Yesterday, the Republican Study Committee, a 175-member group of far-right House members, released their 2024 “Blueprint to Save America” budget plan. It calls for slashing the federal budget by raising the age at which retirees can start claiming Social Security benefits from 67 to 69, privatizing Medicare, and enacting dramatic tax cuts that will starve the federal government.
J.H.F**king Christ. Let’s see them try to convince the rest of the country that all of this is a good idea. Fascism on the hoof. With über racism along with it.
For me, the question of how to present facts, whether historical or present-day, to people who chose to believe lies and fantasies is one to which I have been unable to find an answer. Most if not all of us here understand the difference, but sharing that understanding, at least on the national scale, seems impossible. However, n the local scale, I am hopeful. My universal healthcare group has put together a questionnaire for our towns, showing what the savings will be under a Medicare for All plan that has been languishing in the MA Legislature for years. Today, in addition to our Cape Cod towns, our regional school district is about to compute their savings. This seems to me to be a better way to show people how their healthcare will improve at the same time that their taxes will go down. If you'd like to learn more, I'd be happy to share our survey.
‘At the Heart of the Documents Case: Trump’s Attachment to His Boxes’
When I saw that headline today, I immediately thought of ‘‘Alice in Wonderland” the precursor of ‘Donald J. Trump in Wonderland’. Others might prefer “The Shining” or NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR.
We are in the bizarre world of HIM!
…and the ‘USA’, the country that let him play to his heart’s content; what do we call this partnership?
‘During President Donald J. Trump’s years in the White House, his aides began to refer to the boxes full of papers and odds and ends he carted around with him almost everywhere as the “beautiful mind” material.'
‘It was a reference to the title of a book and movie depicting the life of John F. Nash Jr., the mathematician with schizophrenia played in the film by Russell Crowe, who covered his office with newspaper clippings, believing they held a Russian code he needed to crack.’
‘The phrase had a specific connotation. The aides employed it to capture a type of organized chaos that Mr. Trump insisted on, the collection and transportation of a blizzard of newspapers and official documents that he kept close and that seemed to give him a sense of security.’
‘One former White House official, who was granted anonymity to describe the situation, said that while the materials were disorganized, Mr. Trump would notice if somebody had riffled through them or they were not arranged in a particular way. It was, the person said, how “his mind worked.”’ (NYTimes) See link below. Sorry, gifted link is not available.
I just want to cry....sorry but this is all getting to me. If the Republicans get their way our democracy will not survive, and our world will descend faster into fascism, ecological disaster and chaos. I pray that tomorrow I will feel more hopeful.
As always, it’s those who have it made that want to get still richer at the expense of those who need a social safety net. Unfortunately, those who are strictly concerned with preserving their wealth are able to lobby members of Congress by giving to their campaigns to ensure that these “bought” legislators pass laws to increase their wealth. The idea of having all campaigns at the national level equally funded by the federal government and outlawing superPACs that support candidates has been proposed many times, but has not been passed into law.
Every Democratic campaign ad should trumpet the GOP’s call to raise the Social Security retirement age from 67 to 69. It also should be mentioned in every campaign speech, from Biden down to every race for Congress. And I want them to read Heather’s last paragraph loud and clear.
Republicans often belittle Denmark and other Nordic countries as socialist because they took ideas from the New Deal even further. But, of course, these countries aren’t socialist. They’ve sacrificed countless lives in various wars to combat socialism and communism. What they do embody is robust economies — capitalism that thrives with regulation.
So good to have this history before US today. Saw the Republican senator attacking Janet Yellen on YouTube. Cringed at his lack of basic manners then laughed that Janet Yellen told him nothing he could twist and propagandize.
We can start working on primaries on 22 June. Time to get in all the blue possible.
'The wealth gap was partly due to significant rises in stock market prices, according to the new study from Imperial College Business School, published in the Journal of Monetary Economics.'
'Researchers from Imperial and the Paris School of Economics are calling for action to be taken by governments and policy makers in the US, to boost wages at the lower end of the market, control unemployment, and stabilise house prices.'
'The researchers drew on new economic data from which they could build a database of the distribution of wealth for most European countries for the first time. This brought the data in line with the available US financial figures and allowed them to compare the change in both total household wealth and wealth inequality in Europe and the United States since the 1970s to the present day, as well as working out the reasons for those changes.'
"High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised."
Dr Clara Martinez-Toledano, Assistant Professor in Finance, Business School
'The researchers found that although both regions had a similar steady growth in total household wealth, the way the wealth had been distributed has been markedly different since the 1980s.'
'Dr Clara Martínez-Toledano, Assistant Professor in Finance at Imperial College Business School and one of the lead authors of the study said: “From the 1980s we see a wealth gap start to emerge, where there’s a more dramatic change in the United States. The wealth that the top one percent richest people own in the States has undergone a significantly larger increase than the top one percent richest in Europe – in other words, the gap between rich and poor in the US became much more pronounced as wealthy Americans became even richer.”
'Reasons for the wealth gap'
'To discover why this gap emerged, the researchers broke wealth down into three key drivers: differences in saving rates; wages; and capital gains rates.'
'During the decades surveyed, the research showed that house prices had gone up dramatically in both regions, as had financial asset prices. However, stock market prices had increased much faster in the US than in Europe.'
'Dr Martínez-Toledano continued: “Differences in the composition of these assets across wealth groups is key. The richest people tend to own financial assets such as stocks and bonds, while the middle wealth groups tend to have a house as their major asset. But even with a big growth in house prices in both regions, stock market prices were the standout distinguishing factor, with a huge jump in value of US stocks during those decades.“
'Another important factor that can explain the wealth gap between rich and poor in the US is inequality of labour income, with the US economy showing a much bigger contrast in pay between the lowest and highest paid workers than the European economies over the same time period.'
'To document these findings, the researchers ran simulations that substituted the labour income inequality and asset price trajectories from France into the US figures. They found the hypothetical US wealth concentration levels were lower as a result of the smaller rise in labour income inequality and the larger rise in house prices relative to financial assets in Europe. The results were similar when they substituted the same figures from other European countries into the US data.'
'Dr Martínez-Toledano explained: “Less equal societies have less stable economies. High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised.”
'The new Distribution Wealth Accounts for Europe database is already available on wid.world for other researchers to build on this work, with the researchers planning regular updates to stay informed about the state of wealth inequality in Europe and the US.'
'The project forms part of a bigger international drive by the World Inequality Lab to provide more comprehensive public information about wealth and income inequality across the world.'
'Wealth inequality dynamics in Europe and the United States: Understanding the determinants is published in the Journal of Monetary Economics.' (ImperialCollegeLondon) For more info, google title below.
Gap between rich and poor has increased more quickly in the US than in Europe
Heather as usual hasn’t missed a ‘beat’ in her fiscal rendition….
Fair and appropriate taxation is the structural basis for a sound economy…
What regularly mystifies me is how the average voter gets gulled into the Republican heresy of little or no taxation or regulation and it generally takes a major catastrophe or war to shift gears back to ‘sanity’….
You’d think by now we’d all know Heather’s story and conclusions!
Coretta Scott King said every generation has to ‘learn its lessons’….the ones Heather just covered!
Thanks. No one else says it, so I’ll say it again.
We have $140 Trillion of net household wealth.
That grew about $72 Trillion in the last 10 years.
The federal debt grew about $15 Trillion.
Redistribution of wealth happens in the boardroom.
We have the money.
We could spread prosperity like wildfire, if we only put people to work on our country.
If you pay a working family a dollar, a rich guy gets it almost immediately. So smart rich guys should be spending all day, every day to put people to work.
Schools, hospitals, power lines, roads, bridges, medical research, sewers, clean water, it goes on.
We all can see it, every day.
So where is the opposition? One cult.
The problem has metastasized into one fat organization, the R party. The votes are clear, the lies are loud and incessant, and now traitorous.
Some have said, over and over again, that the two parties are the same. They apparently can’t count, or understand simple language. Both are huge failings in a democratic republic.
best luck to US -- b.rad
ps new household numbers are due soon; balance sheet update came out last week <uswealthclock.com>
The Republican’s approach to economic management is so obviously “How to Create Chaos, Destroy Everything, Embarrass the Nation while Grifting from the Taxpayer and Making the Land vulnerable to Weather catastrophes”, that they should not garner one vote from your average citizen. A country which gives these types power must be seen ( sorry but geez) as irredeemably ignorant.
Thank you for once again explaining with historical evidence that the GQP plans are destined to fail AGAIN. Please keep spreading the word, hopefully more people will learn the truth and see through the lies and B.S. of the right-wing scumwads.
J.H.F**king Christ. Let’s see them try to convince the rest of the country that all of this is a good idea. Fascism on the hoof. With über racism along with it.
I'm still flabbergasted 60 million women didn't rise up and vote out every GOP for the next two decades. WTAF is going on in this country?
For me, the question of how to present facts, whether historical or present-day, to people who chose to believe lies and fantasies is one to which I have been unable to find an answer. Most if not all of us here understand the difference, but sharing that understanding, at least on the national scale, seems impossible. However, n the local scale, I am hopeful. My universal healthcare group has put together a questionnaire for our towns, showing what the savings will be under a Medicare for All plan that has been languishing in the MA Legislature for years. Today, in addition to our Cape Cod towns, our regional school district is about to compute their savings. This seems to me to be a better way to show people how their healthcare will improve at the same time that their taxes will go down. If you'd like to learn more, I'd be happy to share our survey.
Have Republicans ever been right about anything since 1865?
‘At the Heart of the Documents Case: Trump’s Attachment to His Boxes’
When I saw that headline today, I immediately thought of ‘‘Alice in Wonderland” the precursor of ‘Donald J. Trump in Wonderland’. Others might prefer “The Shining” or NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR.
We are in the bizarre world of HIM!
…and the ‘USA’, the country that let him play to his heart’s content; what do we call this partnership?
‘During President Donald J. Trump’s years in the White House, his aides began to refer to the boxes full of papers and odds and ends he carted around with him almost everywhere as the “beautiful mind” material.'
‘It was a reference to the title of a book and movie depicting the life of John F. Nash Jr., the mathematician with schizophrenia played in the film by Russell Crowe, who covered his office with newspaper clippings, believing they held a Russian code he needed to crack.’
‘The phrase had a specific connotation. The aides employed it to capture a type of organized chaos that Mr. Trump insisted on, the collection and transportation of a blizzard of newspapers and official documents that he kept close and that seemed to give him a sense of security.’
‘One former White House official, who was granted anonymity to describe the situation, said that while the materials were disorganized, Mr. Trump would notice if somebody had riffled through them or they were not arranged in a particular way. It was, the person said, how “his mind worked.”’ (NYTimes) See link below. Sorry, gifted link is not available.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/politics/trump-documents-boxes.html
I just want to cry....sorry but this is all getting to me. If the Republicans get their way our democracy will not survive, and our world will descend faster into fascism, ecological disaster and chaos. I pray that tomorrow I will feel more hopeful.
So very well said Heather. We all must educate everyone around us with this information. And vote, and help others to vote blue.
Your writing is expectedly excellent, this letter is both excellent and eloquent. 🙏😻
As always, it’s those who have it made that want to get still richer at the expense of those who need a social safety net. Unfortunately, those who are strictly concerned with preserving their wealth are able to lobby members of Congress by giving to their campaigns to ensure that these “bought” legislators pass laws to increase their wealth. The idea of having all campaigns at the national level equally funded by the federal government and outlawing superPACs that support candidates has been proposed many times, but has not been passed into law.
Every Democratic campaign ad should trumpet the GOP’s call to raise the Social Security retirement age from 67 to 69. It also should be mentioned in every campaign speech, from Biden down to every race for Congress. And I want them to read Heather’s last paragraph loud and clear.
Republicans often belittle Denmark and other Nordic countries as socialist because they took ideas from the New Deal even further. But, of course, these countries aren’t socialist. They’ve sacrificed countless lives in various wars to combat socialism and communism. What they do embody is robust economies — capitalism that thrives with regulation.
So good to have this history before US today. Saw the Republican senator attacking Janet Yellen on YouTube. Cringed at his lack of basic manners then laughed that Janet Yellen told him nothing he could twist and propagandize.
We can start working on primaries on 22 June. Time to get in all the blue possible.
'The wealth gap was partly due to significant rises in stock market prices, according to the new study from Imperial College Business School, published in the Journal of Monetary Economics.'
'Researchers from Imperial and the Paris School of Economics are calling for action to be taken by governments and policy makers in the US, to boost wages at the lower end of the market, control unemployment, and stabilise house prices.'
'The researchers drew on new economic data from which they could build a database of the distribution of wealth for most European countries for the first time. This brought the data in line with the available US financial figures and allowed them to compare the change in both total household wealth and wealth inequality in Europe and the United States since the 1970s to the present day, as well as working out the reasons for those changes.'
"High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised."
Dr Clara Martinez-Toledano, Assistant Professor in Finance, Business School
'The researchers found that although both regions had a similar steady growth in total household wealth, the way the wealth had been distributed has been markedly different since the 1980s.'
'Dr Clara Martínez-Toledano, Assistant Professor in Finance at Imperial College Business School and one of the lead authors of the study said: “From the 1980s we see a wealth gap start to emerge, where there’s a more dramatic change in the United States. The wealth that the top one percent richest people own in the States has undergone a significantly larger increase than the top one percent richest in Europe – in other words, the gap between rich and poor in the US became much more pronounced as wealthy Americans became even richer.”
'Reasons for the wealth gap'
'To discover why this gap emerged, the researchers broke wealth down into three key drivers: differences in saving rates; wages; and capital gains rates.'
'During the decades surveyed, the research showed that house prices had gone up dramatically in both regions, as had financial asset prices. However, stock market prices had increased much faster in the US than in Europe.'
'Dr Martínez-Toledano continued: “Differences in the composition of these assets across wealth groups is key. The richest people tend to own financial assets such as stocks and bonds, while the middle wealth groups tend to have a house as their major asset. But even with a big growth in house prices in both regions, stock market prices were the standout distinguishing factor, with a huge jump in value of US stocks during those decades.“
'Another important factor that can explain the wealth gap between rich and poor in the US is inequality of labour income, with the US economy showing a much bigger contrast in pay between the lowest and highest paid workers than the European economies over the same time period.'
'To document these findings, the researchers ran simulations that substituted the labour income inequality and asset price trajectories from France into the US figures. They found the hypothetical US wealth concentration levels were lower as a result of the smaller rise in labour income inequality and the larger rise in house prices relative to financial assets in Europe. The results were similar when they substituted the same figures from other European countries into the US data.'
'Dr Martínez-Toledano explained: “Less equal societies have less stable economies. High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised.”
'The new Distribution Wealth Accounts for Europe database is already available on wid.world for other researchers to build on this work, with the researchers planning regular updates to stay informed about the state of wealth inequality in Europe and the US.'
'The project forms part of a bigger international drive by the World Inequality Lab to provide more comprehensive public information about wealth and income inequality across the world.'
'Wealth inequality dynamics in Europe and the United States: Understanding the determinants is published in the Journal of Monetary Economics.' (ImperialCollegeLondon) For more info, google title below.
Gap between rich and poor has increased more quickly in the US than in Europe
Article text (excluding photos or graphics) © Imperial College London.
Heather as usual hasn’t missed a ‘beat’ in her fiscal rendition….
Fair and appropriate taxation is the structural basis for a sound economy…
What regularly mystifies me is how the average voter gets gulled into the Republican heresy of little or no taxation or regulation and it generally takes a major catastrophe or war to shift gears back to ‘sanity’….
You’d think by now we’d all know Heather’s story and conclusions!
Coretta Scott King said every generation has to ‘learn its lessons’….the ones Heather just covered!
Thanks. No one else says it, so I’ll say it again.
We have $140 Trillion of net household wealth.
That grew about $72 Trillion in the last 10 years.
The federal debt grew about $15 Trillion.
Redistribution of wealth happens in the boardroom.
We have the money.
We could spread prosperity like wildfire, if we only put people to work on our country.
If you pay a working family a dollar, a rich guy gets it almost immediately. So smart rich guys should be spending all day, every day to put people to work.
Schools, hospitals, power lines, roads, bridges, medical research, sewers, clean water, it goes on.
We all can see it, every day.
So where is the opposition? One cult.
The problem has metastasized into one fat organization, the R party. The votes are clear, the lies are loud and incessant, and now traitorous.
Some have said, over and over again, that the two parties are the same. They apparently can’t count, or understand simple language. Both are huge failings in a democratic republic.
best luck to US -- b.rad
ps new household numbers are due soon; balance sheet update came out last week <uswealthclock.com>
The Republican’s approach to economic management is so obviously “How to Create Chaos, Destroy Everything, Embarrass the Nation while Grifting from the Taxpayer and Making the Land vulnerable to Weather catastrophes”, that they should not garner one vote from your average citizen. A country which gives these types power must be seen ( sorry but geez) as irredeemably ignorant.
Thank you for once again explaining with historical evidence that the GQP plans are destined to fail AGAIN. Please keep spreading the word, hopefully more people will learn the truth and see through the lies and B.S. of the right-wing scumwads.