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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elroy who wrote (364498)	12/28/2007 1:31:20 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575767

Let's try it this way. The pie was worth $10 billion in 1970. By 2000, the pie has grown to $100 billion. In 1970, the upper 1 percent controlled 20% of the pie or $2 billion. The rest of the population controlled $8 billion. If those ratios remained the same til 2000, the upper 1% would control $20 billion of the larger pie while the rest of the population would control $80 billion. However, during the 30 years, the percentage controlled by the upper 1% had gone from 20% to 25%. So instead of having $20 billion of the pie in 2000, they, in fact, have $25 billion. The additional $5 billion came from what should have been the rest of the population's share. Since the pie is bigger overall, the illusion that everyone is richer than in 1970 is maintained while the rich have been able to skim more off the top. And how did the rich increase their share. Well it takes money to make money. That's their first advantage. In addition, they lobby Congress and the state capitals in order to get laws passed that benefit them financially. They have accountants looking for loopholes in the tax laws. They get the tax laws changed. They can afford financial advisors who can lead them to better financial gains. Paris Hilton has used her fortune to turn her into a celebrity and then used that celebrity to make another fortune by opening up new clubs, having a reality tv show etc. I wouldn't mind......after all, its the American/capitalist way.....however, there are people at the bottom who are getting screwed. They are getting the morsels falling off the big table and they are slowly starving. want a fairer system constructed that prevents the wealthiest from getting wealthier at the expense of the rest of us. Think about your (faulty) assumptions this way. Lets say we are equally wealthy, the same age, and both invest $10k in stocks. Your investment goes up 10% per year for your lifetime, mine does better and goes up 20% per year for my lifetime. After the first year, I'm more wealthy than you since my investment is appreciating faster. Am getting wealthier faster than you "at your expense"? Are you therefore "suffering"?

To: Elroy who wrote (364498)	12/28/2007 2:01:34 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575767

I wanted to post a story I learned of tonite on one of the local news. This family bought a house in Tacoma. It was a fixer and the husband was going to fix it up while they lived there and then sell it. He bought it with a subprime note. The initial interest rate was 6.5% for three years before resetting to a higher rate. He didn't understand the mechanics behind the resetting but figured his rate would not go up by much more more that a percent or percent and half. He started working on the house when he wasn't working on his job. Unfortunately, he had joined the national guard earlier to make some extra money for his family and he then got called up to go to Iraq. He's ended up doing two tours there. By the time the second tour ended the three years were up. When the loan reset, it went up 3%, not 1.5% as he expected. The monthly payments are huge. In the meantime his son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis three months ago. He's the only one in the family with health insurance......through the guard. His wife is now pregnant with their second child. A horrific story.....one in which at certain places you could say to the guy what the hell were you thinking. However, you can't fault him for wanting to share in the American dream......he just didn't realize how much everything was stacked against him. So....what happens now? He's trying to the sell the house but the market has gone soft here in the last couple of months. Meanwhile he's in foreclosure.....all their savings are gone. Do we let them become homeless? There are too many stories like this one....and even worse ones.......in a country that is supposed to be one of the wealthiest on the planet. We have way too many people living on the edge or who have fallen over the edge. Its not good.