Paying The Piper-Part Seven-Income Gap Biggest Ever
The U.S. Census Bureau yesterday (9/28) released the latest information on incomes in the U.S. It shows more disturbing trends, as the rich continue to rake it in, and the poorest Americans continue to fall behind even further. Those in the middle also dropped. Here are the basics of the latest info. If interested in more info, you can always go to http://www.census.gov/ (under income topics):
The top 20% of earners, those making at least $100,000 (and don't forget, those in the top one and a half percent make like a million or more) took in almost half of all income earned. On the other hand, the bottom 20% took in less than 3 and a half percent of all income. Those in the middle seem to have slipped a bit.
I really have no problem with people who make a hundred grand, or two hundred grand. Good for them! Of course, it DOES matter how they made it, but that's another subject. Okay Republicans, you should know what's coming.... We have Republicans in Congress pushing to extend tax cuts for the very top earners in the country. Those cuts were initially presented by and signed into law by President George W. Bush in two installments: 2001 & 2003 (and passed by Congress). Personally, I believe it would be far better if we had another one or two income tax brackets for higher incomes, rather than lumping everyone together who makes 200 grand (individuals) or 250 grand (couples) and higher. Its the "higher" part that I'm more concerned with. Those "higher" income people make anywhere from a half million up to amounts none of us can imagine. The idea that these folks need tax cuts is absurd. As I mentioned a couple of articles ago, I know I beat up on Republicans a lot, but they seem to have a soft spot for multi-millionaires, even indicating how tough it is for such high income people. Republicans actually have some ideas I agree with, but their desire to do anything and everything for VERY wealthy people troubles me deeply, and it should trouble you, too, unless you're making a cool million or more a year. I'm too old for much of this stuff to matter to me, but I find that I cannot sit still and watch what is happening to this country, which has just been handed over lock, stock, and barrel to the wealthiest people and interests in the country, and just to be fair, not without some help from Democrats. Republicans and Democrats, alike....THINK!!!
If you notice some of the ads on television, "Its a bad idea to put any kind of tax on oil companies." Did you see who is paying for those ads? The petroleum industry! They have lots of money, and they are willing to spend a chunk of it to keep their treasures. They're entitled to run those ads, but other Americans need to pay attention to WHO is trying to scare the hell out 'em! And that's perhaps the most troubling thing of all to me; Americans don't pay attention to these matters, and the "interests" know it. I just saw a caption online that indicated that in one poll, only 6 in 10 Americans knew that Joe Biden is Vice President of the United States. So, forty percent of Americans don't know who their own VP is!!! C'mon folks! Americans disturbingly seem not to know what's going on around them, and in this age of "globalization," that's downright dangerous. Other countries are pulling ahead of us in all sorts of education matters. The petroleum industry ads don't scare me, but this stuff does!
WORD HISTORY:
Gap-This word, related to "gape" and "yawn," ^ goes back to an Indo European base "ghei," which had the notion of "to open the mouth, to make an opening." This gave Old Germanic "gaponan," with the same general meaning. Whether Old English had a form of the word "gap" is not known, but it is "assumed" that many Old English words were unrecorded, as the common people could not usually write, and there are forms of "gap" in other West Germanic languages, and the old forms of the Germanic ancestors of "gap," "gape" and "yawn" were so close, it is at times difficult to separate them (Low German Saxon, for instance, has "jappen" and "gapen" for "yawn," but both also mean "gape.") Apparently, English borrowed "gap" from Old Norse (a North Germanic language, English is West Germanic), seemingly in the 1200s, and kept the general Old Norse meaning, "chasm." Of course, if English did already have a word of its own, then the Norse relative most certainly reinforced the English word.
^ The English ancestor of modern "yawn" was spelled with a "g," not a "y," as its German relative, "gähnen," and its Dutch relative, "geeuw," still do.
The top 20% of earners, those making at least $100,000 (and don't forget, those in the top one and a half percent make like a million or more) took in almost half of all income earned. On the other hand, the bottom 20% took in less than 3 and a half percent of all income. Those in the middle seem to have slipped a bit.
I really have no problem with people who make a hundred grand, or two hundred grand. Good for them! Of course, it DOES matter how they made it, but that's another subject. Okay Republicans, you should know what's coming.... We have Republicans in Congress pushing to extend tax cuts for the very top earners in the country. Those cuts were initially presented by and signed into law by President George W. Bush in two installments: 2001 & 2003 (and passed by Congress). Personally, I believe it would be far better if we had another one or two income tax brackets for higher incomes, rather than lumping everyone together who makes 200 grand (individuals) or 250 grand (couples) and higher. Its the "higher" part that I'm more concerned with. Those "higher" income people make anywhere from a half million up to amounts none of us can imagine. The idea that these folks need tax cuts is absurd. As I mentioned a couple of articles ago, I know I beat up on Republicans a lot, but they seem to have a soft spot for multi-millionaires, even indicating how tough it is for such high income people. Republicans actually have some ideas I agree with, but their desire to do anything and everything for VERY wealthy people troubles me deeply, and it should trouble you, too, unless you're making a cool million or more a year. I'm too old for much of this stuff to matter to me, but I find that I cannot sit still and watch what is happening to this country, which has just been handed over lock, stock, and barrel to the wealthiest people and interests in the country, and just to be fair, not without some help from Democrats. Republicans and Democrats, alike....THINK!!!
If you notice some of the ads on television, "Its a bad idea to put any kind of tax on oil companies." Did you see who is paying for those ads? The petroleum industry! They have lots of money, and they are willing to spend a chunk of it to keep their treasures. They're entitled to run those ads, but other Americans need to pay attention to WHO is trying to scare the hell out 'em! And that's perhaps the most troubling thing of all to me; Americans don't pay attention to these matters, and the "interests" know it. I just saw a caption online that indicated that in one poll, only 6 in 10 Americans knew that Joe Biden is Vice President of the United States. So, forty percent of Americans don't know who their own VP is!!! C'mon folks! Americans disturbingly seem not to know what's going on around them, and in this age of "globalization," that's downright dangerous. Other countries are pulling ahead of us in all sorts of education matters. The petroleum industry ads don't scare me, but this stuff does!
WORD HISTORY:
Gap-This word, related to "gape" and "yawn," ^ goes back to an Indo European base "ghei," which had the notion of "to open the mouth, to make an opening." This gave Old Germanic "gaponan," with the same general meaning. Whether Old English had a form of the word "gap" is not known, but it is "assumed" that many Old English words were unrecorded, as the common people could not usually write, and there are forms of "gap" in other West Germanic languages, and the old forms of the Germanic ancestors of "gap," "gape" and "yawn" were so close, it is at times difficult to separate them (Low German Saxon, for instance, has "jappen" and "gapen" for "yawn," but both also mean "gape.") Apparently, English borrowed "gap" from Old Norse (a North Germanic language, English is West Germanic), seemingly in the 1200s, and kept the general Old Norse meaning, "chasm." Of course, if English did already have a word of its own, then the Norse relative most certainly reinforced the English word.
^ The English ancestor of modern "yawn" was spelled with a "g," not a "y," as its German relative, "gähnen," and its Dutch relative, "geeuw," still do.
Labels: economy, English, etymology, Germanic languages, income disparity, North Germanic, Old Norse, the wealthy
posted by Randy at 10:25 AM
1 Comments:
Income disparity and the irresponsibility of so many businesses will haunt our kids and grand kids.
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