Canadian middle class passes American- Thanks Reaganism...

[Papageorgio]

According to a New York Times report, the rich in the US are getting richer, but the poor and middle classes are falling behind some of their Western peers.

"Middle-class incomes in Canada - substantially behind in 2000 - now appear to be higher than in the United States," David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy write. "The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans."

The UK median income is still behind that of the US, but it's catching up fast - a 19.7% increase since 2000. This is the same increase as Canada's, whereas the US number was up by only 0.3%. (It's worth noting that Germany's middle class is also stagnating - at 1.4%.)

The Times reporters based their conclusions on a survey of household incomes in about 20 countries over the course of 35 years, taking into account inflation, differences in taxes, government benefits and cost of living in different locations.

"With a big share of recent income gains in this country flowing to a relatively small slice of high-earning households, most Americans are not keeping pace with their counterparts around the world," they write.

The reporters point to three reasons why all but the wealthiest American may be falling behind:

First, educational attainment in the United States has risen far more slowly than in much of the industrialized world over the last three decades, making it harder for the American economy to maintain its share of highly skilled, well-paying jobs…

A second factor is that companies in the United States distribute a smaller share of the bounty to the middle class and poor than similar countries elsewhere…

Finally, governments in Canada and Western Europe take more aggressive steps to raise the take-home pay of low- and middle-income households by redistributing income.

The struggle for middle- and lower-class Americans is reflected in public opinion polls, the reporters write, which generally show greater dissatisfaction with their government than in other Western nations.

BBC News - Canada passes US in middle-class wealth

Could we PLEASE have the rich pay their fair share so we can invest in America and Americans? This is getting ridiculous, hater dupes. See sig pp 1...

Class envy troll thread...

Well somebody has been holding down wage growth for middle class over three decades and that's despite record productivity.
It seems there is an ideology who could give a shit about the middle class. The middle class has every right to be pissed and it isn't class envy!
It seems just about every economist agrees, the middle class has severely been weakened.

After this President has increased the width, what the hell do we need to do. Elected officials, whether Democrats or Republicans keep electing those that increase the spread. Who do you vote for? Hillary? That won't change anything, yet that is what Dems will do. On the Republican side you get Trump, so we will have no champion for the middle class.

He wasn't able to STOP the spread, defended to the death by Pubs, dupe. Hopefully this year the Dems will get filibuster proof control. Or maybe Pubs might act like human beings...

Just vote the establishment out, quit being stupid and thinking Democrats are better than anyone else.

 

[9aces]

from link- "In 1983, for example, he signed off on Social Security reform legislation that, among other things, accelerated an increase in the payroll tax rate, required that higher-income beneficiaries pay income tax on part of their benefits, and required the self-employed to pay the full payroll tax rate, rather than just the portion normally paid by employees".

Wait...weren't you crying about needing higher taxes?

Make up your mind.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation and decimated iy to making sustenance wages. Thanks Repub useful idiots.

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation

Yeah, by cutting middle class taxes. LOL!

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

Reagan feqed the middle class with that, then raided it to make up for his idiotic tax cuts...
Ronald Reagan and The Great Social Security Heist : FedSmith.com

This surplus revenue was supposed to be saved and invested in marketable U.S. Treasury bonds that would be held in the trust fund until the baby boomers began to retire in about 2010. -

That's what happened. Durr.

The payroll tax hike was designed to generate large Social Security surpluses for 30 years, which would be set aside to cover the increased cost of paying benefits when the boomers retired. -

To truly set it aside, out of reach of government, you'd have to set up private accounts.
Which liberals, like this moronic author, as well as moronic franco, would fight tooth and nail.

The mechanism, which allowed the government to transfer $2.7 trillion from the Social Security fund to the general fund over a 30-year period, was the brainchild of President Ronald Reagan and his advisers -

Ummm....when you buy "marketable U.S. Treasury bonds" that you want to "be held in the trust fund until the baby boomers began to retire", the cash becomes available for spending by the general fund. Durr.

The absolute cluelessness of liberals when it comes to the way things really work still takes my breath away.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Listen to all the crap Raygun did to the middle class, fool.

"Two bills passed in 1982 and 1984 together"constituted the biggest tax increase ever enacted during peacetime," Thorndike said.

The bills didn't raise more revenue by hiking individual income tax rates though. Instead they did it largely through making it tougher to evade taxes, and through "base broadening" -- that is, reducing various federal tax breaks and closing tax loopholes.

For instance, more asset sales became taxable and tax-advantaged contributions and benefits under pension plans were further limited.

"What people forget about Ronald Reagan was that he very much converted to base broadening as a means of reducing deficits and as a means of tax reform," said Eugene Steuerle, an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute who had helped lay the groundwork for tax reform in 1986 and served as a deputy assistant Treasury secretary during Reagan's second term.

There were other notable tax increases under Reagan.

In 1983, for example, he signed off on Social Security reform legislation that, among other things, accelerated an increase in the payroll tax rate, required that higher-income beneficiaries pay income tax on part of their benefits, and required the self-employed to pay the full payroll tax rate, rather than just the portion normally paid by employees".


The tax reform of 1986, meanwhile, wasn't designed to increase federal tax revenue. But that didn't mean that no one's taxes went up. Because the reform bill eliminated or reduced many tax breaks and shelters, high-income tax filers who previously paid little ended up with bigger tax bills.

Taxes: What people forget about Reagan - Sep. 8, 2010

Because the reform bill eliminated or reduced many tax breaks and shelters, high-income tax filers who previously paid little ended up with bigger tax bills.

Reagan raised taxes on the rich? Don't tell franco, his tiny brain will pop.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Now, to the thread at hand. What makes America better than the Middle East is socialism. What makes Canada and Europe's middle class stronger than America's middle class is socialism.

Taxes aren't even that much higher in Canada, it's just that their government hasn't rewritten their tax code in order to help the rich whittle down what they owe, some by more than half, like the way it is here.

Even many establishment Republicans think tax loopholes that only the rich enjoy should be closed, like the one that encourages business to leave America and go overseas.

I wasn't brought up to think about what's left and right; I was brought up to think about right and wrong and that's just plain wrong and needs to be reversed. Unfortunately, Republicans don't even seem to care that their own politicians don't give a hoot about reversing that.

tax loopholes that only the rich enjoy should be closed, like the one that encourages business to leave America and go overseas.


LOL! I'd love to see this loophole.
Spell it out please. With links. Maybe actual legislation?

Do you know ANYTHING beside Pubcrappe, ya GD arrogant zombie. What a gd waste of time you cretins are...

I know more than you. Low bar, I know.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation

Yeah, by cutting middle class taxes. LOL!

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

Reagan feqed the middle class with that, then raided it to make up for his idiotic tax cuts...
Ronald Reagan and The Great Social Security Heist : FedSmith.com

So you can't tell me how much Reagan raised payroll taxes?
Just give me the number that proves your claim.

He raised them a lot, and raided them . No one says exactly, you find it, you ignorant twerp. You appear to know nothing but talking points.

He raised them a lot, and raided them .

A lot. You just can't tell me the rate before he raised them or the rate after. Moron.

 

[francoHFW]

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

Reagan feqed the middle class with that, then raided it to make up for his idiotic tax cuts...
Ronald Reagan and The Great Social Security Heist : FedSmith.com

So you can't tell me how much Reagan raised payroll taxes?
Just give me the number that proves your claim.

He raised them a lot, and raided them . No one says exactly, you find it, you ignorant twerp. You appear to know nothing but talking points.

He raised them a lot, and raided them .

A lot. You just can't tell me the rate before he raised them or the rate after. Moron.

Neither can Wiki or the others. READ SOMETHING, ignorant a-hole. lol. I'm sick of trying to put SOME facts in your empty head. Insurance agent jackass lol. You're clueless about politics or history, just an annoying flea. Later much.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

Reagan feqed the middle class with that, then raided it to make up for his idiotic tax cuts...
Ronald Reagan and The Great Social Security Heist : FedSmith.com

So you can't tell me how much Reagan raised payroll taxes?
Just give me the number that proves your claim.

He raised them a lot, and raided them . No one says exactly, you find it, you ignorant twerp. You appear to know nothing but talking points.

He raised them a lot, and raided them .

A lot. You just can't tell me the rate before he raised them or the rate after. Moron.

Neither can Wiki or the others. READ SOMETHING, ignorant a-hole. lol. I'm sick of trying to put SOME facts in your empty head. Insurance agent jackass lol. You're clueless about politics or history, just an annoying flea. Later much.

Neither can Wiki or the others

Typical lib. Makes a claim with no proof behind it. Moron.

I'm sick of trying to put SOME facts in your empty head

You just admitted, you have no facts.

 

[francoHFW]

We don't have a propaganda machine, dupe. I gave you 2 links and quotes that said he did it, ignorant JACKASS. Your hero was a disastrous demented idiot whose bs has ruined the country. STILL better than these new bought off hypocrites.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

We don't have a propaganda machine, dupe. I gave you 2 links and quotes that said he did it, ignorant JACKASS. Your hero was a disastrous demented idiot whose bs has ruined the country. STILL better than these new bought off hypocrites.

I gave you 2 links and quotes that said he did it

And still no link that shows how much he hiked it. Dupe.

 

[Kondor3]

One tenth our population and crouching behind the American Shield throughout teh Cold War... pppfffffffftttttttttttttttt....

 

[Dot Com]

With friends like the Gipper, who needs enemies. He merely transferred wealth from the taxpayers to the arms merchants. Crony capitalism- bubble economy

 

[Sun Devil 92]

STUPID, GOOD ONLY FOR THE GREEDY IDIOT RICH, TAX RATES AND IDIOTIC REAGAN POLICIES LIVE ON. AND MAINLY THEIR BS PROPAGANDA MACHINE that produce these zombie like arguments. Is Buffett envious of the rich? Or does he want the best for the country? Bvvvvv....

I'll bet your mother gets tired of washing your yellow underwear.

Take a pill.

 

[boedicca]

Now, to the thread at hand. What makes America better than the Middle East is socialism. What makes Canada and Europe's middle class stronger than America's middle class is socialism.

Taxes aren't even that much higher in Canada, it's just that their government hasn't rewritten their tax code in order to help the rich whittle down what they owe, some by more than half, like the way it is here.

Even many establishment Republicans think tax loopholes that only the rich enjoy should be closed, like the one that encourages business to leave America and go overseas.

I wasn't brought up to think about what's left and right; I was brought up to think about right and wrong and that's just plain wrong and needs to be reversed. Unfortunately, Republicans don't even seem to care that their own politicians don't give a hoot about reversing that.

Your stupid must be incredibly painful.

SRSLY

SRSLY, I doubt you know what socialism IS...Pubtroll.

I call shenanigans.

I bet you can't accurately define what socialism is....and if you happen to Google up an accurate definition, I bet you can't describe how that definition supports the OPs fantasy that Socialism creates prosperity.

It's fair democratic capitalism with a good intelligent safety net like in the original EU, Canada, Japan, Oz and NZ. Here too now, but ours is a pander to the greedy idiot rich GOP mess.

"We're all socialists now"- Finland PM when O-Care passed...

You lose. Socialism is not Democrat Capitalism. It has NOTHING to do with capitalism. It's a form of Totalitarianism which always results in Cronies using political pull to take from others.

 

[thereisnospoon]

According to a New York Times report, the rich in the US are getting richer, but the poor and middle classes are falling behind some of their Western peers.

"Middle-class incomes in Canada - substantially behind in 2000 - now appear to be higher than in the United States," David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy write. "The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans."

The UK median income is still behind that of the US, but it's catching up fast - a 19.7% increase since 2000. This is the same increase as Canada's, whereas the US number was up by only 0.3%. (It's worth noting that Germany's middle class is also stagnating - at 1.4%.)

The Times reporters based their conclusions on a survey of household incomes in about 20 countries over the course of 35 years, taking into account inflation, differences in taxes, government benefits and cost of living in different locations.

"With a big share of recent income gains in this country flowing to a relatively small slice of high-earning households, most Americans are not keeping pace with their counterparts around the world," they write.

The reporters point to three reasons why all but the wealthiest American may be falling behind:

First, educational attainment in the United States has risen far more slowly than in much of the industrialized world over the last three decades, making it harder for the American economy to maintain its share of highly skilled, well-paying jobs…

A second factor is that companies in the United States distribute a smaller share of the bounty to the middle class and poor than similar countries elsewhere…

Finally, governments in Canada and Western Europe take more aggressive steps to raise the take-home pay of low- and middle-income households by redistributing income.

The struggle for middle- and lower-class Americans is reflected in public opinion polls, the reporters write, which generally show greater dissatisfaction with their government than in other Western nations.

BBC News - Canada passes US in middle-class wealth

Could we PLEASE have the rich pay their fair share so we can invest in America and Americans? This is getting ridiculous, hater dupes. See sig pp 1...

Class envy troll thread...

Well somebody has been holding down wage growth for middle class over three decades and that's despite record productivity.
It seems there is an ideology who could give a shit about the middle class. The middle class has every right to be pissed and it isn't class envy!
It seems just about every economist agrees, the middle class has severely been weakened.

Productivity.....We do things with far less labor than we used to....
Instead of labor, we use technology. Hence the reason why productivity is up.
And because we use less labor, assuming we are discussing manufacturing, of course the once higher paying blue collar unionized jobs no longer exist. In fact, for the average person with a high school diploma, manufacturing jobs are virtually non existent.
The entire narrative here, is the lamenting of the days when unions owned the manufacturing sector which allowed the high school grad to become employed at the lowest level, never aspire to anything and with union protection could keep the same job for 35 years, get a pat on on the back and a Timex and live off a pension.
Today, one must either be highly trained or have a wide knowledge of computerized machinery just to get their foot in the door.
The other issue is the conspiratorial idea that there is this secret effort to deliberately keep workers from making a decent living. No such effort exists.
Finally....Which economists? And for whom are they speaking?
The irony here is while this issue of the shrinking middle class is a favorite whipping boy of the left, at the same time Obama supporters are busily crowing about Obama's growing prosperous economy.....The left simply wants to have everything both ways

 

[thereisnospoon]

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation and decimated iy to making sustenance wages. Thanks Repub useful idiots.

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation

Yeah, by cutting middle class taxes. LOL!

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

franco ignores the fact that Reagan eight years of a recalcitrant democrat majority in BOTH houses of congress. Reagan had to compromise and make deals in order to further his agenda of economic recovery from the Nixon/Ford/Carter years.

 

[Papageorgio]

Since Reagan we have had 12 years of Republican Presidents and 16 years of Democratic Presidents. Reagan was the most powerful leader of all time since after 28 years it is still Reagan's fault.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Since Reagan we have had 12 years of Republican Presidents and 16 years of Democratic Presidents. Reagan was the most powerful leader of all time since after 28 years it is still Reagan's fault.

Really, it isn't abour Reagan.

It's about wealth and the need by some to hoard it all.

People want to use government to get some of it back....and I can see that temptation.

In the end, we simply need people who are interested in doing the right things.

Greed never was a good thing.

The U.S.A. let's you be greedy more than anywhere else.

Does not mean you have to be.

 

[francoHFW]

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation and decimated iy to making sustenance wages. Thanks Repub useful idiots.

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation

Yeah, by cutting middle class taxes. LOL!

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

franco ignores the fact that Reagan eight years of a recalcitrant democrat majority in BOTH houses of congress. Reagan had to compromise and make deals in order to further his agenda of economic recovery from the Nixon/Ford/Carter years.

Nothing like as recalcitrant as this disgrace of a Pub congress...

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation and decimated iy to making sustenance wages. Thanks Repub useful idiots.

The Gipper declared war on the middle-class of this great nation

Yeah, by cutting middle class taxes. LOL!

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes- and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls- higher for nonrich.

Also hit them with much higher payroll taxes-

Much higher? Really?

How much did Reagan raise them?

and of course states and local taxes and fees went up to make up for fed aid shortfalls-

The Dem House allowed cuts in Fed aid? Why would the Dems do that?

franco ignores the fact that Reagan eight years of a recalcitrant democrat majority in BOTH houses of congress. Reagan had to compromise and make deals in order to further his agenda of economic recovery from the Nixon/Ford/Carter years.

Nothing like as recalcitrant as this disgrace of a Pub congress...

Not even the Dem House of Reps that voted for Reagan's enormous payroll tax hike? LOL!

Did you ever find out the rate before and after?
Or do I have to post it to make you look bad (worse)?