The United States has one of the most unequal economies in the world. It is more unequal than any other developed nation, and more closely resembles a third world economy. In fact, there are many third world countries who have a fairer distribution of wealth than the United States.Note that the top 1% of Americans (about 3.17 million people) controls over a third of the nation's total wealth (about 35.4%). And the richest 10% of Americans (about 31.7 million people) control more than three quarters of the nation's wealth (about 76.8%). Meanwhile, the bottom 60% of Americans (more than 190 million people) must divide only 1.7% of the nation's wealth among themselves. And the bottom 90% of Americans (over 285 million people) control only 23.3% of America's total wealth.
It has not always been that way in the United States. In better economic times, the wealth was more evenly distributed. The rich still controlled more of the nation's wealth than everyone else, but there was a larger percentage going to the bottom 90%. This was good for the economy, because the masses had money to spend -- and that meant greater profits for businesses and more job creation.
But then the Republicans convinced people that they had the key to even better economic progress, and they instituted their trickle-down theory. This economic theory said if the rich was given more money, they would share it (trickle it down) with the rest of America. It was a stupid theory, and it didn't work. It just allowed the rich to hog an even greater share of the nation's economic wealth, and they shared none of it with anyone.
After creating this economic mess, the Republicans say they have a solution. Their "solution" is to give even more tax breaks to the rich and the corporations (both of which are already paying historically low tax rates), and to cut government spending (especially among social programs that help hurting Americans). They also want to cut what they label as "entitlements" -- Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In other words, they want to cut deficits by hurting the people who already are barely getting by, while giving the rich even more of the nation's income and wealth.
They are trying to impose this ridiculous program by lying about those programs and federal spending. They want Americans to believe those programs must be cut or the deficit will balloon, and the programs will go broke. Neither is true, and the American people know that. Note that significant majorities of the general public are opposed to cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid -- all programs that have worked well.The truth is that the deficit spending of the federal government is already going down, and social programs and "entitlements" cannot be further cut without seriously damaging the economy and throwing many more Americans into poverty. So what can be done to fix the economy -- to make it healthier and fairer?
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has a progressive solution to our economic woes -- a 10-point plan to fix the economy and make it fairer, and still reduce the deficit. Here are his 10 proposals:
1. Stop corporations from using off-shore tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes.
2. Establish a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street Speculators.
3. End tax breaks and subsidies for big oil, gas, and coal companies.
4. Establish a progressive estate tax.
5. Tax capital gains and dividends the same as work.
6. Repeal all of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax breaks for the top two percent.
7. Eliminate the cap on taxable income that goes into the Social Security Trust Fund.
8. Establish a currency manipulation fee on China and other countries.
9. Reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending at the Pentagon.
10. Require Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
Those are all very good ideas, and I agree with them all. I would just add a few more:
* Strengthen unions by making it easier for workers to organize.
* Raise the minimum wage to at least $10.00 an hour, and tie it to the rate of inflation.
And perhaps the most important of all -- vote the Republicans out of power. None of the measures listed above can be done as long as the GOP controls the House of Representatives.
