Yes! Two-thirds of all new income in the US between 2002 - 2007 went to the top 1% of Americans.
96%
No! The entire American middle class hasn't disappeared yet.
4%
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Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Right through the worst of the Bush years and into the present, Thom Hartmann has been one of the very few voices constantly willing to tell the truth. Rank him up there with Jon Stewart, Bill Moyers, and Paul Krugman for having the sheer persistent courage of his convictions."
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
Although they haven't come out and admitted it yet. They do that and it will really be official.
Now that corporations are people and can buy politicians without disclosing their idenity or purpose, the rich have moved to the fast lane. I live in Texas and the first person being "sponsored" for President is our Gov. Rick Perry. I really hope the U.S. of A. wakes up. It may be to late already.
The trick seems to be working: the non-rich believe that they have a chance to become wealthy. All that is needed is to join the cast of a reality show. Since we all can become rich why complain about inequality? Too bad that the myth of America as the land of opportunity has lived longer than the stark reality. If you are born poor in the US, your chances of staying por are greater than in any other civilized country.
The Oil Industry issued a press release a few months ago anouncing they would sponsor a politicial rep. I didn't think that we citizens are allowed to sponsor our own politicians, so why is a corporate conglomerate representing an industry able to sponsor its own politician? Even a corporation operating in a fascist police state like USA has to obey the laws, doesn't it?
The Middle Class has become the Indentured Class, because for decades now American families have managed their budgets in the same irresponsible way that the corporate-state has managed the Federal Budget. Families kept borrowing more than they should have to purchase lots of stuff they wanted but did not need, while Congress kept borrowing to fund the serial wars of aggression that 99% of voters kept providing popular mandates for although only those with the highest incomes, lowest relative taxation, and greatest degree of depravity benefited from them.
We have the war debts, ravaged domestic economy, no sensible single-payer healthcare, and no effort to responsibly mitigate climate change because 99% of voters have regularly and reliably restricted themselves to only ever choosing between the corporate person preselected candidates of the corporate (R) & (D) party... always wasting every opportunity for an election to ever serve any good purpose.
2010 Comparison Average Household Net Worth:
http://chenangogreens.org/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id...
Give the rich an adjustable tax rate , based on unemployment rate, higher the unemployment the higher the taxes rate, They would think twice about shipping jobs overseas.or gambling on wallstreet.
Yes we have a "For The Rich By The Rich" economy, but thats nothing new. It started with SLAVERY for that very purpose.
Just a thought Thom..........aren't you aiding in the demise of Postal Service jobs by hawking the online "Stamps" program? Aren't we losing enough American jobs, especailly government jobs that use to pay well?????