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1 - tennyson
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1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
I debated whether to put this in Finances/Economics thread vs Politics, but the point I wanted to make was that it is NO WONDER that people are so fed up with current conditions. While it is true that SOME have generally escaped the downturn that started in 2008 (especially since the recovery of the markets since), but not all have been so lucky ESPECIALLY the working middle class who have seen good paying manual jobs disappear to outsourcing (that stated even well before the 2008 downturn) and well as automation. The unfortunate thing is that those old jobs by in large are NOT coming back. Manufacturing has picked up again in the US, but the jobs are completely different given robotics and general automation.
Point is, no wonder the middle class flock to a message of making America Great Again. Problem is that the "Great America" does not necessarily translate into those type of good paying jobs (and plentiful jobs) that used to exist. It is a good sales pitch, but until there are policies and credible numbers that are associated with the rhetoric, it is pretty much just that.
Anyway, here is the article detailing how many are pretty much just living on the cusp.
Fell free to EITHER comment on the economics of it or the politics of it.
Last edited by tennyson (2/23/2016 10:11 am)
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Goose
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
We should build a really great wall. 
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
This is why people are flocking to Trump and to a lesser degree Sanders.
They don't trust regular politicians to "fix" this issue since it has been around for a long time and they haven't done it yet. That is why regular policy discussions don't matter, because they don't trust the people making and discussing the policy.
Trump sounds and acts different and is an outsider and people are hoping this will change things.
- opendoug
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
Goose wrote:
We should build a really great wall.
And make Mexico pay for it!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Rongone
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
This is why people are flocking to Trump and to a lesser degree Sanders.
They don't trust regular politicians to "fix" this issue since it has been around for a long time and they haven't done it yet. That is why regular policy discussions don't matter, because they don't trust the people making and discussing the policy.
Trump sounds and acts different and is an outsider and people are hoping this will change things.
Personally, I don't think Trump will 'fix' anything. I think electing Trump would cause chaos in the government, a complete lack of cooperation between branches of the government -- more gridlock with more rabid partisan discourse than we see today, and a downgrading of respect for the U.S. around the world.
That being said, I think the attention Trump is getting from the electorate should be sending a strong message to both major political parties and elected representatives that the people are sick and tired of the inability of our government to serve the will of the people and get things done. Hopefully those people are listening and will take steps to change directions. If they don't, the country could end up with someone like Trump, or worse, sitting in the Oval Office due to a protest vote by the people to make a point. The unfortunate outcome will be the continued rapid demise of the government and our country.
- tennyson
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
This is why people are flocking to Trump and to a lesser degree Sanders.
They don't trust regular politicians to "fix" this issue since it has been around for a long time and they haven't done it yet. That is why regular policy discussions don't matter, because they don't trust the people making and discussing the policy.
Trump sounds and acts different and is an outsider and people are hoping this will change things.
Personally, I don't think Trump will 'fix' anything. I think electing Trump would cause chaos in the government, a complete lack of cooperation between branches of the government -- more gridlock with more rabid partisan discourse than we see today, and a downgrading of respect for the U.S. around the world.
That being said, I think the attention Trump is getting from the electorate should be sending a strong message to both major political parties and elected representatives that the people are sick and tired of the inability of our government to serve the will of the people and get things done. Hopefully those people are listening and will take steps to change directions. If they don't, the country could end up with someone like Trump, or worse, sitting in the Oval Office due to a protest vote by the people to make a point. The unfortunate outcome will be the continued rapid demise of the government and our country.
So far I don't think ANY of the candidates has put forward a plan that will help meaningful employment (not even sure there is or can be one). Sanders has some thing that will help but not the real solution that will be required. The real question is if ANYONE can really fix what has been "broken" for a while (that being financially meaningful employment for the middle and lower class earners).
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
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Thread Starter- Tarnation
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
A major contributor to the "lack of meaningful jobs" is the high cost of health insurance benefits.
The ACA has done little in that regard:
1) It did not include any type of tort reform--needless medical tests are still being performed for no reason other than that the malpractice insurance companies are demanding that the MD's order them.
2) It has lowered that threshold of the definition of "full time" with the expected but unintended consequence that many workers hours have been reduced to keep them under the new threshold. The expected but unintended (we hope) consequence is that more and more folks are stringing together multiple "part-time" jobs.
3) It has done nothing to lower health insurance premiums for employers. Many workers go year after year with little or no cash increases because their package has "increased" due to higher employer-borne premiums. Their take-home pay has decreased because of higher employee-share premium payroll deductions. And their real cash has decreased because of higher co-pays and deductibles.
4) There has been no clamp down on direct-to-patient prescription drug advertising.
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- flowergirl
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
Nothing is going to change in this country until both parties stop their bickering and bullying of each other and begin a partnership of change and betterment for us all. Good luck with that one considering the behavior of the Republican members of congress in the past seven years. And they are already at it again or continuing by stating loudly and clearly that there will be no vote on any Obama nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court.
How many Americans are on the verge of financial ruin because of over spending, living beyond their means, satisfying their wants and not just their needs? How much credit card debt exists in this country because of this behavior? At the same time how many of these same people racked up thousands of dollars in student loans and rather than make even a modest effort to pay them off continued to spend on over limits on credit cards? My heart does bleed for those who lots jobs/income due to illness or other reasons for which they've no control and I always hope that lives get turned around for the better. But I truly believe much of the financial difficulties of some Americans are self-inflicted.
- Tarnation
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
Nothing is going to change in this country until both parties stop their bickering and bullying of each other and begin a partnership of change and betterment for us all.
And considering the number of former trial lawyers in Congress, I don't expect serious tort reform any time soon.
How many Americans are on the verge of financial ruin because of over spending, living beyond their means, satisfying their wants and not just their needs? How much credit card debt exists in this country because of this behavior?
Face it, the advertising "industry" exists to blur the distinction of wants and needs and to foment coveting. More evil than good, IMHO.
At the same time how many of these same people racked up thousands of dollars in student loans...
Some time in the 60's and 70's the very stupid notion emerged that every high school student OUGHT to go to college. The result is a huge population of overeducated, overindebted people stuck in jobs that they will never find rewarding financially or otherwise. There have been a lot of articles in the past couple of years showing that for many people college is not only a poor investment, it is a ticket to poverty through crushing debt. More 18 year olds should go into the military for a few years, or go to a trade school.
But don't worry--Bernie or Trump will fix it all.
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- Just Fred
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Re: 1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
But don't worry--Bernie or Trump will fix it all.
Or Clinton, or Rubio, or Cruz or our nifty proactive Congress
Last edited by Just Fred (2/24/2016 7:28 am)