I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN a few days ago and made these notes regarding wages in America.
Wages in high tech fields have fallen since Bush took office. Computer engineering salaries are down 14%, Electrical engineering down 9% and
Computer Science is down 7%. Mostly because of “in sourcing” cheaper labor from overseas. Some jobs are being specifically listed for H1-B workers and employers even go so far as to dictate the country of origin for applicants.
Construction wages, inflation adjusted, have remained flat for the last 40 years. 1965 hourly wage - $9.88 and today it’s $9.87.
Meanwhile for George Bush’s Base, you know the haves and the have mores, things are going just great. According to Reuters:
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of U.S. households boasting a net worth of at least $5 million swelled to an all-time high in 2005, according a report released Wednesday by consulting firm Spectrem Group.
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Spectrem, which specializes in the affluent and retirement markets, said a record 8.3 million U.S. households are worth at least $1 million, excluding the value of a primary residence. This is the second-consecutive year of record growth in the category, topping the 2004 mark of 7.5 million households.
The Ultra High Net Worth category, which is comprised of households worth at least $5 million, not including the value of a main residence, surged 26% in 2005 to 930,000.
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11896299&src=rss/domesticNews=========
The policies of the Republican party are so skewed to the wealthy that soon there will be no middle class. Republicans are completely out of touch with working men and women.
For instance, the maximum rate at which investment income is taxed is usually less than that of earned income. If you stand on your feet all day working for minimum wage at the Stop-N-Go and earn less than $7300 you will owe 10% of that in income taxes. If, on the other hand, you earn the same $7300 from investment income the rate may be as little as 5%. What sense does it make to pay more taxes on hard earned income than on money that just shows up without anyone doing anything?
The Republican solution for health care is tax deductible “medical accounts”. Don’t they realize that people who can’t afford insurance can’t afford to put money in those accounts? Of course they do, they just don’t care.
They’re a one trick pony, tax cuts are all that they can do. Haven’t you figured out that nobody cuts taxes, they just shift them around? You get a $600 income tax cut but No Child Left Behind isn’t funded, so your school taxes go up. Cut taxes to the rich and your grandchildren will pay for it. That’s why we have an $8 Trillion debt--largely owed to Japan and China.
When Republicans tell you they want you to keep more of your money remember that 1) They’re making it darned hard to earn it in the first place and 2) tax cuts for working people are pure fiction.