The NYT’s headline makes it sound like the latest data is encouraging: “Census Shows a Modest Rise in U.S. Income.” The article reflects a more dispiriting reality.
The nation’s median household income grew modestly in 2006, the Census Bureau reported yesterday, even as the percentage of people without health insurance hit a high.
Experts said the rise in income was mainly a reflection of an increase in the number of family members entering the workplace or working longer hours. Average wages for men and women actually declined for the third consecutive year.
The NYT then added this gem:
Some Republicans seized on the new data as evidence that Bush administration policies had been good for people’s pocketbooks.
Seriously, it’s as if Republicans are trying to appear foolish and out of touch. People are working more for less and the GOP responds to the news by saying, “See? I told you we knew what we were doing.”
One Trackback To “Working more, for less“
Fact is, they do know what they are doing, and these results are exactly what the Republican leaders are looking for.
I don’t need this damn study. I know exactly how long I work for my pathetic paycheck.
Front page headline of Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel
“…26% Live Below (poverty) Line”
Hey, a double cheeseburger is only a dollar at mickey D’s! What’s the problem? The rich are gettin’ richer aren’t they? I suggest fullness from a value menu. You’ll get over the rest.
And they call the NYT a liberal rag. Its pretty clever how the buried the fact about declining wages in an article clearly designed and titled to make it appear that most Americans are better off. The NYT and most media outlets have a growing conservative slant to them.
More and more people are taking that second job at the local fast food place, and you can forget about momma staying home to take care of the young ones. I can feel the warmth of those repugnacan family values.
This was predicted when Reagan was president, it helped Clinton get elected. Clinton stopped the trend, but Americans just don’t learn. They had to have their Right Hand of God Republicans, who are all turning out to be the Devil Incarnate.
and it continues and continues—
the gop is out of touch as a group as well as shit-for-brains leads them under a rock.
what a bunch of fucking sheep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But but Democrats will raise taxes! Of course you’ll have more money with which to pay those taxes. And you’ll actually have enough left over to do shit like ‘live’ and maybe even ‘enjoy yourself’. But they’ll raise taxes!
Well Damn Me,
I got a huge raise this year, which brings the total over the last 7 years up to a half way decent wage.
In all seriousness though, the Party of family values rails against working mothers, yet do nothing to help them stay at home to raise the kids. I should also include that they do nothing to help the fathers either. You here people like O’lielly crying out against out of control children and that their parents should be doing more to keep them in control. How feasible is this though when dad and mom have to work one or more jobs each just to get by.
letters@nytimes.com
The last time I was on a vacation, I was still married. My wife left me in 2001.
I wish I had 1/10th the vacation time Monkey Boy does.
I seen variations on this “good news” about the economy on several news outlets. Every single one of them buried the real story about the supposed rise in the median income.
Seriously, it’s as if Republicans are trying to appear foolish and out of touch.
Who’s more foolish…the idiot republicans, or the jellyfish dems who keep bankrolling them with no strings attached?
Forget the New York Times. Read The London Guardian or the blogs.
I guarantee this data came from a Right wing think tank using crank science.
CEOs Earn More in A Day than Most Workers in A Year
Income gap widens
http://www.cnbc.com/id/20493272
We cannot sustain a democratic society under these conditions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfrQalpmdqk
I see a bunch of naive people here who have yet to comment on inflation…
the declining value of the dollar…
as more and more of the stuff is printed cuz we trade it away for oil and cheap chinese goods…
(as if) this was a republican-democrat thing…
Attention!!!! the Federal Reserve is about as Federal as Federal Express…
it is a private corporation…
Independent and Unnacountable (and getting ready to fire up the printing press 24/7/365)!!!!
owned by international entities who are ready to scuttle the dollar and replace it w/ more of the same fiat currency (in the form of) the Amero!!!
Yeah, but keep spending those dollars so the economy stays strong for the rich people and their trust funds.
Rocket Man @ 15:
From the NYT article(h/t to Steve Benen fer includin’ it in this o.p.):
Experts said the rise in income was mainly a reflection of an increase in the number of family members entering the workplace or working longer hours. Average wages for men and women actually declined for the third consecutive year.
Which right wing think tank would include data that led to the last sentence in that paragraph?
Headline (how it’s reported to us)…
The nation’s median household income grew modestly in 2006, the Census Bureau reported yesterday, even as the percentage of people without health insurance hit a high.
…and on page A22 in small type…
Experts said the rise in income was mainly a reflection of an increase in the number of family members entering the workplace or working longer hours. Average wages for men and women actually declined for the third consecutive year.
“They” don’t want us to know what the data really says.
actual wages have increased. salaries for the same jobs 10 years ago are slightly higher now than then. they just haven’t increased with the cost of living. 1-3% raise every year vs 10% inflation/cost of living. how much has the price of gas alone increased. as well as the cost of a new house or even a new car? even your basic groceries like eggs are becoming expensive.
As the abuser often says: “What do you believe, me or your lying eyes?”
I’m looking for a fifth job. I’m running out of hours in a day.
I’d wondered about that statistic. Sure the median is up, but aren’t there more people below poverty level? I mean isn’t it just proof that the rich are richer?
mister mix @ 21:
translation: real wages have fallen.
the worst thing about the reporting on the report is that it is being reported as hearsay and innuendo and suggestion as opposed to fact.
btw did anyone see actually read that article or look at the charts?
the headline should actually read “Census Shows a Modest Rise in WHiTe U.S. Income”
“Although median household income rose by seven-tenths of a 1 percent over all, the only statistically significant increase was in white households.”
people should actually read that article. although it’s definately written with a conservative slant, (ex. identifying the counter arguments as from a “liberal” institute) it definately worth the read as the headline is completely misleading from the content.
OK, I hope this makes people here realize that Bush is NOT about free markets and making the average worker’s lives better off.
He is just like every other politician who doesn’t understand nor care about people’s standard of living or about the economy. He is the same as the others, except Bush does cocaine.
Wanderer @ 28:
no cause of 2 reasons.
1) it was revealed awhile ago that the average conservative doesn’t like to read
2) if you didn’t realize that about bush before he was even “elected”, (by just reviewing his record in texas) then you definately wouldn’t realize it now.
The U.S. economy is rapidly approaching a tipping point. Climate change is decreasing crop yeild, leading to higher prices for food. Colder winters and hotter summers mean higher fuel consumption and higher utility bills. Our fresh water sources are being drained at an alarming rate. I’m afraid that within my lifetime it will all collapse.
How many people I’ve heard say ‘I’m so glad I have a job.’ No matter what it pays or the extra hours of work to keep it.
This is their Family Values
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/.....-usec.html
coleshack @ 30:
You really see the big picture, coleshack. Add increased population and willful ignoring of the damage that has been done to our ‘living quarters’, we are up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Plus the shenanigans of the so-called power brokers of the world ratcheting up the nuclear threats, mix in Al Queda types, Jesus freaks, etc., ya gotta admit we’re living in a pretty f*cked up world.
People are complaining about working 2-3 jobs? But that’s uniquely American!
Smack_dab @ 32:
yea, I got my statement thing the other day, and found out that in 2006, I made only 400$ more than I did in 2005….*sigh*
That really is a gem considering the latest study that CNBC aired:
CEOs Earn More in A Day than Most Workers in A Year
By Reuters | 29 Aug 2007 | 09:18 AM ET
Top executives at major U.S. businesses last year made as much money in one day of work on the job as the average worker made over the entire year, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Chief executive officers from the nation’s biggest businesses averaged nearly $11 million in total compensation, according to the 14th annual CEO compensation survey released jointly by the Institute for Policy Studies based in Washington and United for a Fair Economy, a national organization based in Boston.
At the same time, workers at the bottom rung of the U.S. economy received the first federal minimum wage increase in a decade. But the new wage of $5.85 an hour, after being adjusted for inflation, stands 7 percent below where the minimum wage stood a decade ago.
“CEO pay, over that same decade, has increased by roughly 45 percent,” the study found.
On average, CEOs at major American corporations saw $1.3 million in pension gains last year. By contrast, 58.5 percent of American households led by a 45- to 54-year old even had a retirement account in 2004, the most recent year these figures were available.
According to the report, between 2001 and 2004, retirement accounts of these average households gained only $3,775 in value a year.
The top 386 CEOs in the study took in perks, such as housing allowances and travel benefits, worth on average $438,342 in 2006. It would take a minimum wage worker 36 years to earn the equivalent of what CEOs averaged in just perks alone.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/20493272
Yes sireeeee… that Bush economy sure is good… for the CEOs that is! Why with this video and article, you don’t even have to do the math… they did it for you.
The video is a hoot because the conservatives tried to argue about the CEOs adding value and that they were worth it… listen to the debate and you decide…
Average weekly earnings rose by 3.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July
2006 to July 2007. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings
increased by 1.3 percent. Before adjustment for seasonal change and inflation,
average weekly earnings were $595.76 in July 2007, compared with $572.85 a year
earlier.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm
Rasputin @ 37:
Figures the doofus media weasel would be the most excited about dumping obscene amounts of money on worthless CEOs because “CEOs really do matter… alot”. Pure corporate cocksucker that guy.
Seriously, it’s as if Republicans are trying to appear foolish and out of touch.
I think they are just deceitful, equivocating, greedy shits and have no use for any of them.
Manufacturing plants moved to other countries.
Middle class erased by out-sourcing.
Manual work means dying in some field or mine.
Only thing left to do is “manage” those willing to do “service” work.
The U.S.A. is becoming a slave owner’s paradise.
The south has risen again.
Americans deserve to be where they are today. They are too stupid to look up facts and simply listen to 30 second commercials to base their vote on.
At least those gays can’t marry…
Next election will be who’s gonna be toughest on border security. Like it will make a difference…
That’s rich. This administration is more worried about poor health insurance companies than it is about poor children. I guess they’re just playing to their base of supporters, wondering, what would Bill Frist do? (You realize that former Senator Bill Frist is to health insurance as Paris Hilton is to hotels.)
This reminded me of writing last week about some states making families earning up to $52,000 CHIP eligible. That seems like a lot, at first, until you figure the cost of living in some states. That median income figure caught my eye, though, because I know the ballpark number for health insurance at my family of four is $12,000 a year. Years ago, I was advised that if I kept my housing (biggest) expense under 25% of income, I was doing OK. What in the world are people supposed to do when they pay 25% off the top for health insurance?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average family in 2000 paid 32% of their income for housing, 19% for transportation, 13% for food, and 34% for “other” which includes medical. Families with no coverage, or with pre-existing conditions, get bills for common medical procedures that can total several years salary. That’s when they find out how the republicans “reformed” the bankruptcy laws.
Again, I’m calling on all members of Congress to follow the lead of Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wisconsin, who declined his coverage saying, “I will not accept health insurance coverage until everyone I represent in Wisconsin and across America is given the same opportunity.
I know that my congressman, Nick Lampson, had bypass surgery last year, which would make him all but uninsurable now. (Ironically my former congressman, Tom DeLay, has no heart.) I know it’s a lot to ask, that he risk his life like this, but hey, it gives him a chance to be a hero, or even a martyr, in time for the next election.
If this doesn’t scream ‘class warfare‘, nothing does. And it’s usually the Republicans, whose ranks include the worst examples of class warriors (CEOs), who are very quick to project their tendencies onto those who are victimized by them…and accuse them of engaging in class warfare - for simply stating the facts as they are, and pointing out who gains from this situation.
There’s an old saying: A thief will always suspect you of theft, and a liar of lying. To that you may add: a Republican will always suspect you of engaging in class warfare.
milquetoast @ 17:
what size is that tinfoil hat?
Of course the Republicans are going to claim things are going great. As far as they’re concerned, they are. The further into the hole they push everyboby but the top 0.5 % of the population the more wealth it can be assumed this elite is raking in. What’s not to like? As far as they’re concerned, that’s the natural order of things. If everybody else has to take a hit, well, screw ‘em - they’re not elites, they don’t matter (included in that number are t