Have you ever noticed that those defending the actions of the ones that caused these financial problems, sound like they want to stifle (or even crush) the middle and working class? They don’t stop to realize that all of these fortunes were made (legally, illegally, or just plain wrong), on the backs of the middle and working class folk.

By the way,we don’t have a free market here. It’s more like a free form economy and a free for all market, with anything goes. Yea, let those in control of the money, make their own rules. This is what you end up with.

Why should upper and middle management be allowed to make millions of dollars in salary, when they are incapable of controlling their own companies? Maybe there should be stockholders associations, or something on that order. That way the majority of the stockholders, truly will have a say. Millions to the execs for doing poorly, means millions no going to the stockholders. It’s highway robbery, I tell ya.

As far as goes the comment: “.. the only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which business is conducted.”; He is basically saying that it must be government by big business and for big business. Of course the proof is on “K” street. That’s where you go to try to get the best government for your company, that money can buy.

Charlie.

Actually there is no such statement whatsoever in the Preamble to The Constitution. I quote herewith:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Certainly seems more in line with a social agenda than it does a platform for supply side theory.

You bring up communist Russia, but conveniently ignore the socialist Scandinavian countries with extremely high rates of taxation but also far higher standards of living than the US, better quality of life, far less crime, better education, etc.

Hell, even purebred capitalists like Henry Ford understood how powerful wealth redistribution could be.

Its shocking how nowadays people make these offhand comments about wealth redistribution as if its a great thing. In communist Russia they solved the problem and put everyone on equal footing. There was no unemployment and no rich bankers. Only problem is that you had to stand in line for tiolet paper…

In terms of wealth, we have a system where the top 10% owns 71% of the wealth, and the bottom 40% own less than 1% of the wealth. When you look at the numbers this way, it would be crazy if the top 20% DIDN’T pay 80% of the taxes.

The progressive taxation system we have now works fairly well. And it’ll work better once the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans roll back…

However, and this was the point of my post, I have little to no patience for people who make over 100K a year complaining that they are taxed unfairly. Yeah, knowing that if you miss a paycheck you’re screwed really sucks. Its a reality for almost all of us. I don’t begrudge… until the whining starts.

Instead of begrudging those that may be doing slightly better, why not focus on the real issue of the working poor in this nation. Why is it that so many in this country live check to check? I’d submit that the answer to that question is not because some guy on Wall Street makes a million dollars, but due to larger society issues that no one likes to talk about. It much easier to blame some faceless fat cat as the source of all of your problems.

Get a less expensive apartment like the rest of us or move to Detroit and squat with your artist friends where things are cheaper.

Middle class is difficult to define by income alone, because it also connotes a style of life, a set of values and tastes, a level of education and a class of occupation. Personally to me middle class is someone who owns a home or has the prospect or abilty to becoming a homeowner. They must make a decent wage and they should enjoy a modicum of economic stability. The last point is the most critical. Middle class means having enough money coming in—and on reserve— that you can pay your bills every month, have health insurance, regularly eat a meal out, own a home computer or laptop with Internet access, afford to live in a safe neighborhood, send your kids to a quality public school or day care and take a vacation overseas at least once a year.

Salaries here tend to be somewhat higher for professionals than those in other parts of the country, but as pointed out in the article a New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.

Put away your pitchfork. Everyone making more money than you is not a villian. Not every 6 figure salary is earned by some fat cat living high off the hog. There are a lot of normal everyday people making this kind of money who still go to bed worrying about making ends meet. Yes, it’s easy to lay out a scenario where they are living with 3 other roomates, have family member to baby sit for free, sell the car, don’t take a vacation, eat out cat food or whatever, but is that what we should be striving for? Is that the new American dream? Is that what parents want for their chidren?

That bathroom sign is great stuff.

“The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801″

What does that mean, though? How many bedrooms? I don’t know anyone paying that much for an apartment unless they have several roommates, even in expensive neighborhoods like LIC and Greenpoint.

Also, it talks about New Yorkers having longer commutes than a lot of other cities, but we also don’t need to own a car, so that actually lowers the cost of living.

I don’t know… to me making $100,000 is pretty unfathomable and would seem quite affluent, even in New York, unless you had several kids or other additional expenses. Say you got another roommate or a spouse making the same amount of money, you’d be living very well off in my book. I guess I just don’t have much sympathy for the argument that someone making six figures is just getting by and middle class … nobody I know makes anywhere near that and we all get by, pay our bills, and still have a little left over for fun.