“I Cannot Afford To Live”: Americans Get Emotional As The U.S. Economy Goes Off The Rails

[Man With A Plan]

And like those in the past who did rain dances when there was drought, or who sacrificed people when things went badly, people will vote based on things they don't understand and change govt or not based on how well things are doing that day. Nothing else.

There is a change coming not based on how well things are doing one day, Frigid but based on how badly things have been going for the past three and a half years. Joe Biden is an awful President. Everything he touches turns to shit.

 

[frigidweirdo]

There is a change coming not based on how well things are doing one day, Frigid but based on how badly things have been going for the past three and a half years. Joe Biden is an awful President. Everything he touches turns to shit.

Oh please. You'd say this no matter what.

The US is turning to shit, not because of Biden, not because of Trump, but because of the system. And you people come on here every fucking day attacking the other side for being super fucking bad. Yet you can't see the reality if the situation.

The politicians barely have anything to do with politics.

 

[August West]

Let a grownup help you with your comments.

 

[sealybobo]

Capitalism isn't perfect. And if not properly regulated, this is what happens. The rich got 1322% raise in the last 30 years and we only got 18%. The bosses got 1322%, you got 18%. Wake up.

So Biden, and unions, are fixing it. Don't make me laugh to suggest Republicans want to put more of the corporate profits in the hands of workers. You're kidding yourself right.

You won't let corporations and rich people pay their fair share. You don't want your taxes to go up. You don't want to put it on the debt. Infrastructure spending had to be spent. You ignorant fuck.

 

[sealybobo]

“I Cannot Afford To Live”: ​

Americans Get Emotional As The U.S. Economy Goes Off The Rails​

"I Cannot Afford To Live": Americans Get Emotional As The U.S. Economy Goes Off The Rails

As we approach what is likely to be the most chaotic presidential election in U.S. history, trouble signs are starting to erupt for the U.S. economy. In fact, CNN is actually admitting that "the long-predicted

theeconomiccollapseblog.com

10 Apr 2024 ~~ By Michael Snyder

As we approach what is likely to be the most chaotic presidential election in U.S. history, trouble signs are starting to erupt for the U.S. economy. In fact, CNN is actually admitting that “the long-predicted storm clouds in the economy may actually be forming”. I can’t remember the last time that I saw a CNN article with a headline like that. But at this point, it is becoming extremely difficult for the mainstream media to avoid the truth. Inflation is getting worse at the same time that many key sectors of our economy are slowing down. If you thought that the last couple of years were rough for the economy, just wait until you see what is coming next. Tremendous turmoil is on the horizon, and the American people are becoming increasingly emotional about our rapidly growing economic problems.
On Wednesday, we learned that prices jumped even more than expected during the month of March…
~Snip~
For example, Fox Business is reporting that the cost of energy “is up 36.9% from where it was in Jan. 2021″…

Tuesday’s inflation numbers punctuate what has been a dreadful three years for energy consumers. The overall cost of energy in March is up 36.9% from where it was in Jan. 2021, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.​

Of course energy prices are going to go a lot higher than they are right now.
~Snip~
Just like me, so many of you can feel what is coming.
A tipping point has arrived, and the outlook for the months ahead is very bleak.
The U.S. economy is going off the rails, and the worse things get the more frustrated the American people are going to become.


Commentary:
Not according to our 46th president and his administration. We are doing so well, we don’t have to worry about the cost of illegals or of forgiving student loans, and we can freely help Ukraine with many hundreds of billions of dollars for something that could have been handled with a peace treaty.
Everything is fine!
Don't worry about housing, food, or fuel for heating, cooking or transportation. Our president has it covered.
Yes, The Rats in Washington have it covered. They tell us they won’t cut Social Security benefits, but they have no problem creating high inflation, or fudging the numbers to limit Social Security COLA’s for retirees.
The next round of inflation is going to be absolutely brutal. Many already on the brink who never would've considered crime will start to ponder it.
America's largely service sector economy will take a massive hit as what little discretionary spending still exists evaporates and near-minimum wage workers can barely afford to commute.
What happens when rural youth begin behaving like urban youth?
There is a level of hardship at which this starts to happen en-masse.

CEO pay in the US has grown 1,322% since 1978, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Such astronomical CEO pay is a very American problem. Not only do American CEOs far out-earn their workforces, they also out-earn their peers in other countries.

Connect the dots. In that same time, union membership went from 35% of our workforce down to 5%. So when labor lost it's seat at the table, the middle class stopped getting raises.

Why aren't corporations in America being more generous?

 

[Man With A Plan]

Capitalism isn't perfect. And if not properly regulated, this is what happens. The rich got 1322% raise in the last 30 years and we only got 18%. The bosses got 1322%, you got 18%. Wake up.

So Biden, and unions, are fixing it. Don't make me laugh to suggest Republicans want to put more of the corporate profits in the hands of workers. You're kidding yourself right.

You won't let corporations and rich people pay their fair share. You don't want your taxes to go up. You don't want to put it on the debt. Infrastructure spending had to be spent. You ignorant fuck.

How is Biden "fixing" anything? You're the ignorant fuck, Sealy because you believe the bullshit coming out of the mouth of Democrats like Nancy Pelosi that it's the Republican's that are the problem! Do you know how much Nancy's net worth has increased during the time that she's been in Congress? But you buy her bullshit about how the rich need to pay their "fair share"? You're a dupe and they laugh at you all the way to the bank!

 

[sealybobo]

How is Biden "fixing" anything? You're the ignorant fuck, Sealy because you believe the bullshit coming out of the mouth of Democrats like Nancy Pelosi that it's the Republican's that are the problem! Do you know how much Nancy's net worth has increased during the time that she's been in Congress? But you buy her bullshit about how the rich need to pay their "fair share"? You're a dupe and they laugh at you all the way to the bank!

Nope. I've been paying attention since Carter. You're being fooled by Republicans. I've been doing this for 45 years. I know, the GOP, is not the party for the middle class or poor. It hasn't been since god knows when but Reagan fooled us into believing he was but meanwhile he was actually the beginning of the end. All his policies, have made the middle class poorer and the rich richer.

Let's be honest. From 1978, union membership represented 35% of our work force. Those guys made good money. Today only 5% of us are in unions. And during those 40 years, the rich and corporations $ has gone up due to GOP policies.

It's funny that in the 2000's you attacked uneducated blue collar workers. You said they were overpaid. Now you say you want to pay them more? Interesting.

 

[AntonToo]

Nobody is buying the bullshit that things are great with Biden's economy, Anton!

I cited FACTS of wages, GDP and employment growth, not opinion.

You don't like facts?

To listen to you rw fools the only measure of economy is inflation, but as a matter of fact it isn't.

Affordability is a question about employment (can't afford stuff if you don't have a job), wages and cost. Your mindset that it's only about cost is a delusion due to political bias, not objective take on state of our economy.

 

[Andylusion]

Next time you post I suggest you actually address something in it.

Yes GSEs held sub-prime mortgage backed securities but VERY FEW OF THEM ORIGINATED UNDER CRA.

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission conclusion: "the CRA was not a significant factor in subprime lending or the crisis."

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-FCIC/pdf/GPO-FCIC.pdf

Before the GSEs guaranteed sub-prime mortgages in 1997, there was no mortgage backed securities sold with sub-prime loans.
Period. You cannot find a single sub-prime loan that was bundled in a mortgage backed security before 1997.
PERIOD.

So whether or not "they originated under CRA" or not... does not matter. The government guaranteed sub-prime loans bundled in mortgage backed securities in 1997.

If you can't provide evidence that this is not true, which you never have.... then my point stands. The US government caused the sub-prime bubble and crash.

 

[Andylusion]

Wrong, wrong again, it's DIRECTLY RELAVANT because as per FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION findings loans under CRA that you are tlaking about had much lower default rates compared to unregulated market where most of the problems were.

No they did not. The GSEs had Alt-A loans that had dramatically higher default rates than Prime rate loans, resulting in the GSEs having the largest bailouts of the entire sub-prime crash.
Alt-A loans were sub-prime loans.

 

[AntonToo]

Before the GSEs guaranteed sub-prime mortgages in 1997, there was no mortgage backed securities sold with sub-prime loans.
Period. You cannot find a single sub-prime loan that was bundled in a mortgage backed security before 1997.
PERIOD.

So whether or not "they originated under CRA" or not... does not matter. The government guaranteed sub-prime loans bundled in mortgage backed securities in 1997.

If you can't provide evidence that this is not true, which you never have.... then my point stands. The US government caused the sub-prime bubble and crash.

Well you say "it doesn't matter" now, but you've spent pages and pages posting bullshit about how litigation re. CRA was what caused the real estate collapse.

Yes GSE's AAA rated securities that mixed in sub-prime mortgages eventually contributed to the problem, because they weren't ACTUALLY AAA risk grade, which is, again, a risk management failure that happened at every level.

You want to put some blame on Clinton admin? Sure ok, but when at the same time you give Bush admin a full pass for not only not fixing anything in 7 years leading up to the collapse, but actively pushing for EXPANDING GSE's sub-prime holdings (among all the other Home Ownership and deregulation policies) you just show your hand as just another tribalist politico with no interest for any sort of objectivity.

 

[lafayette]

Nobody is buying the bullshit that things are great with Biden's economy, Anton! People know their bank accounts were bigger under Trump. They know they're struggling to pay their bills under Biden. Hard to spin that...but you keep on trying!

The economy IS strong. However, the economy and abortion will decide the election.

 

[Andylusion]

Well you say "it doesn't matter" now, but you've spent pages and pages posting bullshit about how litigation re. CRA was what caused the real estate collapse.

Yes GSE's AAA rated securities that mixed in sub-prime mortgages eventually contributed to the problem, because they weren't ACTUALLY AAA risk grade, which is, again, a risk management failure that happened at every level.

You want to put some blame on Clinton admin? Sure ok, but when at the same time you give Bush admin a full pass for not only not fixing anything in 7 years leading up to the collapse, but actively pushing for EXPANDING GSE's sub-prime holdings (among all the other Home Ownership and deregulation policies) you just show your hand as just another tribalist politico with no interest for any sort of objectivity.

Look at what you just said..

"GSE's AAA rated securities that mixed in sub-prime mortgages eventually contributed to the problem, because they weren't ACTUALLY AAA risk grade, which is, again, a risk management failure that happened at every level."

You said that, correct?

Now let's go back to the evidence I posted.
1997 First Union and Bear Stearns made a deal with Freddie Mac.....
Let's read it....

The affordable mortgages were originated or acquired by First Union Corporation and subsidiaries. Customers will experience no impact – they will continue to make payments to and be serviced by First Union Mortgage Corp. CRA loans are loans targeted to low and moderate income borrowers and neighborhoods under the Community Reinvestment Act of
1977.

The $384.6 million in senior certificates are guaranteed by Freddie Mac and have an implied "AAA" rating. First Union Capital Markets Corp. is the investment banking subsidiary of First Union Corporation.

Did you catch that? Let me say it again....
"GUARANTEED BY FREDDIE MAC AND HAVE AN IMPLIED "AAA" RATING"

What part of this do you have a questions about?

Freddie Mac made sub-prime loan backed securities, guaranteed with a "AAA" rating.
Government under Bill Clinton gave bad loans a "AAA" rating.

Before 1997 not a single sub-prime loan anywhere was ever given a "AAA" rating.

And if your claim is that private rating agencies caused the problem, then why didn't this happen in the early 1990s before Freddie Mac gave them a "AAA" rating? Why not even the 1980s?
In fact, it was President Carter that made sub-prime loans even possible, by removing the limitations on interest rates. They could have randomly given a "AAA" rating to sub-prime loans in the 1970s.

But they didn't. And they didn't wait until the 2000s either. No they started giving Sub-prime mortgage backed securities a "AAA" rating only in 1997 when Freddie Mac did it.

Amazing coincidence. Just shocking. All these completely random unconnected endless coincidences. All these bad actors giving "AAA" ratings to sub-prime mortgages, and just by sheer chance alone, they all did it at the exact same time that Freddie Mac gave sub-prime mortgages a "AAA" rating. But you are convinced it was not because of any influence by the government saying they are safe? No chance of that at all?

And by the way, all the Democrats said this was good too. Maxine Waters and Bernie Frank, all said the GSE were doing a good job, and should do more. But nope, it wasn't them. It was everyone else. Not government. Couldn't be government. Impossible that government could ever do anything wrong.

 

[Andylusion]

The economy IS strong. However, the economy and abortion will decide the election.

Stronger than it was after Democrats screwed it up.

I don't think abortion will decide the election. In fact it doesn't really show up on important topics.
The economy is high, immigration is high, inflation is high on the list, crime and homelessness is sort of high.... and then just poor leadership... which is exclusively Biden is senile problem.

I don't see abortion anywhere near the top of any list of important factors.

 

[Andylusion]

Capitalism isn't perfect. And if not properly regulated, this is what happens. The rich got 1322% raise in the last 30 years and we only got 18%. The bosses got 1322%, you got 18%. Wake up.

So Biden, and unions, are fixing it. Don't make me laugh to suggest Republicans want to put more of the corporate profits in the hands of workers. You're kidding yourself right.

You won't let corporations and rich people pay their fair share. You don't want your taxes to go up. You don't want to put it on the debt. Infrastructure spending had to be spent. You ignorant fuck.

The rich should get that raise. And the lower people should get what they got.
Why would you think otherwise?
Unions are certainly not fixing anything. They have done more harm than good. Thousands of jobs have been lost thanks to Unions.

Rich people are already paying dramatically more than their fair share.

The top 1% pay almost 40% of all income tax, and the top25% pay almost 90% of all taxes.
The entire bottom 50% of people pay hardly 5% of taxes.

 

[Andylusion]

Nope. I've been paying attention since Carter. You're being fooled by Republicans. I've been doing this for 45 years. I know, the GOP, is not the party for the middle class or poor. It hasn't been since god knows when but Reagan fooled us into believing he was but meanwhile he was actually the beginning of the end. All his policies, have made the middle class poorer and the rich richer.

Let's be honest. From 1978, union membership represented 35% of our work force. Those guys made good money. Today only 5% of us are in unions. And during those 40 years, the rich and corporations $ has gone up due to GOP policies.

It's funny that in the 2000's you attacked uneducated blue collar workers. You said they were overpaid. Now you say you want to pay them more? Interesting.

And we're all more wealthy now than when we worked for unions. And working union jobs sucks, if you don't. Working in a factory sucks.

More people are more wealthy today, than at any time in US history.
That graph is adjusted for inflation. People have moved up to higher income levels.
We have more people more wealthy than at any time in the history of this entire world.

In order for us to go back to the 1970s with Unions, we would have to force a hundred million people to be poorer.

 

[sealybobo]

The rich should get that raise. And the lower people should get what they got.
Why would you think otherwise?
Unions are certainly not fixing anything. They have done more harm than good. Thousands of jobs have been lost thanks to Unions.

Rich people are already paying dramatically more than their fair share.
View attachment 932944
The top 1% pay almost 40% of all income tax, and the top25% pay almost 90% of all taxes.
The entire bottom 50% of people pay hardly 5% of taxes.

They can't be paying their fair share. If they were, why is their wealth climbing at such an extreme rate? And we know Reagan, Bush and Trump gave them tax breaks. Perhaps they were paying their fair share prior to the Reagan tax breaks.

And when you give me 95% of the money and I tell you that I'm paying more than all of you combined, well no shit. Why don't you give us 20% more and we'll pay more taxes because we are making more money. We will gladly have your problems.

 

[sealybobo]

And we're all more wealthy now than when we worked for unions. And working union jobs sucks, if you don't. Working in a factory sucks.
View attachment 932946
More people are more wealthy today, than at any time in US history.
That graph is adjusted for inflation. People have moved up to higher income levels.
We have more people more wealthy than at any time in the history of this entire world.

In order for us to go back to the 1970s with Unions, we would have to force a hundred million people to be poorer.

This has to be bullshit. I look at how my dad lives after only working 20 years for a union and I look at white uneducated blue collar workers today living in economic despair. You're kidding right?

Since union membership went from 35% of our workforce, CEO pay went up 1322% and your pay went up 18%. You're an idiot. And you say they pay their fair share? LOL.

Why Are So Many Middle-Aged White Americans Dying?​

WHY? Because they aren't making union money!!!

Why Are So Many Middle-Aged White Americans Dying?

A new report offers one explanation as to why the mortality rate for uneducated white Americans has risen—even as people elsewhere are living longer and healthier.

www.theatlantic.com

It's so obvious. Bush/Republicans sent all their good paying jobs overseas. Now they are on drugs, committing crimes, suicide, od'ing, specifically uneducated WHITES. Why? They lost those good paying jobs.

 

[sealybobo]

And we're all more wealthy now than when we worked for unions. And working union jobs sucks, if you don't. Working in a factory sucks.
View attachment 932946
More people are more wealthy today, than at any time in US history.
That graph is adjusted for inflation. People have moved up to higher income levels.
We have more people more wealthy than at any time in the history of this entire world.

In order for us to go back to the 1970s with Unions, we would have to force a hundred million people to be poorer.

We are more wealthy now? Who's we? Uneducated blue collar workers?

Why Are So Many Middle-Aged White Americans Dying?

A new report offers one explanation as to why the mortality rate for uneducated white Americans has risen—even as people elsewhere are living longer and healthier.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Andylusion]

They can't be paying their fair share. If they were, why is their wealth climbing at such an extreme rate? And we know Reagan, Bush and Trump gave them tax breaks. Perhaps they were paying their fair share prior to the Reagan tax breaks.

And when you give me 95% of the money and I tell you that I'm paying more than all of you combined, well no shit. Why don't you give us 20% more and we'll pay more taxes because we are making more money. We will gladly have your problems.

Why would paying your fair share, require your wealth to not climb to an extreme rate? Not that there is any definition by which you can claim one rate is extreme and the other is not.

Wealth is not directly connected to taxes at all. Wealth is not the same as income.

Maybe you are a car guy. I don't know. Or maybe you know a car guy. I had a boss that as a hobby he would buy old old classic BMWs and restore them. So say you find a old Mustang Shelby GT, and you buy it for couple hundred dollars because it's all beat up and rusted. And then you repair the car, restore it, fix the body, get it in perfect condition. Now the car is worth $1 million. (that might be a bit high, but let's go with the illustration).

Your wealth went up by $1 million. Did you pay your fair share? No, you paid no tax at all. You worked on this car, and made the car more valuable. But you paid zero tax on that $1 Million of wealth you now have.

Similarly people who own homes have the same effect. My parents bought a house in 1983 for $103,000. Today that house is worth $1.2 Million. Did they pay their fair share of taxes on that $1.2 Million. No. They owned an asset that went up in value.

And this is how you want it. You don't want a wealth tax, because that would mean owning that Shelby Mustang, would pay a $300,000 tax bill. You would be forced to sell the car you worked so hard to restore, just pay the taxes.

Everyone with a house goes up in value, would have to pay massive taxes on it. They would be forced to sell their homes, just pay the taxes on their homes, for daring to go up in value.

You and my parents both paid your fair share, even though both of your wealth dramatically increased. By the way, my parents were just public school teachers. The reason they are worth multiple millions, is just because of wisely investing like this.

Now, let's talk about the wealthy. Elon Musk is the example I know the most about, so I'll go with that.

In the late 90s Elon built a company and sold it, used that money to start another company and sold Paypal to Ebay for millions.

Now in 2004 Elon Musk invested several of those millions into Tesla, which bought him a 17% stake in the company. When the company went public, the stocks were trading for a dollar, and the company was worth less than hundred thousand, and Elon was worth ten grand or something, no one cared. No one said he wasn't paying his fair share.

But fast forward 15 years. Elon Musk works 120-hour weeks. He is sleeping at the factory for 3 years to get the company successful. Then in 2021, the company becomes extremely profitable. The share price goes up to $400 a share. The company has a valuation of $1 Trillion.

Elon Musk still owns 17% of Tesla. 17% of $1 Trillion is $170 Billion.

But here's the kicker... Musk's bank account hasn't changed by a penny. Just like my parents bank account didn't change by a penny because their house went up to $1.2 Million in value. Just like your bank account wouldn't increase by a penny because you restored a Shelby Mustang.

You own an asset that went up in value. You still paid all your taxes that you owe. So did my parents. So did Elon Musk.

And if you just hold onto that Shelby Mustang and keep it in mint condition, it will increase in value. Same with my parents home. Same with Elon Musk's stock in his companies.

So everyone can be paying their fair share, and still have their wealth getting more valuable. This is why all the super wealthy people, are all tied to the business they created.

Bill Gates / Microsoft.
Larry Page / Google.
Steve Jobs / Apple.
Warren Buffet / Berkshire Hathaway.
Jeff Bezos / Amazon.
... and so on.

No one is earning a billion a year or something, to end up with a net worth of $100 Billion. They own an asset, the companies they built, and then those companies went up in value.

And they are all paying their fair share. All of them. Every single one. You paying your fair share, won't the value of your '65 Shelby Mustang GT going up in value, or your home.