How on earth is the wealth gap relevant? Wealth is not a finite thing. There isn't a set amount to spread around. The rich can grow wildly richer and the poor can still also become wildly rich. Your grasp of this is really poor.
imagine the amount needed to live is X. that covers food, shelter, etc. almost all americans make x many times over. most american think x is way higher than it is. new immigrants do not. in their previous country they made .4x and got by ok. they are aware that the american poor are not poor. american poor are fat. FAT! seriously.
It's good for a few of us, sure. The super-rich don't all make aggressive investments anyway. They don't have to. Preservation of capital is their prime motivation. They hold a lot of bonds and other safe investments. They have the capital to buy land and hold it for decades until it increases in value.
this country needs a healthy middle class to survive. it's really pretty simple. No one is talking about the Rich just forking over their wealth. What we are talking about is making them pay more taxes because they are the only ones who are progressing. Instead of making the middle class pay for their tax cuts with the reduction of benefits, the reduction of collective bargaining rights, the reduction of wages. Why is it that wages don't go up, but the cost of everything else does? It's crippling the middle class. And I know Supa you are the exception because you are perfect.
This is untrue. X is the federal poverty level which in 2011 for a family of 4 is $22,350. About 18% of the population is under that level at any given time. Over 40% will be under the poverty line at least one year out of 10 and 58% of americans between the ages of 25 and 75 have had at least one year of poverty. The median income for American families in $49,777. That's a little over 2x for most Americans. The ones who make X "many times over" are the truly rich.
Yes thos terrible rich people who hold onto their money and keep it in cds. That has no direct impact on economic growth. Except for all the improved liquidity ratios that allow banks to lend more. You know, I hear tell some of those rich jerks only buy bonds. That doesn't help companies grow and expand. They just like issuing debt for no reason at all.
It's their money, Red. It's not your's and its not ours'. You and we have no right to it. They are under no oblibation to share it. Yes, they benefit from tax breaks which are intended to encourage business expansion, relocation and eventually jobs for those that need them. If we weeded out the idle rich, removed their tax breaks and spread it around, they would still be rich and we would still not see any benefit. It wouldn't amount to a hill of beans. In another thread you said you are very satisfied with your life. Great. Don't worry about everyone else's station.
This isn't a country where people operate to break even, be it on a corporate or on a personal level. We ALL (even you bleeding heart liberals) aim to acquire money and prosper. The company I work for is expanding by a factor of 10x or so, with evil PRIVATE money at that. This will bring more good paying jobs to the area, which will result in tax revenue for the local municipality, state, and feds. Also it will help other business in the are flourish, as our employees will be spending their earned money in the area... In turn, creating even more revenue in taxes for the gub'ment. Michael Moore can kiss my ass, because I'm watching it trickle down to me and others.
Then why aren't they lending? They are sitting on a lot of cash and so is big business, waiting for the government to assume their risks.
