Prepaid Pain

[SoCalDem]

The buzz in the media recently is all about how EVERYONE has to "share the pain".

I maintain that the middle-classers & the ones who have been trying to work their way UP to middle class, have already prepaid their share of the pain.

A simple look into history shows us that this group has been the ones who have already lost the most.

In 40 years, we have seen things improve very little and many times, people have lost ground.

We have seen "good" jobs leave forever

We have seen jobs that used to be available for non-college graduates all but disappear

We have seen plastic, high-interest credit cards substituted for pay raises

We have seen the 2-3 yr car loans vanish, in favor of 6-7 year loans

We have seen affordable homes turn into unaffordable homes that lured scammers, who got rich off their frauds

We have seen one after another "oopsie" that demanded more tax-funded bailouts of the already-rich

We now have Moms FORCED into the workforce, whether they want to work outside the home or not

We have Moms, Dads & Grandparents eagerly grabbing up jobs that used to be reserved for teenagers starting their first jobs

We have seen our communities gutted, as Walmarts & other Big Box companies swooped in to sell us plastic crap made by 3rd world 9 yr olds paid pennies a day

We have seen defined benefit pensions morph into defined contribution pensions, into 401-ks, and then stolen by rich people, gambling with computers!

We have seen a steady assault on unions, once 30%, now about 7%

We have seen schools & infrastructure crumble because our tax dollars have not been used to maintain what we have, let alone plan for the future

We have seen college (now almost mandatory) become more and more UNaffordable for all but the very rich.

We have seen medical care become almost an unaffordable luxury item for many families

We have seen employer-paid insurance become employer-"assisted" , and in some cases, employer "provided-but-you-pay-for-it".

We have seen savings interest shrink to the point that a "jumbo CD" now boasts about 1.9% interest.

We have seen "company towns" that existed for 100 yrs or longer, emptied out as one state cannibalized the workforces of other states, only to then off-shore entirely...devastating yet another local workforce.

During all these "sacrifices" and all this "shared pain", the ONE segment of society that we NEVER saw "sharing" any of it?...The Upper-Crusties!

For very many years now, the fun & games of the Super Rich have been shoved in our faces everywhere we turned.... tv, radio, magazines, newspapers, and in our daily lives.

They have been doing quite well, thank-you-very-much.

No one is asking for a free ride..we just think it's time to have THEIR free-ride tokens taken from them.

In a fair world, they would not only pay MORE now, but would repay what they scammed from us all, but we know that will never happen.

Shared pain is fine, but WE have already prepaid our share..

[Warpy]

1. That's just it, we've done all the paying for the last 40 years

as the infrastructure crumbled, the social safety net shredded, everything got pricer while our wages stagnated and then went down, and Ronald Reagan raised our taxes and set that into stone.

Fuck sharing the pain. We've had our share, in spades.

It's time to STEAL IT BACK!

[Crazy Dave]

3. Steal it back?

Are you kidding? The only thing Americans do is elect (the same) people who say they're going to get it back for them. Go out into the streets and shut the whole county down like they do in France? Not here in the USA!

[SoCalDem]

4. The frustrating part is that the people we have to hire to DO it,

are NOT really on our side at all:(

[Nite Owl]

2. I was listening to someone on

Cenk and they said 'shared pain' and I screamed at the tv, "We did the pain part already!"
Good think no one is home, but they know I do that anyway.

[Divernan]

5. Well stated!

I thought I had responsibly planned for a comfortable (not luxurious, by any means) retirement. I took it a bit early (62) so I could care for my elderly Mom. My savings disappeared in the Bush/unregulated Wall Street fiasco. Now I'm just focusing on surviving.

Extending these bloody wars to benefit the military/industrial complex, and extending the tax breaks to benefit the uber wealthy JUST PLAIN SUCKS!

I worked on the Census this summer, going door to door in broiling heat. I'm here to tell you that the wealthy people in my assigned areas were at best cold and condescending. Some of them were just plain rude, insulting and arrogant. They DO consider themselves superior on the basis of their money. They want nothing to do with anyone of lesser economic standing and avoid them at all costs. The census workers in my group included people with Ph.D.s from MIT and Penn State, a lawyer, and various single moms trying to make money for their kids' college expenses, all unemployed people, etc. - but everyone had at least a bachelor's degree and we were very professional and well-spoken.

I'm judge of elections in my area, and I don't see these wealthy members of the community bothering to vote. Guess they know they don't have to, because the fix is in and all the gullible poor people have been grifted into voting for the GOP.

[Winterblues]

6. I hear Wall Street and the Bankers are about to get another round of huge Bonuses.

:shrug: I say God Damn America...not God Bless America..Any country that won't take care of it's citizens does not deserve God's blessing.

[SoCalDem]

7. They should be made to take the bonuses in stock options

they cannot touch for 10 years :evilgrin:

[AlabamaLibrul]

8. + something like infinity, or whatnot. We have had more pain than the rich have ever had nightmares

about.