Category Archives: Economic News

The Rich Continue To Get Richer, The Lower 93% Struggle On

  By Pamela Leavey | April 23, 2013 - 10:42 pm | , , , , ,
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If you are like me, you’re among the lower 93% still waiting for a break from the long recession/depression that we still haven’t recovered from. According to an analysis by Pew Research Center of newly released Census Bureau data, “During the first two years of the nation’s economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%.” Honestly this is no surprise, it’s been a long shaky ride for most of America. The struggling class is still held down by the upper 7%. Time to turn that around, don’t you think?

The Paul Ryan Magical Mystery Chop, Dice, and Slice Budget

  By Walter Brasch | March 22, 2013 - 6:34 am | , , , , , ,
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  By Walter Brasch   In 2011, before he was the Republican nominee for vice-president, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) proposed a federal budget. He called it, “The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise.” Two years later, now in his second year as chair of the House budget committee, he dusted off and polished his old proposal. He calls this one: “The Path to Prosperity: A Responsible Balanced Budget.” His plan is to cut the federal deficit by $4.6 trillion in four years, reducing the deficit to about $12.1 trillion. While the Republicans blame President Obama and the Democrats for wild tax-and-spend policies that led to the huge deficit, they conveniently overlook the reality that Bill Clinton left George W. Bush … Continue reading →

The Politics of Economics

  By David Washington | February 19, 2013 - 6:39 pm | , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Republican Party has done an outstanding job at defining President Obama’s administration as spending more of our hard earned taxpayer dollars than any other president in American history. When in fact the evidence speaks to something entirely different; Citing Marketwatch, Rick Ungar a Contributor to Forbes Magazine, reports that President Obama has actually spent less money than any United States President since Dwight Eisenhower. David Gray, a writer for policymic.com, states that the Republican Party is not being 100% honest with the American people. The raw numbers show that yes, President Obama has spent more money than any other president in the United States, however once you calculate inflation, which is what Republicans are not telling you, President Obama … Continue reading →

Gross Consumerism

  By Pamela Leavey | January 2, 2013 - 9:19 pm | , , , , , ,
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The price tag on this 55-Inch OLED HDTV is obscene. $10,000 TV’s = Gross Consumerism. It’s a sad statement on what people spend money on. A very sad statement. People who will buy $10,000 TV’s can truly afford to pay more in taxes… Just sayin.

Eliminating the ‘99%’ Can Lead to a Better Message for Social Justice

  By Walter Brasch | May 17, 2012 - 7:02 am | , , , ,
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  by WALTER BRASCH   It’s time to retire the 99 percent. Not the people, but the slogan that identifies the Occupy Movement. “We’re the 99 percent” slogan focused upon two completely different groups of people. The 99 percent are the masses, the impoverished, the disenfranchised, the middle class; the 1 percent refers to the concentration of wealth in the top one percent of the population and in the dominance of large corporate and global financial systems.   The Movement, following the Arab Spring, began in the late summer of 2011 with the Occupy Wall Street protest. Central to the Movement, which quickly expanded into more than 500 American cities and 82 countries, was a call for social and economic … Continue reading →

So How Come the Tax Code is so “Unfair”?

  By Hart Williams | April 14, 2012 - 2:33 pm | , ,
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Because as long as this trope exists that taxes are “unfair” and “needlessly complex,” it’s people like Steve Forbes — and not average taxpayers like you and me — who will benefit. Continue reading →

Collateral Damage in the Marcellus Shale

  By Walter Brasch | April 6, 2012 - 4:55 am | , ,
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    by WALTER BRASCH   There’s nothing to suggest that in his 51 years Kevin June should be a leader. Not from his high school where he dropped out after his freshman year. Not from his job, where he worked as an auto body technician for more than 35 years. Both of his marriages ended in divorce, but did produce two children, a 31-year-old son and a 28-year-old daughter. June readily admits that for most of his life, beginning about 14 when he began drinking heavily, he was a drunk. Always beer. Almost always to excess. But, he will quickly tell you how many weeks he has been sober. It’s now 56, he says proudly. In October 2008 he … Continue reading →

F.T.C. Fines Debt Collector $2.5 Million

  By Pamela Leavey | January 31, 2012 - 1:03 pm | , , ,
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In the midst of this economic recession (or depression) the F.T.C. has been cracking down on debt collectors who ”harass consumers for money they may not even be legally obligated to pay.” This is good news for consumers who have found themselves for whatever reason unable to pay their debts in this economy. In the second-largest penalty ever levied on a debt collector, the F.T.C. said that Asset Acceptance, one of the nation’s largest debt collection companies, had agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty to settle charges that the company deceived consumers when trying to collect old debts. The F.T.C. has ”pursued eight cases related to debt collection companies over the last two years.” The recent settlement with Asset Acceptance “is … Continue reading →