| What trickles down in the trickle down economy?I have owned a service company for 30+ years now. The people who work for me are unskilled laborers with limited education.
During the 1990s, demand for services was high. I employed over 60 people, with starting pay at $14 per hour with medical benefits. The 1990s were good and the company prospered.
The last 7 years have been entirely different. Demand has fallen. This year is proving to be the worst in all my years of business. I am down to 12 employees. New hires start at $8 per hour, and I no longer can offer medical benefits.
What is different, for the most part, is my customer base. During the 90s, The majority of my customers were middle-class people. Very little of my business was with corporations and wealthier individuals. Today that trend is reversed. Most of my customers today are big corporations, who continuously demand lower prices from me in order to retain their business. Wealthy individual do the same as well. They haggle to squeeze the lowest price possible.
It's clear to me, at least, that the money in this country has been concentrated at the top on the income chain over the last 7 years. What has trickled down is lower wages at the already low wage levels.
Big business and wealthy people do not create more jobs when they have more money. The concentration of wealth at the top of the chain has only allowed investment in foreign developing country, where big business can hire cheaper labor. This process is taking more and more money out of circulation in this country, which leaves less money for those people at the bottom of the chain.
In my experience, prosperity for me has been dependent on a healthy middle-class, not a wealthier wealthy class. The middle-class seems to be accepting this trade off because big business is delivering cheaper consumer products, saving them money. All the while, however, the cost of necessities are increasing at a rate surpassing their income growth. No one seems to be noticing that demand is dwindling in this country from the bottom income spenders, who spend the most of their incomes in the market.
People who work for me can no longer afford to buy items like TVs, new cars, or what have you. People who work for me have moved to lower rent neighborhoods with higher crime rates. Their standard of living has declined. People who work for me no longer have medical coverage and have their medical bills covered by state programs, taxpayers money.
As long as America holds onto this trickle down economic system, the lower income wage earners are going to earn lower and lower wages. Their basic needs will have to be paid by taxpayers. Companies like mine will disappear because their isn't enough profit to make it worthwhile.
Asked By: .... . .-.. .-.. --- - 6/23/2007 |
President of the United States, serving his second term until January of 2009, after finishing his first in Jan. of 2005.
Widely regarded as the worst or second worst president ever - for obvious reasons: In his four years and 4 months in office, he's ruined ever Social System in place, some as old as FDR's adminstration.
Economically, the Bush Administration is a total failure. A record deficit, pushing $750 Billion dollars (3/4ths of a Trillion) has been made from the Clinton Administration's surplus of $850 Billion (as recorded in January 2000). Import/Export rates have plummetted, unemployment is at one of the highest levels since the depression, and the dollar no longer holds its own with the only monetary competitor - the Euro. The current exchange rate as of writing this is $1.55 for ever 1 Euro.
Domestically, the Bush Administration is also a failure - Not since the Revolutionary War has the United States been so hated in Europe, and our growing reputation of being "The World Police" doesn't help. International Companies are feeling the pressure of being tied to the USA through corporate alliances and whatnot, while international tourism has dropped significantly since September 11th, 2001.
The wars in both Afganistan and Iraq, as well as the inevitable wars with Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and perhaps North Korea, have further fueled the Anti-War front to take action - on the second anniversary of the Iraq war, there were 5,000 protests worldwide, numbering in the hundereds of thousands of people gathering for one cause - the only other thing that has gathered that many people was the death of the Pope John Paul II.
The Bush Administrations policy of deceit doesn't end there though - The justifacation for war was that Iraq had Nuclear weapons, none of which were ever found. After their pretext for war was unveiled, they quickly shifted their agenda to "Liberating" the Iraq people, but after two years of occupation there, 63?f the Iraq population loathes Americans, and that number is apparent in the increasing nationalist insurgent attacks across Iraq.
Some other miscellaneous facts about the Bush Administration include privatizing Social Security, in essance, putting S.S. decisions in the hands of 'the working man', people who don't have economic or accounting experiance, in the hopes that they'll mess up and the government won't have to pay up. Other negating factors include the funding of a perspective Military Draft, drilling for oil in the last artic wildlife reserve funded by the US, and reports that both the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen. While the former election may have been, it's unclear, although the 2004 elections have much more proof - noteably the fact that the touch-screen voter machines used in both Ohio and Florida were manufactured by Vice President Dick Cheney's 'former' company, Halliburton.
Unfortunatly, Bush will continue to lead our great country into ruin until 2008 rolls around and he cannot run again. Thankfully, republicans around the country are realizing what they did on November 2nd, 2004, and in the last month alone, Bush's approval ratings are 30?elow what they were on Election day. Despite what neoconservative whiners say, the GOOD people of America will win this battle, even if it takes another 3 and a half years.
"George Bush is the current President of the United States, and by far the most hated of them all for his devious tactics, treachery, and greed"
Answered By: Bassman - 6/23/2007 |