CNBC, September 13, 2018

The positive news Wall Street savors — robust corporate profits, rising stock prices, surging output growth — deliver the greatest rewards to a relatively modest share of more affluent Americans.

The rest don't feel it all that much.

"Fifty-one percent of the electorate lives paycheck-to-paycheck," explains David Winston, a strategist for GOP leaders battling to save their House majority. "Their issues are wages and the cost of living. Ultimately for those folks, the question is, are those paycheck-to-paycheck dynamics getting better?"

The recent rise in oil price illustrates the divergence. Good for capital investment, job creation, and stock values in the energy sector; bad for average families as higher gas prices erode their wage increases.

That's why Democratic candidates more than Republicans emphasize steps Congress and the Trump administration have taken to roll back Obamacare. Those steps fuel health insurance premium increases that further erode wage gains.

In a recent survey for the Democratic Senate campaign, Garin asked voters across 13 Senate battleground states which set of economic facts is most important: big increases in jobs and middle-class tax cuts, or wages not keeping up with inflation and health costs. A 62 percent majority — including 91 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of independents and 34 percent of Republicans — chose the latter.

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Since Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign of 1980 Republican politicians have given rhetorical support - but rarely anything more - for the social conservatism of many white Americans who are not rich. That resonates less in the current political climate for two reasons.

The most obvious is that President Trump is an unconvincing spokesman for family values and the Judeo Christian tradition.

This is the second reason:

Gallup, MAY 11, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans continue to express an increasingly liberal outlook on what is morally acceptable, as their views on 10 of 19 moral issues that Gallup measures are the most left-leaning or permissive they have been to date. The percentages of U.S. adults who believe birth control, divorce, sex between unmarried people, gay or lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage, doctor-assisted suicide, pornography and polygamy are morally acceptable practices have tied record highs or set new ones this year. At the same time, record lows say the death penalty and medical testing on animals are morally acceptable.

 

I would not say that a robust stock market delivers the greatest rewards to relatively few of the more affluent Americans.
Most people I know contribute to their tax advantaged retirement account and a robust stock market certainly helps them. That is a great reward as far as they're concerned.
As far as living paycheck to paycheck goes. That's something that's been happening since they invented the work for pay system. You should look into it.

 

DL is mad because he hasn't seen a big increase in his welfare check...

 

More from CNBC:


US median household income climbs to new high of $61,372


9/12/18

• Median household income rose 1.8 percent in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• At the same time, the poverty rate fell for the third consecutive year.
• The latest data boosts an already positive outlook for the U.S. middle class, with the number of job openings reaching a record high of almost 7 million in July.

If you're a member of the middle class, chances are things are looking up.

Median household income reached a record $61,372 in 2017, up 1.8 percent from $60,309 in 2016.

This marks the third year in a row that median household income has gone up, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which compiled the data.

The poverty rate also fell for the third consecutive year. In 2017, the official poverty rate was 12.3 percent, down from 12.7 percent in 2016.

The number of people who did not have health insurance – 28.5 million, or 8.8 percent, in 2017 – did not change significantly from 2016, according to the Census Bureau.

The numbers come as job openings hit a record high in July with almost 7 million openings.

If you are not sure if you are middle class or not, the Pew Research Center recently updated its interactive calculator to help you find out.




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Consumer sentiment hits 100.8 in September, vs. 96.6 estimate


9/14/18

• Consumer sentiment hit 100.8 in September, the second-highest level of the year and second-strongest since 2004.
• The jump in consumer sentiment is "largely due to more favorable prospects for jobs and incomes," says Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers.

A preliminary look at consumer sentiment in September easily topped expectations on Friday.

The University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers said sentiment hit 100.8 in September, up from 96.2 in August. The level marks the second highest of the year and the second strongest since 2004. Economists polled by Reuters expected the preliminary read on September consumer sentiment to reach 96.6.

The jump in consumer sentiment is "largely due to more favorable prospects for jobs and incomes," according to Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers. "Consumers anticipated continued growth in the economy that would produce more jobs and an even lower unemployment rate during the year ahead."



The data also showed the biggest concern for consumers was a potentially negative impact from tariffs.

"Concerns about the negative impact of tariffs on the domestic economy were spontaneously mentioned by nearly one-third of all consumers in the past three months, up from one-in-five in the prior four months," Curtin said.

The U.S. slapped tariffs on goods from some of its key trade partners, including China and the European Union. Both China and the EU have retaliated with tariffs of their own. However, sentiment around trade improved this week after multiple reports said the U.S. was trying to restart trade talks with China.

 

Except maybe when he's a known, rabid, anti-Trumper.

 

when did America stop being great? Was it during slavery? Jim Crow? Japanese internment camps? torture? America's had black eyes, but she has always been great despite Donald's claims.

 

So, should I believe this guy or my lyin' eyes?

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/acs-poverty.html

9/13/18




https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/acs-1year.html
New American Community Survey Statistics for Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Available for States and Local Areas
9/13/18

The U.S. Census Bureau today released its most detailed look at America’s people, places and economy with new statistics on income, poverty, health insurance and more than 40 other topics from the American Community Survey (ACS).

Many large metropolitan areas saw an increase in income and a decrease in poverty rates between 2016 and 2017. During that same period, the health insurance coverage rate was 91.4 percent for the civilian noninstitutionalized population living inside metropolitan areas and 90.3 percent for the population living outside metropolitan areas. Today’s release provides statistics for U.S. communities with populations of 65,000 or more.

“The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about all communities in the United States,” Census Bureau Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division Chief David Waddington said. “It gives communities the current information they need to plan investments and services. Retailers, homebuilders, fire departments, and town and city planners are among the many private- and public-sector decision-makers who count on these annual statistics.”

Below are some of the local-level income, poverty and health insurance statistics from the ACS that complement the national-level statistics released on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. These national-level statistics are from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is the leading source for national-level data on income, poverty and health insurance, while the ACS is the leading source for community and local-level data.

Income

• Real median household income in the United States increased 2.6 percent between 2016 and 2017. The 2017 U.S. median household income was $60,336.
• The 2017 median household income was the highest measured by the ACS since it was fully implemented in 2005.
• Median household income increased in 17 of the 25 most populous metropolitan areas between 2016 and 2017. None of these 25 metropolitan areas experienced a statistically significant decrease. Changes for eight of these 25 metropolitan areas were not statistically significant.

Income Inequality

• Income inequality, as measured by the Gini index, was essentially unchanged from 2016 to 2017. The Gini index for the United States in the 2017 ACS (0.482) was not statistically different from the 2016 ACS estimate. The Gini index is a standard economic measure of income inequality. A score of 0.0 is perfect equality in income distribution. A score of 1.0 indicates total inequality where one household has all of the income.
• Five states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana and New York), the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had Gini indices higher than the United States. Ten were not statistically different from the U.S. Gini index; the remaining 35 were lower.

Poverty

• Between 2016 and 2017, poverty rates declined in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The poverty rate increased in two states: Delaware and West Virginia. Delaware saw its rate increase from 11.7 percent to 13.6 percent and the rate for West Virginia rose from 17.9 percent to 19.1 percent.
• States with poverty rates of 18.0 percent or higher were Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia.
• Thirteen states had poverty rates of 11.0 percent or lower. Visit the news graphic to see the 2017 poverty rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• In 13 of the 25 most populous metropolitan areas, the poverty rate declined between 2016 and 2017. The poverty rate declined for the third consecutive year in eight of these 13 metropolitan areas.

Health Insurance

• Between 2016 and 2017, the health insurance coverage rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points for the civilian noninstitutionalized population living inside metropolitan areas. There was no statistically significant change in the health insurance coverage rate for the population living outside metropolitan areas during this period.
• In 2017, the Boston metropolitan area had the highest health insurance coverage rate (97.0 percent) among the 25 most populous metropolitan areas.
• Between 2016 and 2017, the percentage of people covered by health insurance increased in four of the 25 most populous metropolitan areas. Increases in the rate of coverage ranged from 0.4 percentage points to 1.0 percentage points. In addition, six metro areas had decreases in the percentage of people covered by health insurance. Decreases in the rate of coverage ranged from 0.4 percentage points to 0.9 percentage points. The remaining 15 most populous metro areas showed no significant change.
• Between 2013 and 2017, the Los Angeles, Miami and Riverside metropolitan areas experienced the largest increases in the rate of health insurance coverage among the 25 most populous metropolitan areas. Their rates of health insurance coverage increased by 9 percentage points or more.

 

Shouldn't bother you DL. Didn't you retire a long time ago ?

 

Nothing you posted discredits John Harwood's integrity and competence.

 

That is because John Harwood never had any integrity or competence to begin with.

Besides, Hardwood needs no help, he discredits himself...

 

You don't prove that by asserting it.

If it really is true that "John Harwood never had any integrity or competence to begin with," it should be easy for you to document evidence of his low integrity and competence."

 

You prove nothing by denying it.....

 

Those who make assertions have the obligation to document them.

 

No way to document something that never existed....

 

So far DL you were right about one thing the song hushabye . Great song by the mystics

 

So far DL you were right about one thing the song hushabye . Great song by the mystics

 

2017 budget was written under Obama...

 

Sure about that?

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/budget/federal-budget-process-congress-trump

3/10/17

Congress did not pass a budget in Barack Obama’s last year in office. His last budget proposal, for 2017, died in Congress. Instead, in late 2016, Congress approved a “continuing resolution” to keep the government funded through the first quarter of the new Trump administration. At the time of this writing, details of Trump’s spending plans were beginning to surface, including, reportedly, a large increase in defense spending and cuts to the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. (The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington watchdog that campaigns for lower federal debt, keeps an updated page of news on the 2017 budget process.)

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_States_federal_budget

"Congress did not pass a regular budget resolution for the 2017 fiscal year during the 114th Congress,[12] but did so early in the 115th Congress, over three months after the fiscal year had actually begun.[13]"

It still wasn't Trump that had anything to do with it...