Facts of how American has been on decline for decades.

Minimum Wage

1956 $1.00
2010 $7.25

With inflation
1956 $1.00
2010 $8.06

So the minimum wage is now lower in worth than at this time 54 years ago.
www.dollartimes.com...
en.wikipedia.org...
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Income Inequality

1956 0.36
2007 0.43

Top 1% of families’ income nearly tripled from 1979 to 2000
www.newsbatch.com...

Changes in Income Inequality 1947 to 2007
www.newsbatch.com...

Top 20% of families own over half of US income and their share is growing.
www.newsbatch.com...

CEO's of major corporations income sky rocketed from 1990 to 2005.
www.newsbatch.com...
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Wealth Inequality

Top 1% own more than a third of overall wealth while the top 5% own 60%.
www.newsbatch.com...

Share of wealth by bottom 80% diminishing from 1979 to 2003.
www.newsbatch.com...

The top 1% is returning to pre-world war 2 era share of income.
www.newsbatch.com...
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Tax Policy

Change in marginal tax rates compared to Gini Index 1947 - 2007.
www.newsbatch.com...

Maximum tax paid by wealthiest Americans has fallen from 1948 to 2005.
www.newsbatch.com...

The tax rates on the bottom 20% has barely dropped from 1979 to 2006.
www.newsbatch.com...
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So has the amount given to charity raised?

The dollar amount has risen but the percent of GDP has fallen since the 1960's.

So has the amount given to the underprivileged rose since the lowering of taxes? NO
www.newsbatch.com...
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Comparing Democrats and Republicans

Both parties were equal on tax increases in 1993.
www.newsbatch.com...

Senate vote against increasing minimum wage laws 1999.
www.newsbatch.com...

And here is the website where I received my information.
www.newsbatch.com...

So to conclude we are in a serious crisis here in America, these statistics do not show the inequality in America today, if it did we would be looking at much more horrible numbers. We need to reprioritize and quickly before there is no middle class left.

I would just like to give this post a *bump* because I think this is pretty important information.

reply to post by Misoir


Good thread.
*S&F*

I have always said, since the early 90's that I believe America was on the decline.
Not just monetarily, but as an infrastructure, as a producer, and as a
nation.
To watch the decline of our Steel industry right before my eyes, that just showed me that greed will be the destruction of the USA.
Then I watched every other sector collapse. Finance, Clothing, Housing, Automobiles...etc.
What's left? Water and Food. That's about it.

reply to post by havok


I couldn't say it better. I have not been around very long so I have not had the chance to see America fall, but I can compare now to just before the recession and can already tell were on the verge of collapse.