We've Gotten Off Track

One percent of the people in the US hold 40% of the nation’s wealth, while 40% of the people hold 1% of the nation’s wealth. This is the greatest imbalance of our nation’s wealth since the 1920’s. Theodore Roosevelt warned the Oil, Railroad, and Steel Barons that if they allowed the mounting imbalance of the nation’s wealth to continue we would face revolt jeopardizing Capitalism and the American way of life.

Over the past eight years middleclass incomes decreased by $2,000, expenditures on gasoline increased by $2,200, cost of health insurance increased by $363, food costs increased by $220 and mortgage payments increased by $1700; 5.2 million homeowners are facing foreclosure.

Tuesday Robert Steel, the president of Wachovia, announced the elimination of 11,000 jobs. Robert’s compensation package consist of a $1.1 million annual salary, an annual bonus of as much as $12 million, a restricted stock option valued at $10 million and a potential long-term incentive award of $15 million. (July 10 regulatory filing)

A close look at McCain and Obama’s tax plans reveal the following:


Your Annual Income McCain’s Plan Will Obama’s Plan Will
$38,000 - $66,000 Save you $319 Save you $1042
$66,000 - $112,000 Save you $1009 Save you $1290
$112,000 - $161,000 Save you $2,614 Save you $2,204
$161,000 - $227,000 Save you $4,380 Save you $27,89
$227,000 - $603,000 Save you $7,871 Save you $12
$603,000 - $2.9 million Save you $45,361 Increase Tax $115,974
Over $2.9 million Save you $269,364 Increase Tax $701,885

I think we’ve gotten off track.

Republician...Or Not

The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve are stepping in and providing liquidity through the Federal Reserve to Fanny May and Freddie Mac, two publicly traded companies that hold the liability for $5.3 trillion, half of the mortgages in the U.S. In addition President Bush is proposing that we, the taxpayers, buy stock in Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac in order to further prop up the two firms. Analysts estimate that Fanny and Freddie could incur $1.5 trillion in losses on their current holdings. This $1.5 trillion would be added to our current federal debt of $9.4 trillion then figure another $163 billion of annual deficit spending and another $600 billion on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by the end of 2008.

Bush took office with a debt of $5.8 trillion. If you were a banker and someone brought you this kind of financial statement would you lend them any money? Could this be why the U.S dollar has lost 55% of its value over the last eight years? Oil is priced in dollars. Could this be part of the reason that gas has gone from $1.38 to $4.00 a gallon over the past eight years?
I have thought for years that I was a Republican. If John McCain is a continuation of Bush Policy I don’t think I will be able to afford to be a Republican. I’m certainly not better off then I was eight years ago, nor is our country.

A Perfect Storm

General Motors and Ford are on the ropes. It’s not that they make bad cars that has put their existence in jeopardy. Over the past 55 years they have put themselves in a position that they can no longer compete with the foreign auto makers located in the U.S. General Motors currently has 145,000 employees and supports another 1.1 million retirees and dependents. Between retirees health care benefits and pensions each car cost GM $2,500 more to make then their foreign competitors. Because of antiquated factories they can’t change their production to the cars that we want as Honda and Toyota can. Thus the perfect storm has developed, their retiree costs are rising, they don’t make the cars that we want, and they can’t change fast enough. They are headed for bankruptcy.

Guess who is going to be on the hook for their retiree’s benefits. That’s right the government (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), in other words the tax payers, you and me. The same people who are going to have to bail out Freddie Mac and Fanny May. We, the tax payers, are already $9 trillion in debt. That number could easily double within the next twelve months as a result of these two mismanagements of Corporate America.

Please join me in demanding from Barack Obama and John McCain a comprehensive plan that addresses the banking crises, the U.S. auto industry crises, the housing crises, and our dependence on foreign oil.

Get answers before the election or shame on us.