Now I understand why all Zogby Polls have that "Investor Class" question:

[Coexist]

there is ALWAYS a question that asks, "Do you consider yourself to be a member of the Investment Class?" I always thought that was a strange question, but HERE is the answer. Bush wants us ALL to feel like members of this class, so we will help his rich buddies get a new tax cut.

http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=fha

by Froma Harrop
<snip>
A week's vacation in Cancun does not make one a member of the leisure class. Likewise, owning a few shares of stock is no ticket into anything Wall Street would remotely regard as the investing class. But the Bush administration would like to convince working folk that they are in the club.

Its motives are simple. Conservatives have been remodeling the tax code to move the burden off investment income and onto the earnings that people sweat for. The more Americans fancy themselves players in the stock market, the easier it will be to sell them on tax breaks for investors. Right now, the administration is pitching an extension of the 15-percent tax rate on capital gains and dividends.

<snip>
Some ordinary folk may respond to this with, "Yes, the rich are getting most of the breaks, but why should I care?" Good question, but there is an easy answer: Because someone has to bear the cost of government. If people in the upper incomes are paying fewer taxes, others have to pay more.

The consequences of letting investment income off the hook have been hidden so far, because rather than raise revenues the old-fashioned way -- through adequate tax collections -- the administration has been borrowing the dough. Eventually, the bills will have to be paid, and guess who will be the payer, under the changed tax rules.

[fasttense]

1. Yeah, I'm a member of the investor "loser" class.

I just closed out all my stock accounts. Ended up losing $6,000 over ten years. Happy days are here again!

[MercutioATC]

2. I consider "investor class" to mean deriving a significant portion of

current income from "investments".

My 401K is over $120k and I contribute the federal maximum to it every year but I don't consider myself a member of the "investor class" because the bulk of my income still comes from actual work.

[Coexist]

3. That would be my definition.

But this obviously shows that they want anyone with a 401(k) or a couple of penny stocks to consider themselves "investor class" so they can sell this new cut.

Ugly, isn't it.

[MercutioATC]

4. I always vote "no".

I agree that they should define the term.

[Coexist]

9. So do I - even though we have a few stocks

I would feel weird calling myself a member of the Investor Class.

When I hear that term, I think of yachts.

[sandnsea]

5. Yes, as would privatization of SS

Then the entire country would have a direct stake in the stock market. The purpose isn't so much to support the tax cuts as to support global corporatism. How much harder would it be to take a stand against the exploitation of foreign workers if you knew YOU were going to lose money by taking that stand.

The Plantation Society. The Investor Class and those who serve them. Been saying this since the day I logged on to DU.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. More fancy talk and manipulation

Sad. :( I hope people don't buy it.

[HootieMcBoob]

7. Another strange question on those polls is

do you consider yourself:

progressive (very liberal)

or

liberal

? huh ?

Who was it that decided that "progressive" means "very liberal"?

[SoCalDem]

8. Buy a lottery ticket?? Go to Vegas? You have just "invested"

"Common" people didn't NEED to be gamblers investors because they had defined benefits pensions, and made enough to have savings accounts too. "real" wages USED to cover the expenses of modest living (with only one breadwinner in the workforce)..

401-ks & IRAs gave employers the "out" they wanted, and conned workers into thinking that THEY needed control over "their money".. That may be a nice thing in some ways, BUT there are MANY people who watch a few hours of CNBC or listen to the screaming maniac stock guys, and think they are the next Warren Buffet..

The thing that's rarely mentioned is that individuals have ALWAYS been able to save and invest, but it's fairly recently that they HAVE to because there is nothing else to fall back on..