who Destroyed The Middle Class - Part 2

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Submitted by Jim Quinn from The Burning Platform

Who Destroyed The Middle Class - Part 2

In Part 1 of this three part series I addressed where and how the net worth of the middle class was stolen. In Part 2, I will tackle who stole your net worth and in Part 3, why they stole your net worth. Now let’s zero in on the culprits of this crime.

Dude, Who Stole My Net Worth?

“Thus far, both political parties have been remarkably clever and effective in concealing this new reality. In fact, the two parties have formed an innovative kind of cartel—an arrangement I have termed America’s political duopoly. Both parties lie about the fact that they have each sold out to the financial sector and the wealthy. So far both have largely gotten away with the lie, helped in part by the enormous amount of money now spent on deceptive, manipulative political advertising.” Charles FergusonPredator Nation

When you dig into the charts and data supplied by the Federal Reserve generated report, the data which goes back to 2001 tells a story not addressed by the deceptive, manipulative, political propaganda that passes for investigative reporting by the captured mainstream media. The chart below compares the median versus mean income growth from the last three Fed consumer surveys. Overall, it reveals a lost decade of negative income growth for the average middle class family. In the early part of the decade the average middle class family made some progress as jobs were relatively plentiful and the internet crash mostly impacted the rich, who own most of the stocks in the country. This is why the median income rose while the average income fell. The wealthy have a large impact on the average because they own the vast majority of assets in this country. The stock market debacle was unacceptable to the oligarchs and their money printing puppet Greenspan.   

 

Both the liberal and conservative wings of the ruling oligarchy were in complete agreement. A new bubble needed to be blown in order to refill the coffers of the ruling class. Paul Krugman spoke for the liberal wing:

“To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.”

Greenspan and his handpicked successor Bernanke represented the conservative wing by reducing interest rates to ridiculously low levels, failing to carry out their regulatory obligations, encouraging recklessness, and purposefully failing to acknowledge and deflate the greatest housing bubble in world history:

“American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage.” Alan Greenspan – February 2004

“House prices have risen by nearly 25 percent over the past two years. Although speculative activity has increased in some areas, at a national level these price increases largely reflect strong economic fundamentals.” – Ben Bernanke – October 2005

“With respect to their safety, derivatives, for the most part, are traded among very sophisticated financial institutions and individuals who have considerable incentive to understand them and to use them properly.” – Ben Bernanke – November 2005

The master plan worked like a charm from 2004 through 2007 as you can see by the tremendous surge in average income. The stock market rocketed by 75% between 2003 and 2007 and national home prices shot up by 50%. Wall Street creatively invented no doc, negative amortization, interest only, subprime mortgages and generated a frenzy of demand from anyone that could scratch an X on a loan document, just as Greenspan had demanded. Being “sophisticated” financial institutions, they were able to assemble thousands of shit loans that were certain to default into one big derivative package of shit and their captured lackeys at the “sophisticated” rating agencies stamped a AAA rating on the smelly pile of feces. Always looking out for the best interests of their clients (aka muppets), the upstanding Wall Street firms sold the derivative piles of shit to them as can’t miss investments. Wall Street profits went off the charts. Billions in bonuses flowed to the rich and powerful Wall Street titans. Mega-corporations generated record profits as consumers utilized the Fed induced tsunami of easy debt to buy BMWs, 72 inch HDTVs, home theaters, stainless steel appliances, granite counter-tops, Caribbean cruises, Jimmy Choo shoes, and Rolex watches in a mad frenzy of consumer delusion.

What you might also notice in the chart above is that median household income somehow declined during this decadent orgy of corporate fascist pleasure. How could this be? Table 2 from the Fed report makes it clear. The vast majority of households in this country generate 75% to 81% of their income from wages. Virtually none of the income generated in 85 million households (the bottom 75%) comes from interest, dividends or capital gains. You need money to make money. The top 10% only generated 46% of their income from wages. The report does not provide details on the top 1%, but wages most certainly account for less than 20% of their income. Interest, dividends and capital gains represented 22.2% of the income for the top 10%, while it represented less than 1% of income for the bottom 75%. This data is the smoking gun that proves that Federal Reserve policy and control fraud on a grand scale by the titans of Wall Street was designed and executed to benefit only the wealthy elite billionaire class and their co-conspirators. All the income gains during this time accrued to the psychopathic amoral financial oligarchy. The average family saw their real wages decline and anyone lured into the housing market during this time frame by the “sophisticated” financial experts at Citicorp, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and the other members of the Too Big To Fail criminal syndicate was set up for epic loses.       

Source of Household Income By Percentile of Net Worth  

As expected, the psychopathic banker class could not be satisfied with the results of their looting. Their gluttonous voracious greed culminated in a historic collapse of the worldwide financial system resulting in a housing implosion, stock market crash and 8 million middle class Americans losing their jobs.  The Fed report does show that average household income declined more than median household income after this historic financial oligarchy created collapse. One look at Table 6 from the Fed report will explain why. Only 15% of families own stocks and only 50% have retirement accounts. Approximately 50 million households in the country have virtually no stocks and less than 30% have retirement accounts. The top 10% wealthiest households, with a median household net worth of $1.2 million, proportionately own 3 times as much stock as the average family and 90% have retirement accounts. Therefore, the 57% crash in stocks impacted the top 10% to a greater extent, while the average family was most impacted by the 28% drop in home prices.      

 9 out of 10 Young People Don't Invest in Stocks

Despite the fact that the median net worth of the top 10% actual rose from $1.17 million in 2007 to $1.19 million in 2010 (while the bottom 80% saw their net worth decline by 36%) the losses in the stock market were intolerable to the banker predators and their captured government parasite politicians. All the “solutions” to the Wall Street induced financial debacle have been designed to benefit those who committed the crime and should have done the time. The singular design of those pulling the strings was to replenish the treasure chests on Wall Street, engineer a stock market rally to pump up the net worth and capital gain income for the 1%, and protect the vested interests of the financial elite. All the obscene criminally generated profits created during the boom were privatized into the grubby hands of the financial predators, while the subsequent gargantuan losses were socialized onto the backs of the American middle class taxpayers and future unborn generations. 

TARP was rammed through the captured Congress by the oligarchs despite a 300 to 1 opposition from the public in order to protect obscenely wealthy bankers, stockholders and bondholders. The $800 billion of debt financed political pork, disguised as stimulus, was doled out to corporate contributors, union thugs, and a myriad of other special interests. Zero interest rates are specifically geared to generate billions of risk free profits for Wall Street and to force retirees to gamble their dwindling retirement funds in the rigged stock market. Bernanke and Paulson threatened the limp wristed pocket protector CPAs at the FASB into allowing Wall Street banks to make up the value of their loan portfolios in order to mislead the public regarding their insolvency. The tripling of the Federal Reserve balance sheet from $950 billion in September 2008 to $2.9 trillion today was done to remove the toxic assets from the balance sheets of the Too Big To Fail Wall Street cabal at 100 cents on the dollar.  QE1, QE2, and Operation Twist have had the sole purpose of providing the “sophisticated” financial elite with the funds to pump into the stock market using their high frequency trading super computers.  

   

The subsequent Federal Reserve contrived 100% increase in the S&P 500 has repaired the damaged balance sheets of the moneyed interests, while the average middle class family has sunk further into debt and despair. The powerful entrenched sociopathic marauder class cares not for the average middle class American. They can barely conceal their contempt and disgust for the masses as they blatantly flaunt their hegemony and supremacy over our decrepit decaying corrupted economic system. M. Ramsey King described the disgusting display last week:

“Jamie Dimon’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee was a sickening display that clearly demonstrated that Congress has been thoroughly corrupted by Wall Street. Instead of grilling Dimon, Senators acted like overly affectionate puppies fighting each other for an opening to smooch their master.”

The destruction of the middle class has been methodical and systematic. The top 10% of earners had a median net worth of $1.19 million, or 192 times as much as the median wealth of $6,200 of those in the bottom 20% in 2010. In 2007, the top 10% had 138 times as much wealth as the bottom 20%. In 2001, it was 106 times as much. With the continued rise in the stock market, declining real wages for the middle class, and further home price declines, the gap between the top 10% and the bottom 20% has continued to widen. The level of pain being experienced by the middle class has reached an unprecedented extreme. A few data points from David Rosenberg make that clear:

  • Forty-six million Americans (one in seven) are on food stamps.
  • One in seven is unemployed or underemployed.
  • The percentage of those out of work defined as long-term unemployed is the highest (42%) since the Great Depression.
  • 54% of college graduates younger than 25 are unemployed or underemployed.
  • 47% of Americans receive some form of government assistance.
  • Employment-to-population ratio for 25- to 54-year-olds is now 75.7%, lower than when the recession “ended” in June 2009.
  • There are 7.7 million fewer full-time workers now than before the recession, and 3.3 million more part-time workers.
  • Eight million people have left the labor force since the recession “ended” — adding those back in would put the unemployment rate at 12% instead of 8.2%.
  • The number of unemployed looking for work for at least 27 weeks jumped 310,000 in May, the sharpest increase in a year.

I would add a few more data points to David’s list of woe:

  • Over 7.5 million homes have been foreclosed upon by the Wall Street bankers since 2008.
  • The National Debt has increased by $5.7 trillion (57% increase) since September 2008, while real GDP has risen by $305 billion (2.3% increase) since the 3rd quarter of 2008.
  • Interest income paid to senior citizens and savers has declined by $400 billion (29% decline) since September of 2008 due to Ben Bernanke’s ZIRP.
  • Government transfer payments have risen by $500 billion (32% increase) since September 2008, while private industry wages have risen by $200 billion (4.7% increase).
  • The price of a gallon of gas has risen from $1.70 in December 2008 to $3.53 today.
  • Food prices have risen by 7% to 10% since late 2008, even using the falsified BLS data. A true assessment by anyone who actually goes to a grocery store (not Bernanke – his maid does the shopping) would be a 10% to 20% increase.   

The middle class has a gut feeling they are being screwed by somebody, they just can’t figure out who to blame. The ultra-wealthy elite keep up an endless cacophony of propaganda and misinformation designed to confuse an increasingly uneducated and willfully ignorant public while blurring the facts for those educated few capable of understanding the truth. They have been able to keep the masses dumbed down through government run education; distracted by sports, reality TV, Facebook, internet porn, and igadgets; lured by mass media messages of materialism; and shackled with the chains of debt used to acquire the goods sold by mega-corporations. We’ve become a society oppressed by a small faction of ultra-wealthy masters served by millions of impoverished, uneducated, sedated slaves. But the slaves are getting restless and angry. The illegally generated wealth disparity chasm is growing so large that even the ideologue talking head representatives of the elite are having difficulty spinning it. Even uneducated rubes understand when they are getting pissed on.

“Senator, don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining” – Fletcher – Outlaw Josey Wales

The situation is growing increasingly unstable and has left the country susceptible to an extreme outcome when this teetering tower of debt topples.             

The moneyed interests have brilliantly pitted the middle class against the lower classes through their control of the media, academia, and the political system. They have cleverly blamed the victims for their own plight. They have convinced the general public that millions have lost their homes to foreclosure because they were careless, greedy and stupid. They blame the Community Reinvestment Act. They blame others for taking on too much debt when they were the issuers of the debt. The Wall Street moneyed interests created the fraud inducing mortgage products, employed the thousands of sleazy mortgage brokers, bullied appraisers into fraudulent appraisals, paid off rating agencies, bribed the regulators, bet against the derivatives they had sold to their clients, threatened to burn down the financial system unless Congress handed them $700 billion, and paid themselves billions in bonuses for a job well done. But, according to these greedy immoral bastards, the real problem in this country is the lazy good for nothing parasites on food stamps and collecting unemployment, who need to stop complaining and pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get a damn job. It’s a storyline used against Occupy Wall Street and anyone who questions their right to plunder what is left on the carcass of America. The vilest fraud in the history of man was perpetrated by these evil men and not one executive of these firms has been prosecuted. Obama, the champion of the little people, has proven to be nothing but a figurehead for the powers that be. Proof that the Wall Street syndicate is winning the war couldn’t be any clearer than the fact that the top six criminal banks now have 40% more of the nation’s assets in their vaults than they did before they burned down the economy.

 

The demonization of the victims continues, while the perpetrators prosper. The sociopaths appear to be winning; just as they seemed to be winning in the later stages of the Roman Empire.

   

“And we often fall into this bias on the prompting of con men and sociopaths of the predator class who use it to justify their own criminal actions and personal injustice. They are not burdened with empathy for their victims, and even delight in their misfortune. But they must find ways to make their actions more acceptable to society as a whole that normally does have such concerns for equity and justice.”Jesse

 

“Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?” –  Camille Paglia

I think you know the answer to this question.

If you missed the first part of this series, CLICK HERE to read it.

 

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Thu, 06/21/2012 - 14:33 | 2548136 GhostfaceCracka
GhostfaceCracka's picture

If there was any justice in this world, some clever disgruntled caterer would serve Bath Salts in the eggnog at the next Goldman Christmas party - 'a festivus for the rest of us.'

 

You mean Goldman Hanukkah party.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:04 | 2546873 Ted Baker
Ted Baker's picture

WE ARE SURROUNDED BY CROOKS AND LIERS WHO HAVE STOLEN OUR INTEGRATY AS US CITIZENS...

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:11 | 2546915 e-recep
e-recep's picture

yes, the politicians and the bankers have sold us out and they still hold the strings in their hands. and the average joe will never understand what happened.

the world is heading towards a direction where borders and citizenship will mean less and less. the big capital wanted the free flow of capital, they've got it. they wanted the free flow of goods, they've got it. now they want free the flow of the work force. that's next step.

expect more and more immigrants to land in usa as well as more americans to flee america.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:22 | 2546990 therearetoomany...
therearetoomanyidiots's picture

WE have allowed it.  That's the bottom line.  Yes, we're getting what we deserve yes we've been sold out - but WE allowed it.   Things were 'good' for us but our decent into lack of consequences, this is what has led us here.   Otherwise, why hadn't this happened sooner.   We were all doing pretty well when I was kid in the late 60s, early 70s. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:29 | 2547022 e-recep
e-recep's picture

back then usa was the number one manufacturer and the number one lender. no wonder the americans did pretty well. today usa is neither of them.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:37 | 2547045 Bob
Bob's picture

The Average Joe probably never will "understand" how the heist was accomplished in the kind of detail that would enable him to do even an acceptable 6th grade class presentation, especially since the only source of such analyses he is aware of is the corporate --owned, not "captured"--mass media . . . and they just can't seem to fit any of the pieces together.

But does Joe really need to know the details? 

Sure, according to the useful idiots among the captured/owned intelligentsia who claim to be the only legitimate voices on public matters, Joe can't have a respectable position without the proper language and story--without that, what could it be but that most scorned of gutter animal herd instincts that moves him: Populism

Be that as it may, the sheeple may be distracted and "ignorant" by the standards of their various betters, but most do know who they're getting screwed by. 

Unfortunately, they're rarely asked and never respected. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:12 | 2546876 therearetoomany...
therearetoomanyidiots's picture

I usually like CHS posts and link to his site often.  This however is one side of a multi-sided cause and effect event.

We're in this position for any number of reasons.   For instance, bankers et al would not be in this position if we  had a strong and noble media - true Tribunes.

We wouldn't have this problem if we had people that held 'their guy' to higher expectations and levels of conduct. If truth was more important than 'being right'.  Witness now those on the left defending Obama and Holder from this truly bizarre remake of Watergate.   And, because they don't want to pursue it - they'll skate. 

We wouldn't have this problem if we didn't give in to the leftists during the 60s and 70s who romanced 'freedom' and yet now are the very ones who have laid the walk, have set the path for the assholes now in charge that want to implement facism and tyranny - that want to have this piece of shit act as a dictator.

If we didn't embrace hollywood and 'Fonzi' and slight Richie and history.  Instead idiots make up 'truths' about the past.  

While some of this is accurate, it wouldn't happen if we didn't allow it.

 

And I have seen comments below about having liars and thieves in our midst yet we have allowed this degradation into the abyss for decades now, from abortion, to rampant and readily available sexuality.  I just saw Austin Powers on ABC Family the other day.   What child should know about that, not that it caused the problmes, it's a sign of how far we have fallen as a society.   We are the liars, we are the thieves, as long as get ours.   any true look at 'the problem' reveals our moral character as the main problem.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:04 | 2547208 MeBizarro
MeBizarro's picture

People and society were somehow more morally and ethically superior 50-100 years ago?  What a bunch of cr@p.  Human are violent animals and for most of our history we have killed one another and waged nearly endless war against one another.  

Go back and just look at most US cities and the historical figures on rates of brothels, whore houses, and alcohol consumption. You have some kind of misguided and seriously flawed version of history. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:55 | 2547487 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

"...rates of brothels, whore houses, and alcohol consumption."

My God Man, don't you know that is a measure of civilization!?!?

I'd rather have those than abortion mills and rampant juvenile narcissism.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 14:32 | 2548131 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

if you stop and think about it,

you'll realise the the former always leads to the latter.

don't know how you can rationalise your love of "brothels, whore houses & alcohol" without understanding the consequences of drunken fucking for profit.

that must be where the "juvenile narcissism" comes in. . .

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:31 | 2547604 MrButtoMcFarty
MrButtoMcFarty's picture

So you're against drinking and fucking....

The folks that participate in those activities have the moral hazards that come with sketchy behavior. 

Where is the moral hazard of the USG or the pigmen bankster rulers? 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:07 | 2546886 chunga
chunga's picture

The sad part is no one is really willing to do anything about it.

I've been watching closely what is going on in Rhode Island, and the Superior Court has basically admitted (in a certified transcript) it won't follow state statutes when it comes to foreclosures. It drives me crazy.

I went ahead and wrote this Open Letter and sent it to the Presiding Justice and the Senate President and Majority Leader.

An Open Letter to the State of Rhode Island Superior Court June 9 2012 Regarding Foreclosure Fraud

Then I went and set up an online petition that takes all of 30 seconds to complete. Like 150 people bothered to sign.

The Honorable Presiding Justice Alice P. Gibney: Recuse Justice's Allen P. Rubine and Michael A. Silverstein.

Foreclosure Fraud is rampant in the State of Rhode Island and must not continue.

 

If Justice’s Rubine and Silverstein insist on welcoming bankers and lawyers with open arms into the Rhode Island Superior Court adopting a rubbery theory of “indebtedness” as opposed to long standing state statutes that indenture the process in which foreclosures shall be conducted, they simply must be removed from the bench.

 

It is impossible to know what guides their thinking, but if they are justifying their quixotic endeavor to protect the banks based on a cock-eyed and economically pragmatic concept of equity they are unwittingly defeating their own ill-conceived objective.

 

The practice of using Rhode Islanders as economic pinballs by the financial Leviathans that now stride this earth must come to an end. The excuses made for enterprises that are “Too Big To Fail” have become “Too Big To Believe”. It must come to an end.

 

This Judicial pandemonium must stop. This Court should not be used as a laundromat to wash away lies then starch and press our citizens.

 

If the Court is incapable of marshaling itself, it then becomes the duty of the State General Assembly to step in and fix this problem. We do not require new laws here, but it must be affirmed our present laws are not recommendations or suggestions that can be ignored based on flimsy moral hazard assumptions.

We're going to get what we deserve.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:16 | 2546957 nuggetstoosmall
nuggetstoosmall's picture

Since 1776 there have been 47+ depressions recessions. All generated by the bankers/elites. One of the most balant ones was 1869 during the gold run. So, here we are today, nothing has changed only the names.  The 4th Turning explains it better. But, just tighten your belts and suck it up. Its what you deserve until you stand up and throw them out. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:17 | 2546965 headless blogger
headless blogger's picture

The Elites won the battle against the American people and it seems to have been fairly easy for them. The U.S. is toast! Who knows what will happen to the people over time, but it is suspected that white working class people will disappear from North America over time, with the more wealthy and educated moving out.

This last month I've had a work project at this company and had the opportunity of working with their working class employees. It was the final straw for me. I had hope that Americans would eventually do something and wake up, but it's just not there. It is just as much the people's fault as the Elites. They're dancing the same dance. The average person in America is sooo dumb; young women and young men alike have little work ethic, while older Americans are still doing the majority of work and getting burned out. Don't know which is worse: the young women or the young men...All seem to feel entitled while doing little and talking much about themselves. This is common for the young in America which does not bode well for future. What will these people do when they get their faces dipped in their own shit?

For these reasons I am leaving the US. Can't stand watching the masses imploding in their own shit.

 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:27 | 2547015 therearetoomany...
therearetoomanyidiots's picture

I say you're still better off here than anywhere else.   Just withdraw from the system.   Unplug from the 'matrix'.  

My best friend said to me, "Don't play their game.  Do what you want to do.  Don't ask for permission, just do it."

Once you're out of the system - you can work to fight the system.   Sounds like an oft-referenced movie in this site, no?

But - I also understand leaving - it's just that I think ultimately the US (read corporations) can and do reach around the world. 

 

As an aside - I don't understand the down arrows for these sentiments about us being at least partially responsible for where we are at.  That includes me, for a time, until I realized what was most important, what this country provided but slowly, and now more rapidly, losing.  True Freedom.  

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:55 | 2547161 MeBizarro
MeBizarro's picture

What does this even mean?  One of the constant sentiments I see on here all the time and it's largely a bunch of complete cr@p. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:51 | 2547465 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

It means you are a slave to corporations, with politicians on both sides pretending to represent you but doing the bidding of the banks and corporations (the 1%).

It is the illusion that there is any compassion or justice left in the system that keeps people slaves to it.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 13:28 | 2547833 e-recep
e-recep's picture

yeah but how can you unplug yourself?? i am not an hippie, this is not berkeley and we are not in the seventies.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 14:46 | 2548173 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

stop investing your energy in the system designed to drain you of everything.

I know lots of young people, work with them as a volunteer in different ways - they're idealistic, compassionate, and smart in varying degrees - the ones described above are a group called "employees" and to some extent the label describes the participant's behaviours, it's to be expected.

there are so many people who rarely get mentioned here, good people of all age groups, and varying degrees of "wealth" including impoverished - the "poorer" they are, the more resourceful, is what I've seen - and generous, believe it or not.

stop believing in the labels you're fed - "hippie, berkeley, 70's" - that's sounds like you've let your mind atrophy while filling it with talk radio hopelessness. . .

how can one "unplug"?  decide what you want, what's your bottom line?  then work towards that - an example? find others of a like mind - they do exist, but you're going to have to begin being like them, not looking for them from your place-holding seat on ZH.

people should be using the information HERE to get stuff done outside of here - there is so much repetition on these threads, and once one recognises this - it's time to know you've gotten the message, and the message is NOT to sit around typing about how angry you are, or how sweet someone's titty avatar is - go fucking do something towards saving your life.

Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:27 | 2550154 e-recep
e-recep's picture

just as i expected. you talked a lot yet said nothing.

i'll try again : you say "fucking do something" and i ask "fucking do what??". hoard gold, buy ammo, live like hillbillies, start hunting and gathering?

am i not clear enough??

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:54 | 2547153 MeBizarro
MeBizarro's picture

The biggest reason America is going broke is the entitlement spending and mainly due to retirement healthcare spending (Medicare and spending by Medicaid for various forms of assisted-living care and housing which is the single biggest expense for Medicaid).

Hear this all the time about how lazy those under 40 are and how Boomers work so hard.  I'm 35 and would agree with that too some degree but at the same time I find it laughable that about the almost universal sentiment among Boomers is that they 'paid for their retirement' and deserve the Medicare/SSI benefits.  If you try to have a discussion with them that this isn't remotely the truth, they become irrational bordering on the hysterical.  You can point to statistics, analysis, etc.  Doesn't matter.  They will rant and rave despite the fact the average Boomer will get at least 4x-5x more in Medicare retirement benefits than they had deducted in payroll taxes duirng their lifetime even if you indexed that to inflation & gave them a healthy market return.   

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:50 | 2547461 PulpCutter
PulpCutter's picture

GOP talking point nonsense.  SS & Medicare were running surpluses until recently, and are currently running near revenue-neutral.  They are not the cause of the current deficit.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:18 | 2547567 Lednbrass
Lednbrass's picture

Nonsense and talking points indeed.

Any past surpluses are entirely irrelevant as the money was spent on other things by the people who promised themselves this vast future largesse from the pockets of kids.  If it had been retained that would be one thing, but it was not.

As a point of unavoidable mathematical reality these programs will be tearing huge holes in the budget this decade. SS went upside down in 2010 and this will be increasing massively every year as the boomers retire. The last report on SS was a farce- it used interest rates that have no bearing on the real world at all, and due to ZIRP cannot be realized.

The first of the boomers have just started retiring, by the end of this decade it is going to be yet another massive nine figure shortfall. Younger people simply cannot afford what they promised themselves in any way, shape, or form.  The only possibility is to repay it in a currency so devalued that its real purchasing power is a tiny fragment of what those lining up for their SS checks expected, whihc brings myriad other problems with it.

Fri, 06/22/2012 - 08:36 | 2550354 headless blogger
headless blogger's picture

Thats not even what i was getting at; but society needs to take care of their elderly and youth/younger. They need to END THE EMPIRE and the over half of budget for it. They need to get rid of the central banking system which is built on a continuously inflating system.

We never treated elderly like the younger generation does now. I think the young adults today are the end result of this entire system of immorality. I can see them easily killing elderly people.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:00 | 2547186 MeBizarro
MeBizarro's picture

What exactly should they do?  Only time you have change in America is through sustained action by large numbers of people over a prolonged period of time around a very-well defined and narrow topic or a massive tragedy that kills people (especially women or children) that prompts a flurry of action and change because of the popular opinion outrage. 

Blind and unfocused rage by an individual changes nothing.  Never has, never will. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:23 | 2546996 nickels
nickels's picture

The quality of a democracy won't exceed the wisdom of it's electorate.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:47 | 2547111 Lebensphilosoph
Lebensphilosoph's picture

Long live universal suffrage!

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:32 | 2547037 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

We are constantly told from 1st grade on that America is the land of the free, but it stops with that; we are not told the rest of the story..." the land where the 1% are FREE to screw over the other 99%. 

Don't believe that?  Read this:

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2012/06/15/wwii-veteran-forced-out-of-home-a...

 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:38 | 2547064 thedonald
thedonald's picture

Yes, I would say the SHEEPLE are getting it, check out these two sperate you tubes........very funny and right on target !!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYgGMrGgMzI&feature=channel&list=UL

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgUSUfDB_KE

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:42 | 2547085 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

Here, I 'found' a little list of actions that I think most here would view as a positive first step.  Please steal and distribute.

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/67758041/List-of-Demands-October-6-2011

 

LIST OF DEMANDS TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICA FROM FINANCIAL CATASTROPHE

I.CURB CORRUPTION AND EXCESSIVE POWER IN THE FINANCIAL ARMS OF THE US GOVERNMENT

A. FEDERAL RESERVE

1. Benjaman Bernanke to be removed as Chairman immediately

2. New York Federal Reserve Bank and all New York City offices of the Federal Reserve system will be closed for at least 3 years

3. Salaries will be reduced and capped at $150,000/year, adjusted for official inflation

4. Staffing count to be reduced to 1980 levels

5. Interest rate manipulation to be prohibited for at least five years

6. Balance sheet manipulation to be prohibited for at least five years

7. Financial asset purchases prohibited for at least five years

B. TREASURY DEPARTMENT

1. Timothy Geithner to be removed as Secretary immediately

2. All New York City offices of the Department will be closed for at least 3 years

3. Salaries will be reduced and capped at $150,000/year, adjusted for official inflation

4. Staffing count to be reduced to 1980 levels

5. Market manipulation/intervention to be prohibited for at least five years

6. Financial asset purchases prohibited for at least five years

II.END THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF GIANT BANKSAND PROTECT AMERICANS FROM FURTHER EXPOSURETO THEIR COLLAPSE

A. END CORRUPT INFLUENCE

 

1. Lifetime ban on government employment for TARP recipient employees and corporate officers, specifically including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase

2. Ten year ban on government work for consulting firms, law firms, and individual consultants and lawyers who have accepted cash from these entities

3. All contacts by any method with federal agencies and employees prohibited for at least five years, with civil and criminal penalties for violation

B. PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FROM FURTHER HARM AT THE HANDS OF GIANT BANKS

1. No financial institution with assets of more than $10billion will receive federal assistance or any 'arm's-length' bailouts

2. TARP recipients are prohibited from purchasing other TARP recipient corporate units, or merging with other TARP recipients

3. No foreign interest shall be allowed to acquire any portion of TARP recipients in the US or abroad

III.PREVENT CORPORATE ACCOUNTING AND PENSION FUNDABUSES RELATED TO THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

A. CORPORATE ACCOUNTING

1. Immediately implement mark-to-market accounting rules which were improperly suspended, allowing six months for implementation.

2. Companies must reserve against impaired assets under mark-to-market rules

3. Any health or life insurance company with more than$100 million in assets must report on their holdings and risk factors, specifically including exposure to real estate, mortgage-backed securities, derivatives, and other exotic financial instruments. These reports will be to state insurance commissions and the federal government, and will also be made available to the public on the Internet.

B. PENSION FUNDS

1. All private and public pension funds must disclose their funding status and establish a plan to fully fund accounts under the assumption that net real returns across all asset classes remain at zero for at least ten years

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 10:57 | 2547176 MeBizarro
MeBizarro's picture

This is a pretty shallow analysis on this topic and doesn't go nearly back enough nor touch on the larger macroeconomic forces at work the past 25-30 years (e.g., increased automation and productivity, end of Cold War and massive infusion of global labor, etc). 

There are some good facts here but it doesn't go deep enough nor is it that provocative. 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:13 | 2547263 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Jesse Ventura telling it like it is: 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/why-wrestler-won-t-plane-former-governor-jesse-101217385.html

"Democrips and Rebloodicans - No more Gangs in Government" his new book title comparing the political parties to gangs.

 

 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 11:38 | 2547372 PulpCutter
PulpCutter's picture

JSP is being screwed by voting Republican.  Of course, the way JSP has bent over, grabbed his ankles, and spread them, it's hard to call what the GOP is doing to JSP "screwing"; it's more consensual or self-inflicted.

GOP has been the majority of the votes (check the vote tallies) for:

> deregulation of the WallSt investment banks

> Patriot Act, huge number of govt employees snooping, drones in the sky

> 1050 billion/year in "defense" spending; more than rest of world, combined

> 6.8% interest on college loans, 0% interest on loans to WallSt

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:45 | 2547660 jtg
jtg's picture

Wrong, the Democrats in the late 1990's repealed the law from previous Depression that kept the banks, brokerages, and insurance separate. However, unlike you, I don't spare the Republicans, either. Our biggest problem is there are too many people with biased, dogmatic, party line thinking.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:14 | 2547421 michael_engineer
michael_engineer's picture

Interesting article. It appears we have all been collectively painted into a corner in ways.

This article may provide insights to some here.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/observations-engineer

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:23 | 2547580 blunderdog
blunderdog's picture

Way late to this party, Quinnbo. 

The middle class has been under continuous assault since the '70s, when the battle for profits over wages really got started.

Fail.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:36 | 2547628 stiler
Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:41 | 2547644 jtg
jtg's picture

I am a little suspicious of Charles Ferguson. Why did he allow Barney Frank to cover up his involvement in the financial coverup in the Ferguson 'Inside Job' video??? Charles Ferguson didn't know of Frank's role? Why is most support for Ferguson from the Left? 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 12:45 | 2547659 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

Great piece. Really lays out everything in a solid, non partisan format. Two more issues with employment:

A) The quit rates are at historic lows, which means that those hard working Americans lucky enough, aren't finding better opportunity in the job market. This means a decline in social mobility, as well as the risk of higher stress put on both the market and the populace. When you have a bunch of people in debt, who once they realize that things aren't going to turn around anytime soon, and that they'll be stuck at the dead end job for 5-10 years longer than they want......with rising inflation (or deflation, which also effects wages).....that's only going to create tension. The whole "suck it up, be more productive for less, or we'll can you" mentality by finacialized corporations (who became that way by their funded finacialized banks and stock bond holders) can only last so long until, as Gerald Celente says, "Once people lose everything; they lose IT."

B) The unionization numbers are also at all time lows. Now, I'm a fan of the IDEA of unions; but unfortunately in this "pay-for-play" climate we are in, they've tunred into nothing more than a lobbying group that unifies their orgs vs the rest of the working people (which is what Wall St wants). It's a rat race; everyone is trying to get theirs to make ends meet and maybe be the lucky 20% of people to escape corporate serfdom. I think this is also why gambling/gaming is so popular today. Unions today are very much a symbol of what the rich wealthy has done to the working class - pit people against each opther so the top can make money.

When GM got bailed out, the union who negoiated the rehiring of jobs, actually negoitated a LOWER wage for their newer employees. As a result, union reps got the cut off the top, they looked good to their consituients who are just HAPPY THEY GOT A JOB, and of course, GM makes out by making profit off a government bailout and using the shitty economic climate to screw the younger workers.

That wasn't what unions used to be. Think the Ford plant sit-ins in the 1930s. Think of the fight against child labor that was told in the books like Charles Dickens' "Hard Times" or Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier".  Now, thanks to corporate brainwashing, you have conserviative in Wisconsin going at it with union workers fighting over bread crumbs, while ALL their wages are declining and pensions disappearing, while that scumbag like Walker gets to eat Mortons and enjoy getting ass fucked by big corporate donors like the Kochs.

Whether or not you disagree with the unionization concept, TPTB has made a concerted effort to attack our right to assembly...whether it is Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party (the original one started by Ron Paul against the income tax, not the fascist right wing corrupted one we see today), and other forms of protest against aloof, bought off politicians who won't tackle the real issues, like big banks and their fraud and how it is extracting the wealth that is created by hard working Americans who refuse to blame anyone BUT themselves.....because that is what they are taught in school. And the baby boomers telling a younger generation to "suck it up" when we clearly can use the google and see that you are pissing on my back.....that shit ain't gonna fly.

It's a direct attack on the Constitution of the United States of America.  It proves fascism really does exist, and it's subversive.

Once people lose the right to speak out, they can only resort to one thing left:

Guns.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 13:10 | 2547763 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

I thought it was all supposed to be the Boomers fault.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 14:04 | 2548022 mkhs
mkhs's picture

Pay attention.  It was Bush's fault.

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 18:31 | 2549009 blunderdog
blunderdog's picture

Dubya was born in '46.  He's a boomer.  Same old.

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