I had not heard of it, but I looked it up.

 

...as profits and executive compensation keep getting higher and higher. This is just exactly what Karl Marx predicted. Nevertheless, conservatives wonder why socialism is becoming more popular in the United States, especially with the young.

Young people came of age after the Cold War ended. The word "socialism" does not scare them. Many of them wonder why they can't have nice things. They think the answer is capitalism.

 

Total foolishness.

They cant have nice things because they have no work ethic.

Capitalism provides nice things, they have no idea how to obtain, they want it handed to them.

 

Read Trev1's post.

When hard work at a dead end job gets one nowhere but the grave yard, people look for collective solutions to their economic problems. Because economic growth no longer exists for them they want economic redistribution.

 

I'm not an unsupporter but I'll admit I don't like the asshole. I don't follow somebody around kissing their ass on every move because he's my party leader. I'm all for a good economy with business running at capacity. It's good for everybody. I do think that because of lifting so many restrictions and regulations it's helped business flourish.
I hope it continues and my retirement funds keep growing. I like having enough income to purchase the necessities of life. Like weed.

I still don't like the asshole.

 

But you see, the problem isn't quite that simple. When the 2008 recession hit, the old historical norms for unemployment didn't apply. Not because economic growth was no longer available to people, but because the Obama administration and Congress stepped in and kept extending unemployment benefits, and encouraging the unemployed to "upgrade their skills" by returning to college. The result was that 1.5 Million or so Americans became long term unemployed, deeply in debt with school loans that (surprise!) could no longer be wiped out with bankruptcy, and when their two years of unemployment ran out, ended up subsisting on welfare and disability. The chart below shows the average duration of unemployment over the last 20 years; note the average duration of unemployment went from less than 20 weeks (less than 5 months) to 40 weeks during most of the first Obama administration. This was when benefits were extended from 26 weeks, with a possible additional 13 weeks, to over 200 weeks (so benefits were extended from 6-9 months to over 2 years). And, to really fuck things up, Congress and the Obama administration did not provide for a funding process for the expanded benefits, which means employers (who pay for the entire system) ended up eating that bill, further depressing job opportunities.


The traditionally strong Democratic supporters are discovering that times are actually better for them under Trump, than under Obama. Take blacks, as one group; this is the unemployment rate for blacks.

Since Trump came into office, unemployment among blacks is markedly lower than it has been over the last 20 years. If Clinton was right, that it's the economy, stupid, this demographic cannot be counted on to support Democratic candidates in either the mid terms or in 2020.

And Democrats can't count on that part of the labor force that is "uneducated". You know, the "gaping hinds in flyover country", the deplorables, cause for them, things have gotten much rosier under Trump than under the Obama, Clinton, or Bush administrations; This is the unemployment rate for labor force members without a high school diploma;


Another indicator of the health of the economy is that record numbers of part time employees are part time by choice, not because they can't find full time work.

Now, while wages themselves have not greatly increased (thank you for your efforts ladygodiva, hope to see you again soon) the number of people moving to higher wage jobs is impressive; simply, that warehouse job that paid $10 an hour in 2012 still only pays about $10, but the people working in that warehouse job have moved up to other jobs paying $15 an hour or more. Those statistics won't be obvious for another year, when annual wage earner reports come out.

So, to counter point Distant Lovers assertions; While "have nots" are always for economic redistribution, you know, cause it isn't their money, there are one hell of a lot fewer "have nots" and a lot more "haves" who don't want economic redistribution.

And that does not bode well for Democrats in the mid term elections, and if it continues into 2020, in the next presidential election.

 

How long will it take for the Republicans to realize that W's eight trillion dollar wars in the middle east and his tax cuts are the reason for the US's huge deficit? And that Obama's 8 years of steady growth after W's market crash is the only reason for this buffoon's economy. Tutin Prump

 

Try again.
During obamas 8 years of "steady growth" the debt grew by $10 TRILLION.

That isn't on Bush.

 

Sounds like several in this thread misunderstand the difference between the debt and the deficit, how those two things move over time, and who is truly responsible for that movement. You don't like the numbers, the Chief Administrator (POTUS) is not the guy you should target, he has no direct control over income or expenditures - talk to your representatives in Congress.

If you are one to either praise, or blame, a modern (post WW2) President for the economic performance of a system as vast and complex as the one we've got, then I think you have a great deal to learn about that system. Of course, that would take effort, and the answer is not nearly as mindlessly entertaining as bashing your ideological enemies.

 

Uh, I'd say.....a good economy.

Since we don't have one.....unless you are worth 8 figures or more. The battle against health care, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is attempting to send 1/3rd of the U.S. population into poverty. I would not call that a 'good economy'.

 

That was not new under Obama, it has been that way since 1976...

http://business.time.com/2012/02/09/why-cant-you-discharge-student-loans-in-bankruptcy/

 

As I have said before the first thing Trump would have to do to give him credit for the economy is stop lying about it. Why does even do that when the economy is really pretty good?

MSNBC’s Velshi and Ruhle expertly expose all the factual errors in Trump’s boasts about the economy

 

Well, but not quite............. from your own Times article ..............

Before 1976, all education loans were dischargeable in bankruptcy. That year, the bankruptcy code was altered so loans made by the government or a non-profit college or university could not be discharged during the first five years of repayment. They could, however, be discharged if they had been in repayment for five years or if the borrower experienced “undue hardship.” Then, the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 made it so all private student loans were excepted from discharge too.

Two decades of further tweaks to the bankruptcy code ensued until 2005, when Congress passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which made it so that no student loan — federal or private — could be discharged in bankruptcy unless the borrower can prove repaying the loan would cause “undue hardship,” a condition that is incredibly difficult to demonstrate unless the person has a severe disability. That essentially lumps student loan debt in with child support and criminal fines — other types of debt that can’t be discharged.​

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-b...mas-horrible-terrible-legacy-on-student-loans
President Obama's horrible, terrible legacy on student loans

"...........Obama federalized the system to where the government now profits immensely from both interest on loans it makes directly to students, and defaults. To say that the federal government now sits atop the most predatory lending system in our nation's history is not an understatement.

The various repayment programs that promise forgiveness are cruel jokes, administered in bad faith by a Department of Education that has zero desire or intentions of forgiving any loans. Fewer than 15% of those signing up for these programs will actually make it through. The rest will be expelled owing far more than when they entered."​

 

And Trump has done something to help people with student loans shooters? What was that?

 

*sighs
Pigeons
chess

When did this become about Trump and his education policies?

 

Your the one whining about Obama. Just a hint... He ain't president anymore...

And you still had to change your words in order to slam Obama... A man who is no longer president.

 

Thank you for looking up the assumed means ladygodiva123.

I didn't think any real statisticians would have heard that one before.

It was the Last Chance summer course for people who needed to have at least one more math credit before they could move on. And a Ragin Cajun professor to boot.

But just because I can't do it statistics is a very real thing.

Hope to see you soon.

 

That would require an economy that is actually good for all people instead of just the upper classes and the wealthy.

 

Record tax revenue in the month of October 2018! $252billion Yay!

Record Expenditures in the month of October 2018! $353billion Boo!

Net addition to our debt = $101billion WTF?!??

# of months before cash out to debt service exceeds cash out to defense department = approx 10 (and likely to happen faster when the Fed raises the rate in December, and likely twice more in 2019)

something ain't workin' with this "great" economy

 

Perhaps it will take a better understanding of what the economy really is, and not just cherry picking the stuff that supports your position, no matter where your loyalties lie.