Class War: It’s Time
There has been some debate about the strength of the economy on this board as it relates to jobs and poverty. I found this excellent post on DailyKos which I believe lays out the statistics without the spin (for those of you that think anything anti-Bush is spin, why aren’t you rich and in Iraq, really?)
I have excepted some of it here. You can go directly there from the link below.
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/22/12212/5966
I rarely write about political strategy. I am a proud economic wonk. There are others who are far better at presenting issues and ideas in a politically appropriate or opportune way. However, as I have watched and written about the Bush “boom’s” progress, it has become alarmingly apparent that Republican economic policies are toxic to the growth and nurturing of a healthy and viable middle class. The current structure of the American economy is clearly biased for the wealthy and against the middle class. Below I will outline the basic problems the middle class faces.
Jobs
Although Bush loves to talk about his jobs numbers, his record stinks. The Bush’s compound annual growth rate in establishment employment is .6%, the lowest of the last 40 years. In addition, the jobs market has lost 2.8 million manufacturing jobs and 550,000 information service jobs - jobs that helped to create and sustain a middle class. The top ten areas of job growth for 2003-2005 pay $9000 less than the top ten areas of job loss during 2001-2003.
More importantly, the jobs market is slowly resembling a barbell, with low-paying and high-paying jobs and little in between:
The labor market’s gains are beginning to take on the shape of a barbell, with growth weighted heavily at the two ends of the pay scale. During the current expansion, the bulk of new jobs have come in either the highest-paid of five broad occupational categories - management and professional - or the lowest-paid, services. Together the two sectors now account for more than half of all jobs. (The other three major categories are sales and office work, construction and natural resources, and production/transportation.)
Stagnant Wages In January 2001, non-supervisory wages - which represent the wages of 80% of the workforce - were $14.28. These wages were $16.49 in March 2006 for an increase of 15.47%. Over the same time, the nation’s inflation index increased from 175.1 to 199.8, for an increase of 14.10%. That means the average person has seen their pay increase 1.37% in 5 years or a compound annual growth rate of .26%. I don’t know about you - but that would thrill me to no end.
According to the Census Bureau, median national income was unchnaged from 2002-2004. According to the same report, the poverty rate increased each year for the last 4 years.
It’s not as though corporations don’t have the money to give bigger wages. According to the Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds, undistributed corporate profits were 192 billion in 2001 and 418 billion in the third quarter of 2005. Corporate profits now account for the largest percentage of national income in the last 40 years:
U.S. corporate profits have increased 21.3% in the past year and now account for the largest share of national income in 40 years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Strong productivity gains and subdued wage growth boosted before-tax profits to 11.6% of national income in the fourth quarter of 2005, the biggest share since the summer of 1966.
For all of 2005, before-tax profits totaled $1.35 trillion, up from $1.16 trillion in 2004 and just $767 billion in 2001.
Meanwhile, the share of national income going to wage and salary workers has fallen to 56.9%. Except for a brief period in 1997, that’s the lowest share for labor income since 1966.
Health Care
This is a huge expense that is increasing and taking a larger percentage of income. According to Kaiser Health the average annual payment for a single person is $3695 and a family is $9950. According to the Census Bureau, median household income in 2004 was $44,389, making average premiums for a single family 8.32% of annual income for a single person and 22.41% for a family. Employer and employee typically share this expense. However, as companies look to increase profits, expect them to continually increase employees’ contribution to health care.
According to the same Kaiser Health report, health insurance premiums have increased between 2 and 5 times faster than inflation for the last 5 years.
The total number of the uninsured has increased from 40.9 million in 2001 to 45.5 million in 2005.
Of the people who don’t have insurance, 70% state the primary reason is cost.
Medical Bills are a serious problem for many people:
