It clarifies it for those who live in reality; but evidence suggests that many, if not most, on the right - contrary to Daniel Patrick Moynihan's famous statement - choose to believe in "their own facts" that have little relation to the reality the rest of us acknowledge to exist. As Jonathan Heidt indicates in his recent book, "The Righteous Mind," we humans have intuitions about things first, and we gather to ourselves facts that support our intuitions and reject facts that challenge those intuitions. This is not a problem only on the political right, yet it seems to us on the left that those folks are much more ideologically driven than are we. So, sadly, all the charts in the world aren't going to convince them of the reality we acknowledge. The only thing we can do is to use the charts as a source of motivation for ourselves to work to change the facts as we see them, so they correspond more closely to the reality in which we'd prefer to live.

I think what people are missing here is what actually caused a lot of this was

"BIG MONEY " , Wall Street , Wells Fargo and other big banking institutions , They puposely manipulated the market to cause the system to fail ONLY for the working taxpayer , If you have noticed the stock market is doing well .

They didn't want " JOE the TAXPAYER " to sell his property and possibly wind up with $500,000 in the bank , They want to keep the Millionare Club an exclusive one just for them .

The only truth is, you decided not to go to college, or develope a business plan or trademark a idea that people would buy and you want everyone else to make up for your shortcomings. aint happening.

go to college, get a real job, because if there are enough people like you whining, that make more than the average, then you will be giving up some of your income as well, ever think about that?

people will quit there hard labor jobs in groves and sit on the dole

Who can afford college? What "real jobs" are out there, that will allow graduates to repay $26,000 in student loan debt? There are no easy answers, but the question really is how do we as a country and a society achieve "What we would like it to be."

We are sadly returning to times of dropping out of school to work because there is a need for income. It was common to have people drop out, get jobs to help the family. Then, there were more assistance, like GI Bill, which sent my brother through college. He enlisted, went to Vietnem, survived and returned to get his degree.

Apparently it is less a benefit than it was then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Bill

Also, you risk your life and limbs.

Sitting on the dole is not what it is cracked up to be. I really think that is inaccurate to say people aspire to be on the dole.

Wow, this is getting sadder and sadder. Some people are told that hordes of people dream of sitting on the dole and they believe it.

No, not everyone has access to money from their Daddy and quite a few work their way through and rise above their situation.

Federal budget and Census data show that, in 2010, 91 percentof the benefit dollars from entitlement and other mandatory programs went to the elderly (people 65 and over), the seriously disabled, and members of working households. People who are neither elderly nor disabled — and do not live in a working household — received only 9 percent of the benefits.

Steve Rapaport, did you know, that the wisconsin teachers union pension is invested in Koch Bros? didnt think so

And when the trend of an increasing distribution towards the top means that their prospects for getting more are swirling the drain?

Wealth isn't a zero sum game. Whatever one person has won't affect what another can make.

Nice try, Shooter242. I almost believed it at first. But no, it isn't true. What David Koch has can most definitely affect what Wisconsin union members can make. When the rich use their money to influence elections, bust unions, redistrict voting, advertise lies, elect Supreme Court judges, or lobby for laws that promote their interests at state expense, they most definitely affect what another person can make.

Bull. Those at the top have disproportionate power over what those at the bottom get to have. They can manipulate the market through their spending and investment, and it suits them to keep the distribution uneven. If the workers are poor, it keeps prices for goods and services low, which means more possessions for less money, giving the rich an even greater surplus of capital to accumulate wealth. The system redistributes wealth from the poor to the rich all by itself, the only way to even things out is for the tax code to run the other way.

The skewed distribution isn't because the rich suddenly started working 90 hour weeks and the poor all quit. It's because the system is slanted against working and towards investment.

edit: was a reply to shooter, not Steve.

Oh brother. Conspiracy theories aside, people make what they make, because of competition from others vying for the same job. As for the union guys in WI, contributing smallish amount toward their benefits isn't going generate much sympathy.

P.S. the real reason rich people are rich is that they have something others want and will pay for. No conspiracy there either.

Hey Shooter: If the wealthiest 1% decided to monopolize 100% of the real estate in the country, how would the bottom 99% do in a land auction? Your comment is 100% wrong when examined realistically. Please keep your stupidity to yourself. If you come up with something you think is valid, think about it for a while. Maybe bounce it off someone you know is smarter than you before you share it on a forum like this. You'll be doing the whole of the human race a favor if you think twice before you comment. Maybe go back to school. Practice some basic reasoning skills. Take a logic class. Take an economics class. I respect your right to your opinion, but remember, your right to be wrong has consequences. PLEASE- consider the comment before you post. It makes it soooo much harder for the group to come to the right decision when the less intelligent shout out their unconsidered opinions during a discussion among those with reasoning skills and ethical considerations.

Actually, they make it by SQUASHING competition, by using their money to change the rules so that they either make more or prevent others from competing. How else do you explain the explosion of upper-crust earning in comparison to the stagnation for the rest of us? People have always wanted commodities that others had; that's an insufficient reasoning as to why, since Reagan's trickle-down lie-fest, the haves have gotten more and the have-nots have been left to suck hind teat.

Yeah, I'm sure those with the most wealth aren't trying to somehow advantage themselves with any laws that we might be governed by. Huh?

Progressive, personal attacks do not a point make.

Grumpy, wages here are stagnating because of labor competition abroad. Welcome to the free market.

Golden, I'm sure they do, just as you and I would in a similar situation.

So if somebody breaks into your house and takes all your valuables the scales don't tip? You're not paying attention. Are you really unaware of what has taken place in our economy. If there is profit to be gained by shipping jobs overseas for cheap labor and my job is gone, that tips the balance in my life. You need to come out of lala land and see what's going on here or wait till it affects you directly. Even if you are a young rich entrepreneur or your parents set you up, your business will not flourish without a middle class to buy your products/services. If you currently have a job that gives you reason to be as arrogant as you appear, karma has a way of catching up with one. If you make more than a million dollars a year, shut up and pay your taxes!

Ummm, no, Shooter, that's not why it's happening. There is no competition for service industries from the international community, but yet somehow wages there are stagnating as well. Unless you've somehow had your waiter shipped in from India, or your mechanic teleports your car down to Tijuana to work on it, in which case I'd like to see that. The simple fact is, wages are stagnating because corporations and the GOP oppose measures to make wages more fair and push in measures and laws to keep things unfair and make them worse by removing all leverage that labor has to improve things. You're working awfully hard to keep yourself ignorant on these things.

Shirley, I'm not getting the analogy who broke into your house and what scales have been tipped? Yes jobs are being shipped overseas. So you get another job. Granted, Obama isn't making that easier.

I'm not the one in la-la land. I am constantly amazed at how little people know of the day to day world of commerce. I've lost jobs and gotten new ones. I've also hired and fired. in all that experience the only constant is change. I can also safely say that whatever the Koch bros were doing had no effect on my life in the least.

Consider this thought experiment... what if the 400 richest people in America all retired tomorrow... how would your life change? My guess is, not a bit.

Grumpy, you can't legislate away competitive disadvantage for an entire nation. America is just not a great place for business anymore.

On the other hand, North Dakota is doing very well. They have burger flipping jobs at $15/hr with medical, demand is skyrocketing, and tax revenue is through the roof. Maybe you should check them out. They seem to have the secret to success.

You're an arrogent fool. Sweet!

Right, Shooter242, North Dakota has the secret to success. A mini oil boom in a largely deserted state, resulting in a localized labor shortage. That will work very well in the rest of the country, where there are four to five times as many applicants as there are jobs. Why didn't the rest of us think of that? Oh wait, I forgot, the Keystone pipeline will create MILLIONS of jobs, if only we could get rid of the EPA and their junk-science-based, job-killing regulations.

Not to mention learning how to drink flaming water, an important skill in the post-Keystone America to which we can look forward.

America is a great place for business; that's why they still thrive here. You sell where the money is, which is America. What it isn't is a great place for WORKERS because of abuses. You can legislate to counter those abuses, just like you can legislate to deny the right to form a group of people (a union, if you will) to negotiate terms with another group of people (let's call these a corporation). When you say that you can't, you prove that you know neither politics nor history.

Julia, I'm an experienced fool. And sweet!

Paul, It's an old market saw that when in trouble one sells what one can, not what one wants. We have oil and gas. We're in trouble, and Obama would rather play politics than employ people.

Grumpy, The problem with unions and why America isn't a good place to do business is encapsulated by the Boeing/NLRB fiasco.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-06/news/ct-edit-boeing-20110906_1_lafe-solomon-nlrb-dreamliner

Obama would rather play politics than employ people

Tell me again which party killed the Jobs Act and the infrastructure bill which would have employed millions of people?

Besides, the old GOP saw about Obama killing the pipeline is a flat out lie. The administration asked for more time to look at the possible damage to the area and investigate other options for the route. The GOP freaked out, big surprise, and is now crying about the jobs lost while they sit on a jobs bill and an infrastructure bill.

80sGirl - you nailed it there. Perfect. It will be interesting to see how Shooter tries to spin all that.

Sure, Shooter, because one event in one area defines the whole country. Explain, please, why that case defines why Tennessee is suffering, given that it's a virtually union-free "right-to-get-screwed... I mean, to-work" state. The "unions make it bad" argument falls flat when you note that even non-union areas are getting screwed, so try again.

We should be for each other more. That is what unions do. Working people in the same boat, not enemies.

If only corps would treat employees fairly once again, the balance of the whole pie would occur for smoother operation. Employees well paid with incentive for retaining loyal employees would work for customers with high quality service to bring profit (employees buy stuff) to the employer.

It is way out of balance, and it is not due to employees.

We are having a huge battle, when it could be a celebration for everyone.

grumpyliberalbastard, did you know that Reagan had a dem controlled house and senate? They over rode nine of 18 of Reagan's vetoes, so if you want to play the typical DEM blame game, then blame your own party

Shooter- 20 consecutive months of private sector job growth. No thanks to the "job creators."

So, your reply Ernie is to bring up something from the Reagan years? Are you saying that Republicans are filibustering important legislation in a time of need as some sort of payback? If not, then your comment is kind of meaningless. I don't care what someone did in the 80's when I was 5, I care about what they are doing NOW, when the future of my 11 year old child is at stake. And all the Republicans have done is block and filibuster (more in a couple years than in the history of filibustering, how about that?) everything that is good for this country.

Every moronic point by Shooter was intelligently shot down by Grumpy and others, I noticed he is nowhere to be found all of a sudden. I guess he figured he better find another forum where people don't know enough to be able to dispel his right-wing talking points...

Shooter does that; he's like an incontinent puppy, wandering into various places, making stinky deposits, and then he's off again. The little scamp can't help it, nor can he properly defend it.

Ernie, you're talking apples and atom bombs. Overriding vetoes means diddly. Reagan enacted his bad policies on his own, using the mechanisms of the executive branch and by sticking them into must-pass bills, the way that the modern GOP tries to attach Keystone to completely unrelated bills. Anyone who reads actual facts about how things have been going the past thirty years or so can see exactly where these policies, enacted by Republicans and defended by Republicans and doubled-down-on by Republicans, have put us. If you think it's the fault of the Democrats, then you need to reacquaint yourself with a little thing called objective reality.

good idea

The DEMS played the same game under the last two yrs of Bush, when the stock market went from 14000 to 8000, welcome to politics.

Your party is blocking jobs and the student loan interest rate bills that the republicans have issued

"the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state or, in this case, the person & office of the President"

& country! the right is more dedicated 2 trying 2 destroy the pres & Holder, who both happen 2b black, & shoving their agenda down the throats of americans than a prosperous middle class & economy. they want the economy 2 fail which would make Obama look like a failure. there is a jobs bill that will put thousands back 2 work but the republican r sitting on it.

etcha sketch has changed his position more times than a prostitute. tell etcha sketch 2b opened w/his lowly middle class supporters about his plans as president & not just w/his sugar & pimp daddys, behind closed door, who will be the 1s running the country, if he is ever elected, & not wait 2 tell "yall" after his pimp daddys decide how they want 2 run your lives.

mccain, 1 of willie's top supporters, said "the supreme court got it wrong in citizens united, the case that paved the way 4 super pacs." he called the decision “the most misguided, naive, uninformed, egregious decision of the US supreme court.” mccain said adelson earns his money through a global casino empire &“much of adelson’s casino profits that go 2 willie come from his casino in Macau. Obviously, foreign money is coming n2 an American campaign, Foreign citizens cannot make political contributions 2 U.S. campaigns. '

if congress, who has a 17% approval rating, did their job & stop screwing the whole country just 2 make Mr O look bad, he wouldnt have been in position2 do what he did w/immigration. the dream act received 55 vote but was filibusted.

they whined about Mr O not protecting the borders. he is responsible 4 the most deportations ever which they have a problem w/also & try 2 use against him.

they whined about "the celebrity-in-chief" rubbing elbows w/hollywood but willard has all kinds of secret meetings with his billionaires from wall st & so forth.

per poop pants, WILLARD CALLED HIM & agreed not 2 restrict gun laws in exchange 4 his endorsement. ted nugget poop his pants for weeks w/o washing 2 avoid fighting 4 the country he loves so dearly he would kill Mr O.

after all the evil done by people like nixon, karl rove, rumsfeld, cheney, gb, sandusky who's been raping little boys 4 35yrs while penn state staff from president 2 janitor & oh so highly respected joe paterno protected him by covering up the evil he did in his home w/his wife & on penn state grounds. cover ups which includes a mysteriously missing DA. (no different than what goes on in politics, long b4 Obama) catholic priest like little boy also which is y they r trying 2 block abortions. these people get more support & respect than Mr. O.

y didnt u caring & concerned people attack sandusky the way u attack Mr. O? y didn't u all attack the teacher who made his young students eat his semen & all involved in the penn state cover up & the priest trying 2 tell women what 2 do? y do u idiots condemn those who do the right things but protect the predators & the evil! question that will be addressed come judgement day.

wouldnt a coach say "a team is only as good as its weakest players". a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. well, THIS COUNTRY IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS MENTALLY SICKEST & MOST CORRU

Google

Wealth Inequality In The United States, Lisa A. Keister

About 81.2/20 in 1962 - compared to about 85/20

It has however been much worse (for the 80%) - 81/4 in 1845, in 1890 it was 86/12

http://watchdogprogressive.com/2011/04/wealth-distribution-nothing-new-in-america-but-needs-to-change/

The Democrats should run an ad " count down to the student loan increase ...if the republicans dont act this is what happpens" We need to run this ad in every state....after that we need to run countdown ads of the other bills that are due to expire any day!!!!!!

Mail.com is your friend. Create an account there and Hammer won't know it is you. Just a thought. Find me on Face Book if you need more info on the topic.

Have another drink, Terry. The adults are talking.

I see the Fox News horde has a stray. Best get back there before someone starts to miss you (unlikely).

That's not the share of the income, that's the distribution of accumulated wealth. The income distribution is a little less ridiculously lopsided than that, but it's similar.

People near the bottom can't accumulate wealth, since their meager income is almost completely consumed by the day to day needs of being alive, they don't have a surplus to save or invest. Not to mention a lot of us are further in debt proportionate to our income, and tend to get charged higher interest rates for the privilege.

Meanwhile, at the top of the scale, having great wealth means you can get even more income from it (which has a privileged tax status), and eventually you run out of things to spend it on, and what you do spend most of it on are things with resale value, like real estate.

Add on to this that almost every form of tax except the income tax is regressive (flat taxes like most state taxes affect the poor more than the rich because less of their income is disposable, they are all under the cap for payroll taxes, consumption taxes apply to gas and clothes but not houses, etc.) and you can see that the system is completely biased against anyone without money.

Karl Marx would say that his predictions are coming true.

... And how exactly would that work, or happen?

When all else fails, just insult people with "witty" changes to their name. A tactic the right-wing rabble seems to enjoy a lot.

Also don't laugh at your own 'jokes', you're not funny.

"WillyBill"--Why do the likes of you troll obviously lib sites and post your "bloviating ignorance" for all to see? I'm sure there are plenty of places for you to puruse at your leisure where you will find no argument.

I just love George Will, with whom I rarely agree, for coining the starkly descriptive characterization of "The Donald" in two hilarious words..."bloviating ignboramus." The current clown car of the GOP has made it necessary to pleuralize the term to "bloviating ignoramuses" inclusive of the all the itty bitty brain cells calling out in the deep dark night for a mate. MadCow...That's the best you got?