The United States is Now the Third Most Unequal Industrialized Society

[callady]

The United States is now the third most unequal industrialized society after Russia and Mexico. This is not a club we want to be part of. Russia is a recovering kleptocracy, with a post-Soviet oligarchy enriched by looting. And Mexico, despite joining the rich-nations club of the Organization for Economic and Community Development, has some of the most glaring poverty in the hemisphere.

In 2004, after three years of economic recovery, the U.S. Census reports that poverty continues to grow, while the real median income for full-time workers has declined. Since 2001, when the economy hit bottom, the ranks of our nation's poor have grown by 4 million, and the number of people without health insurance has swelled by 4.6 million to over 45 million.

Income inequality is now near all-time highs, with over 50 percent of 2004 income going to the top fifth of households, and the biggest gains going to the top 5 percent and 1 percent of households. The average CEO now takes home a paycheck 431 times that of their average worker.

At the pinnacle of U.S. wealth, 2004 saw a dramatic increase in the number of billionaires. According to Forbes Magazine, there are now 374 U.S. billionaires. The growth in billionaires took a dramatic leap since the early 1980s, when the average net worth of the individuals on the Forbes 400 list was $400 million. Today, the average net worth is $2.8 billion. Wal-Mart's Walton family now has 771,287 times more than the median U.S. household.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10733.htm

[shoelace414]

1. LALALALLALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

:sarcasm:

[long_green]

2. "Russia is a recovering kleptocracy"

Well, we are a THRIVING kleptocracy. USA! USA!

[etherealtruth]

3. Makes one proud ...

:sarcasm:

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Balderdash!

We're the richest country in the world! Those tax cuts are only a tease. There's more to come! The Republican Entitlements (government rebates to the rich) will bring a true sense of ownership to each and every illegal alien living in the good ole USA! Heeeeeee haaaaw!

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[applegrove]

5. Isn't it sad. Just so sad that republicans & conservatives on the whole

aimed the country at being less than mediocre and they made their goal!!

[callady]

7. Inequality is non-partisan

Inequality is non-partisan. The pace of inequality has grown steadily over three decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses. The Gini index, the global measure of inequality, grew as quickly under President Clinton as it has under President George W. Bush. Widening disparities in the U.S. are the result of three decades of bi-partisan public policies that have tilted the rules of the economy to the benefit of major corporations and large asset owners at the expense of people whose security comes from a paycheck.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10733.htm

[slaveplanet]

6. Musst...ssayyy...

...nothinggg....baaad.....abboouut .....Chinna...aaatt...aaallll .....cosssttt.....