When did it become OK to play political Calvin ball with the faith and good credit of the United States of America? Such are the hidden whispers that the debt ceiling will be used as yet another gun to the head of America, a hostage taking bargaining chip, in spite of the claims to the contrary.
Our government, especially House Republicans, are such an embarrassment to the nation at this point it is hard to write about it. The insanity knows no bounds as they continually play a game of chicken with the United States economy in order to get their way, even when these shenanigans are condemned by the American people.
Women are still low on the economic totem pole. A new Census report shows nothing has changed, women still make 77¢ to a male's dollar when both are working at full-time jobs and if one includes part-time, the ratio is even lower, 71¢. Worse than that, women with families and no husband around make the lowest median income of all, $34,002.
Did you know 15% of America lives in poverty and that income for households after adjusting for inflation has declined by 8.3% since 2007? That America is making 9% less in real dollars than in 1999? The latest annual Census report for 2012 shows America is still broken and poor.
The Federal Open Market Committee is not going to stop quantitative easing just yet. This is no surprise considering the weak economic conditions and as we pointed out, an inflation rate below expectations. The risk of deflation is real.
The story which should be front page news but is not is income inequality. U.C. Berkeley professor, Emmaneul Saez studies income inequality and has recently updated his research with 2012 figures and the results are astounding. The top 1% breaking records for grabbing America's income gains should be what's blaring across the headlines.
People are broke and hungry in America and the food stamp program has been the only thing between many and starvation. Food stamps are successful, it has an incredibly low fraud rate and most importantly, America doesn't have starvation filling the streets as a result. Yet for some reason House Republicans, with Majority leader Eric Cantor leading the charge, want to cut food stamps and force people to starve.
Welcome to Outrageous Economic Shorts, the reader's digest of economic horror. Below are studies, facts and figures that should be enough to make your hair curl. Unfortunately information like this pops up every week. Yet read it and weep, here's some of the latest.
Happy Labor Day! The national holiday came about as an actual day of contrition by Congress for murdered striking railroad workers, although a union, the Knights of Labor, had been organizing celebrations before the Pullman Strike, along with the Central Labor Union.
The Institute for Policy Studies has released a no holds barred report on CEO pay, culture. Even the study title screams outrage, Executive Excess 2013: Bailed Out, Booted, and Busted. Every year there is a list of the top 25 highest paid CEOs and over the past 20 years this list has included 500 executives. Of those 500 who made the Wall Street Journal's top 25 highest paid Chief Executive Officer list, a whopping 38% were utter failures at their jobs.
Recent comments