FIX IT!

SNL's Keenan Thompson has a great idea to solve our financial crisis, FIX IT! Today we are facing enormous economic challenges that have gotten so bad the U.S. Government, led by a Republican Administration, has taken $700 billion to buy large equity positions so that we can prop up our largest financial institutions. If anyone else is thinking we are a bunch of socialist now, you are not alone. Now the U.S. auto industry is begging for some $25 billion of that money for themselves to fight off bankruptcy and it looks like the Democrats in congress are more than willing to help out this failing industry too. Who's next, the home builders? Retailers? Just about everybody except American taxpayers who are facing the largest unemployment numbers in 14 years and the 34th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity has increased compared to the prior year. So how do we begin to "FIX IT" ? Perhaps it might give us some insight to look at our policies to see if our political rhetoric matches the results. 

The first graph I would like to start with is our GDP growth. GDP is defined as the total market value of all final goods and services produced within the country in a calendar year. There are several components that make up GDP such as consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports - imports). 

So, every year Americans work harder to produce more and more for their country. It is only natural to assume that the American worker is being compensated more as a reward for their hard work. I mean, we do live in a free capitalist society where those who work the hardest are rewarded, right? Well.... not exactly. Actually, not even close when you consider inflation. Real Median Household Income has grown from $38,771 in 1967 to $50,233 in 2007. According to the US Bureau of Labor's CPI Inflation Calculator $38, 771 earned in 1967 would have the same buying power as $253,965 today. 

So, we know that as a country we produce more and earn less than we did 40 years ago. Well how many people is that affecting? Let's take a look at how many people fall into that income range. 

Looks like close to 75% of the population has not been able to keep up their standard of living. What impact does this have on our ability to accumulate wealth? Remember we are as President Bush liked to call it an "ownership society" now. Let's take a look at savings.

We have the lowest savings rate compared to the rest of the other industrialized nations. So we work harder, get payed less, and are not able to save much. So where does our money go? Hmmm.......

Healthcare?!? We spend most of what we produce on healthcare? Really? Well at least our free market system means we have the best healthcare in the world. Or do we?

Ok, so maybe we don't get the best, but hey at least we beat Russia! Well regardless of those numbers people need to provide for themselves. I know, lets look at tax cuts. They solve all problems. Give tax cuts to the wealthiest and more Americans prosper. We should be able to increase our revenues and start to pay off our debt. Thank God we had a fiscal conservative in office that cut wasteful government spending and returned more money to the people. 

Well..... taxes were definitely lower during the Bush years, but what happened to government spending? And aren't liberals supposed to be the ones that love big government? It looks like spending really went down under Bill Clinton starting in 1992 two years before Newt's Republican majority in congress. So, how big has that national debt grown to anyway?

 

Ouch. The highest ever. This is not looking good. Who do we owe? Debt owed to the public is debt that we owe various trust funds like Social Security for example. Who else do we owe?

That's comforting.  It sure looks like we have a lot to fix. I don't think Obama's plan of cutting taxes are the solution. Something tells me that we should start with rising wages and healthcare. What do you think?

We Should Know Better

The time was 1964 when Lyndon Johnson signed into law the historic Civil Rights Act that would forever change the political and social dynamics in this country. Johnson's political courage finally gave African Americans, who struggled for generations, the same rights and opportunities to live out their American Dream just like the rest of the population. As a result of President Johnson signing that act the Democratic Party lost the majority of the southern vote for decades to come. One of the last forms of legal segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, were not fully lifted until the Supreme Court ruling in 1967 that allowed interracial marriage full recognition under the law. On Tuesday, America finally broke through one barrier by electing Barack Obama as President-Elect of the United States, but failed miserably on another. In California an estimated 60%-70% of African Americans voted for a ban that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. It is unfair to blame the passage of Proposition 8 solely on the African American vote because they make up a small percentage of the voting electorate, but it is fair to say that we all people should know better. 

On January 20th of this year at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor, Senator Barack Obama talked about homophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the black community. In his call for unity he said, "True unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes - a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts... And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community. We have scorned our gay brothers and sister instead of embracing them."

While the black experience in this country has been a struggle for basic rights and liberties to now President of the United States, it is important to remember that we have not shouldered that burden alone. Americans of every ethnic group, religion, and yes, sexual orientation stood and marched with us on our journey for equality. Maybe it is time that we took a long look in the mirror and followed our President's and Dr. King's call for a more perfect union and stand up for the rights of others that were once denied to us.