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AlterNet reports
When Republicans in Congress passed a big, fat tax break bill in December, they insisted it meant American workers would be singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" all the way to the bank. The payoff from the tax cut would be raises totaling $4,000 to $9,000, the President's Council of Economic Advisers assured workers. But something bad happened to workers on their way to the repository. They never got that money.
In fact, their real wages declined because of higher inflation. At the same time, the amount workers had to pay in interest on loans for cars and credit cards increased. And, to top it off, Republicans threatened to make workers pay for the tax break with cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. So now, workers across America are wondering, "Where's that raise?". It's nowhere to be found.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that wages for production and nonsupervisory workers decreased by 0.1 percent from May 2017 to May 2018 when inflation is factored in. The compensation for all workers together, including supervisors, rose an underwhelming 0.1 percent from April 2018 to May 2018.
That's not what congressional Republicans promised workers. They said corporations, which got the biggest, fattest tax cuts of all, would use that extra money to increase wages. Some workers got one-time bonuses and an even smaller number received raises. But not many. The group Americans for Tax Fairness estimates it's 4.3 percent of all U.S. workers.
The New York Times story about this record breaker describes the phenomena this way: "Companies buy back their shares when they believe they have nothing better to do with their money than to return capital to shareholders." So despite promises from the GOP and the President's Council of Economic Advisers, corporations believed further enriching their own executives and shareholders was a much better way to use the money than increasing workers' wages--wages that have been stagnant for decades.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @09:59PM (48 children)
Soylents slow spiral into yet another Trump bashing media outlet. It would be so nice to find a place to escape all this petty political bickering.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @10:07PM (12 children)
The hysterics are getting boring. On-topic: When interest rates are back above inflation, workers can start saving and planning for their future. Remember that? Workers feeling like they have a future? [cnn.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:25PM
How many had kids without being able to afford it?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:26PM (10 children)
That's a feature, not a bug. By having inflation intentionally higher than the interest rates available, it forces people to invest their money in the stock market as that's the only way most people have for coping with inflation. There's a couple of US bonds that are indexed to inflation, so you don't lose as much value, but the other options are some form of stock, ETF or mutual fund most of which are purchased from individuals who have no duty to offer choices that are in the best interest of their clients.
To make matters worse, retirement accounts are increasingly either not available through work at all or are available and have increasingly expensive options inside of them based upon how the company felt about that particular fund's salesperson.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by captain normal on Friday June 22 2018, @01:09AM (7 children)
Most workers really don't have money to invest as they are living hand to mouth. So most people do not invest in the stock market. Here where I live, in central California, most people cannot even invest in buying their own homes. That was something just about everyone could do in the '50s and '60s. That gave them an equity cushion that they could fall back on. Inflation in everything but wages is destroying the country as the rich get richer and more and more poor are created.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @03:08AM
And here you are, captaining the new normal. #SAD
ess joooke comrade
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @07:25AM (4 children)
The rich can get richer faster when they can drive the poor into debt slavery... as not only are the poor paying for their stuff, you've also got 'em paying usury.
And the poor seem to be so susceptible to advertising.... I've seen 'em go buy the damndest things just to try to impress someone, not seeming to realize they have just offered several years into the future to pay for it. There is strong financial incentive to string 'em out in debt, and no incentive to wisen them up to not spend money they do not have.
I am fuming a bit here over a neighbor kid, who I know has few resources, carrying on over an expensive new car he just agreed to make payments on.... and I thought he would have been far better off had he bought something like I bought... an old diesel van... as a van would have given him a place to put his tools, and the option of not relying on someone else who has "the company truck" to provide him employment. He paid over 10X the amount I paid for the van, and what he has is almost useless for doing anything useful. Trying to impress the women with a "hot ride" is about the last thing this guy needs to be doing. Women see that car, and expect to go to really expensive restaurants. He's just being played sucker. But somehow, the "system" has successfully ingrained this paradigm into him. I see the finance company repossessing his ride when the economy burps again.
And he will never get out of his parent's house.
He even has his girlfriend living there... in his parent's house ... raising his son... while he continues to go out ... playing the field ... while his girlfriend rakes in government cheques.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Friday June 22 2018, @09:30AM (1 child)
Well; to be blunt; he probably gets at least ten times the action you get.
It rather boils down to his priorities. Better to live a day as a tiger than hundred years as a sheep?
Yeah well, that's not cool. But still, he seems to have identified his priorities. He can always have his sweet ride repossessed and eke out a meagre existence in his parents' basement later - but he's only young once.
(Score: 1) by i286NiNJA on Friday June 22 2018, @04:51PM
That's how it works in car commercials and staged youtube videos. Oh and in testimony from guys with expensive cars.
Nobody gets laid for their stupid car in america.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @12:41PM
Spoken like a true incel! Your old diesel van (that is a sensible vehicle allowing you to do things, as you mentioned, such as transporting tools you need) proves that you hate women!
Death to incels! Police be upon them!
(Score: 3, Informative) by bobthecimmerian on Sunday June 24 2018, @04:45PM
Buying used cars is actually a luxury. If my 8 year old car needs a $5,000 repair, I can either take the money out of savings (I have it... barely) or junk it and buy a five year old car to replace it. If the neighbor kid buys a used car and it suddenly needs a $3,000 repair, most likely he can neither afford the repair or a replacement. If he has payments on it, he's doubly screwed because he has no vehicle and a payment. If the same lower income person buys a new car, the payments are higher but for at least three years all maintenance problems more complex than oil changes and maybe one set of brakes and tires are the dealer's cost and not the buyer's.
On top of that, there are safety concerns. As much as we enviro-hippies hate it, mass is a huge factor in collisions. If I roll over a large pickup truck, I'm most likely dead and so are the other occupants. But if we don't roll over, we're going to walk away without a scratch from collisions that will massacre the occupants of a smaller vehicle. Within the same weight class, differences in crash engineering are also enormous. There are a whole range of crashes that would cause serious damage to the occupants of a 2006 Chrysler minivan that will only shake up the occupants of a 2018 Chrysler minivan. So larger vehicle size and newer, safer crash protection are two valid reasons to buy more expensive vehicles. I have my family of six in a brand new Chrysler van, and I'd put us all in a Chevy Suburban or Ford Expedition if I could afford the difference.
But otherwise yes, your point stands. No reason to buy a Mustang when a Focus will do. No reason to buy a Tundra pickup if you can get the job done in a smaller Tacoma. And if you do have $10,000 set aside, rather than making a down payment on a new X, spend $5,000 on a used X and save the $5,000 for repairs - plus all of the money you save month to month without payments. If I didn't have kids, I would be in a used Civic, Focus, Corolla, etc... I could never live with myself if I lost a kid in a car crash, but if I die in a crash I won't be around to miss me.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday June 22 2018, @12:23PM
Well, I can't speak for central California, but the stats overall say home ownership rate [wikipedia.org] has been relatively constant since the 1960s and actually trended UP until the early 2000s (where it was artificially high, obviously, resulting in the huge housing crash because people actually couldn't afford homes but were given mortgages anyway).
Basically, it's been between 60 and 70% since the 1950s. Recently, due to the trend of younger people marrying later (which is often the impetus for buying homes), it's been trending back down toward mid-1960s levels. What does seem to be true is that more Americans carry less equity in the houses they own these days on average, which is a concerning trend -- but not surprising considering the tendency toward consumer debt in recent decades.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by lentilla on Friday June 22 2018, @09:15AM (1 child)
It would be wiser for "average people" to put their money in the bank. One should only gamble with money they can afford to lose - and the stock market is a form of gambolling.
People should be encouraged to put money in the bank. Money is the bank is not "wasted capital" because it, too, can be re-invested in the economy. If anyone should be left holding the bag, it should not be the general populace - for they are the ones that suffer the greatest consequences, but they also hold the key to re-establishing a solid economic future.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @12:27PM
No. The stock market is not gambling. By that logic, owning a small business or rental property is gambling. Owning stock is nothing more than owning a portion of a business. Would owning an HVAC repair business or rental house be gambling? Stock price fluctuations often don't reflect the underlying value of the business. The stock owners profit from dividends and an increase in value of assets of the company. If you own WalMart stock, you literally own part of the store down the street from you that is selling cheap crap and has a building and equipment that you could be sold if it became unprofitable.
Consider shares of most companies can be bought for less than $1000 per share. This allows the common person to be able to afford shares (ownership) in many different companies. Investing is hedging against a loss of employment. When you work for a corporation and have no investments or significant savings you are betting your lively hood that your boss won't fire you, your location won't close down, that they aren't going to go bankrupt, you won't be replaced by a computer sitting in rack, etc. Stock prices are volatile because, frankly, sometimes people are stupid. Even many hedge fund managers and financial advisors. I am stupid sometimes too. Warren Buffet has been stupid.
Buying bonds are a large risk as well. If the fed increases interest rates, what you would be able to sell your bonds for just decreased because nobody in the right mind would buy a 3% bond for full price when 4% ones are being issued.
Buying a home is not without risk. Interest rate changes can drive home prices up or down. A higher home value sounds great, but unless you sell it (and likely buy another house with an inflated price) you will just pay more in property taxes, which are now not as worthwhile to deduct on federal taxes thanks to the higher standard deductions. Also consider the local economy. What if you live in manhatten and the NYSE and Nasdaq move shop to the much cheaper Raleigh, NC? The investment banks will follow suit. Suddenly that closet sized apartment you payed 1.5M for is now worth 500k, and you just lost your job because the local economy tanked. The bank doesn't care what your property is worth. They want their 1.2 million you still owe.
Owning stocks is the sane way to live in a capitalist society. A well run business can adjust to economic and cultural conditions to stay profitable. If you own a dozen well run businesses in different sectors, even a major disruption in one (think electric cars if you own an oil company) won't do a whole lot of damage to your net worth. A market crash is the equivalent of a going out of business sale. It is an opportunity to buy shares at a discount.
Putting all your eggs in one skill basket is risky too. Sysads and programmers make a fortune now, but that may change. For example, learn some basic carpentry, plumbing, or auto repair skills. Learn about psychology, negotiation, and persuasion (think sales jobs and management). You don't have to be an expert, just good enough to convince someone to hire you for slightly less than average.
Gambling isn't even gambling, it is entertainment. The games are rigged in favor of the Casino. All games are designed in a way to guarantee that over the long run the casino will take in more than it pays out. Consider a house advantage of 1%. Given a few million iterations, luck is no longer a factor. It is just statistics. "Gambling" is usually nothing more than placing bets that will almost guarantee you will lose in the long run.
I will continue to buy stocks with any spare cash I get.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Snow on Thursday June 21 2018, @10:34PM (6 children)
If you are at a party and some asshole takes a piss in the punch bowl, it's tough not to talk about it.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Sulla on Thursday June 21 2018, @10:40PM (4 children)
The response to a guy pissing in a punch bowl is not yourself pissing in the punch bowl like CNN is trying to do. Being a shithead does not warrant being a shithead.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:02PM
Whatabout CNN? Whatabout EMAILS??
Take yer own advice eh?
(Score: 2) by julian on Friday June 22 2018, @01:58AM
Physician, heal thyself
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @07:00PM (1 child)
CNN pissing in the punch bowl? How so? Do you always get irritated with the messenger when he brings bad news? Why?
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Saturday June 23 2018, @12:25AM
Bad news is fine, making up bad news is not.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @03:20AM
And I thought congress was to have been disbanded by now. So many broken promises.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @10:52PM (20 children)
Maybe, just MAYBE the problem is with a documented liar pretending to be a US President? Petty political bickering? Do you not see what is happening to our country? Not only is the status quo of corruption getting worse but Trump is dismantling lots of good programs under the guise of saving money and being more efficient. The sheer volume of lies and corruption is so big that nearly everyone sees it. You can see that even Huckabee is troubled sometimes when she gets called out, they all know what they're a party to.
Then we have people like you trying to downplay this horror. Sorry bud, you're in the minority. Even on this Libertarian tech news site you are in the minority, even some of the hard core conservative users bash Trump! Although, the whole partisan thing does get a lot of crossed wires when the issue isn't just "Is Trump a douche"?
There is something wrong with our country and it is exemplified by Trump and his supporters. Lies, corruption, hatred.
Even when Trump says "good" things like bringing back jobs or whatever he STILL wraps it up with a nice blanket of hatred and fear. Wake up.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:02PM (12 children)
Well it's super awesome that no Democrap ever lied, right? https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-liberal-democrats-use-lies-to-get-what-they-want [washingtonexaminer.com]
Maybe Trump is a delusional optimist, and I'm okay with that.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:06PM (4 children)
Whatabout? WHATABOUT????
This isn't a partisan issue. Stop trying to hide the elephant in the room. We have a lying scumbag in office, public statements from him detailing his own depravity, and here you are trying to evade the very simple fact with stupid whataboutisms.
Whatabout getting a spine?
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday June 22 2018, @07:52AM (2 children)
So your choices were an orange lying scumbag, and an evil lying scumbag, and you're pissed because people chose orange over evil?
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @12:59PM (1 child)
I was ready to vote for Bernie. Who screwed that up?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24 2018, @10:43AM
That would be Hillary's machine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @12:44PM
Yeah but but but Lincoln jailed journalists! Slavery used to be legal! I don't see anybody legalizing slavery! (why would they want to be responsible for your welfare as a capital investment when you make a much more handy expendable resource) How dare you complain!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:06PM (1 child)
No Democrat or any other Republican has been caught lying more frequently than President Trump. And unlike any of those other politicians, the President has an actual cult of personality that backs whatever he wants.
The status quo is for him to not just bend the truth, but to outright make up facts and figures rather than having one of his staffers come up with an unreasonable estimate.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @02:52AM
So you'd prefer to have a good liar in office rather than a bad one? I'll take the bad one every time. You can find the truth far more easily when given bad lies compared to being given misleading data. Misleading is far, far worse.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:06PM
Bu . . . bu . . . bu . . . Teh Democrats!1111!1
Deflection: For when you have no idea how to defend your own guy and you really want to take everyone's attention off him. Quick! Look over here!
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:09PM (3 children)
He's a greedy selfish lying pig. How you can't see that just blows my mind.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @02:56AM (2 children)
No one is arguing that he isn't. The problem is you guys are acting like everyone else is perfect. They aren't, so stop pretending they are. Saying a liar should be booted out of office is being an asshole because you can catch everyone else in politics lying as well but you aren't calling for them to be booted.
In other words, stop being a hypocrite.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @03:11AM
No one is acting like everyone else is perfect. In fact, every time someone brings up Obama the standard reply is "he's a scumbag too, but that is a tangential point so stop trying to evade the real point."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @07:06PM
Which guys? Who? I want you to be specific. Give us some names. Otherwise I will have to conclude that you are just another whatabout dittohead.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:06PM (4 children)
Nope. He's just a symptom.
The problem is 4 decades of creeping anti-democracy Neoliberalism.
Characteristics Of Neoliberalism [soylentnews.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Touché) by captain normal on Friday June 22 2018, @01:24AM (2 children)
I don't know about the term "neoliberalism". I would just call it what it is; neonineteenth century robber baron-ism.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @02:10AM (1 child)
Yup. The Gilded Age was brought under control via the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.
Within the lifetimes of many of us, the enforcement of that has been abandoned/disassembled.
Reagan was a notable inflection point but Jimmy Carter's deregulation of trucking and telecommunications are things that folks too easily forget--but shouldn't.
Politicians of both of The Big 2 parties have been working against Joe Average and for the corporatists for a long time.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by captain normal on Saturday June 23 2018, @12:17AM
Well...I believe it was Mark Twain (Sam Clements) who first said, "We have the best government money can buy."
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @02:19PM
I'd use the term plutocracy, but sadly, you're spot on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:28PM (1 child)
Actually, I don't view him as a liar (like I do most politicians). He admits openly that he is not to be trusted about anything:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/11/politics/trump-bannon-wsj/ [cnn.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @02:33PM
So... you don't think he's a liar because he told you he is a liar? That does sound like Trump supporter logic.
Bythe way, and you can trust me on this, because I'm telling you straight out that I'm going to ripp you off. Send me your retirement, your health care, your education and your infrastructure, and I'll make you a rich man!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday June 22 2018, @04:30PM (2 children)
There is nothing wrong with Trump Bashing.
Ordinarily I wouldn't like politics getting injected into everything everywhere all the time. But it has become unavoidable in a way never before seen. Since Trump took office everything in the whole wide world has seriously changed for the worse in case you haven't been paying attention.
This is a president who is averse to science. Who appoints government department heads who undermine and dismantle those departments. Who cares nothing about the environment. Education. I could just summarize that he cares only about himself, and being in the spotlight.
This is a president who has expanded the swamp. Increased the wealth divide. Shakes hands with dictators. Makes enemies of our closest and longest allies who share our fundamental values. Says the free press is the enemy of the American people (his words). Promised to bring back a hell of a lot worse then waterboarding. This is a president who says that racists and white supremecists are "fine people", "on many sides". A president who has openly promoted violence even before being elected. Cancels military exercises with one of our allies to appease a dictator who is a threat to that very ally "to save money". A guy who smiles because he's making money at his private club as an international crisis unfolds during dessert, and a club member gets a photo with the nuclear football guy. I could go on and on and on.
Complain about Democrats and politics all you want, but Trump has completely changed the game and I don't mean in a good way. There is no longer civil civil discourse.
If this continues it will become important to everyone all the time on an existential level.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @07:21PM
Those were overt aggression and were destabilizing.
...and let's note here that the economic sanctions on North Korea have not been lifted.
Y'know what they say about how even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then and a busted clock is right twice a day.
The Peter Sellers movie "Being There" documents the fact that even a total nitwit can sometimes be taken for someone insightful.
On all other items listed, we are in complete agreement.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday June 24 2018, @11:27AM
I am not in the US, so I am looking on from outside, but what I see is that you think you have made a bunch of killer points against Trump. From the Democrat point of view you have. But :
To conservative republicans these are all at worst neutral points. To libertarians the middle one is excellent.
Which is it, expanding the swamp or dismantling departments? To a republican the Gov departments are the swamp.
Any evidence of this? Despite the obvious media bias, he appears to be doing the best he can to keep jobs in America.
Republicans are actually mostly moral people. They would prefer a strong president who brings peace to a weak one who bombs brown people for profit.
I'm an Aussie. The media here hates Trump, but we don't hate the USA. You are not in danger of losing your allies. There is a substantial block who think we need something similar to clean the crap out of our parliaments. One Nation is the closest we have, but they don't have Trump's competence.
Yeah. The people who think he's doing a good job can see the media bias against him. And they don't like terrorists. And they understand hyperbole. Not going to persuade them that he is evil based on things the media says he says.
The media keeps claiming that. Trump supporters think he said some people in those states are fine people. Trump supporters now routinely ignore any negative press Trump gets. The media blew their credibility and are now treated as the lying shit-holes republicans think they are.
Did it save a billion dollars or not? And 'appeasement' is when you try to buy off someone stronger than you. If a democrat had done it the media would be claiming it as a brilliant gesture of good will that also saved a billion dollars.
The civil civil discourse that the proletariat see is two teams who take turns to blame the other team for the screwing over they are getting.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday June 22 2018, @04:34PM (3 children)
I will add, at this point I would be THRILLED to have George W Bush back. And I didn't vote for him. Until we survive Trump, the trump bashing will continue.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @07:23PM (2 children)
Be careful what you wish for.
The major impact of a USAian president is his judicial appointments, which carry lifetime tenure.
Dubya would be appointing Reactionary judges, just like Drumpf.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Saturday June 23 2018, @02:02PM (1 child)
That's true. But then why would it be any worse if both appoint such judges.
The bigger picture issue is that W wasn't a jackass who thinks that nuclear war is acceptable, maybe even desirable.
W never wanted to have military parades like all good dictatorships have. America DOES NOT DO military parades.
W wasn't someone who's ego required FIVE flyovers at his coronation.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:16PM
Yeah. The way his ego needs constant feeding and how he can be manipulated with a bit of flattery|pomp is really scary.
(I've also seen stuff by mental health professionals saying that his brain has undergone significant organic degradation i.e. he's senile.)
Now, if I was going for a change, I'd want Mike Pence in there.
While I completely disagree with his politics, at a minimum he has a stable personality.
It also appears that he was in on the colluding with foreign powers thing and could be impeached for conspiring to violate campaign laws.
For that to be useful|happen, however, the House and the Senate would need to be expunged of a significant number of GOP toadies and gain a supermajority of law-and-order sticklers.
N.B. In the California Primary Election (jungle primary) June 5, turnout was under 12 percent of registered voters.
A lot of folks (potential voters) have just given up on Democracy--or whatever thing it is that remains in USA.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]