REPORT: Wages of the Working Class Falling Behind -- "The working class
in America has often been defined as white male high school graduates working at
wage and salary jobs."
http://www.sentierresearch.com/StatBriefs/Sentier_Income_Trends_WorkingClassWages_1996to2014_PressRelease_10_05_16.pdf
My rant...
I guess these are the old (and young) angry white men that Clinton's supporters have been bashing for voting for Trump (or Sanders) and calling them sexist, misogynists and racists.
Both Sanders and Trump want “fair” trade deals, but Clinton's people say they are “anti” trade because they are against these supposed “free” trade agreements such as TPP, TTIP and TiSA (and that they're "protectionists", as though that also makes them fascists or nationalists).
These are trade deals that Obama has been pushing for -- and deals that Clinton once pushed for, before she said she finally learned what was in TPP and changed her mind. But how can you support something 45 times and say it’s the “gold standard” of trade deals if you don’t even know what’s in it? Should Congress pass it like Obamacare, just to see what’s in it?
We already know enough about these trade deals (thanks to Wikileaks) to know TPP would be like NAFTA on steroids -- and giving corporations the power to sue sovereign governments if they pass laws that hinder any future profits. Is it only uneducated “angry old white men” who oppose trade deals that gut the middle-class?
They talk about “high school graduates” as though a lack of a better education is the one and only reason for them not being able to find better paying jobs (victim blaming) as though millions of better paying jobs are going unfilled because the work force lacks a better education. (As though we’re all trailer park trash or dumb rednecks).
Are millions of jobs going unfulfilled because of all these dumb and old angry white guys? If so, then why are so many young college-educated Americans taking jobs that don’t even require a college education, which displaces those with only a high school education, and those that dropped out of school?
Are the people who work on assembly lines in China making iPhones (or children in Vietnam making NIKE sneakers) really that much smarter than we are? And why are college-educated people from India and China coming here on H-1B visas to displace college-educated Americans? Are their colleges overseas giving their young people better educations than we are in America?
The “skills gap” or “lack of STEM skills” argument is a myth to allow more offshoring of jobs and more abuse of the guestworker visas system to keep wages depressed. But let's blame all the old angry white guys for being so damn stupid.
Someone should write an article about why only dumb old white people vote for Trump or Sanders, instead of Clinton.
Of course the counter-argument by Clinton (and Obama) supporters would be that Trump makes his neckties in China (and avoids taxes) just like Apple and NIKE does. But as a business man, or any private citizen would, he would only naturally take advantage of the current laws. Nobody voluntarily pays more taxes than they are obligated to pay under the existing tax code; and everybody in business always does everything they can to reduce their operating and payroll costs to maximize profits. But unlike some multi-national corporations, I'm not so sure Trump has done anything nefariously illegal (like bribe foreign government leaders); but as a sitting U.S. president making promises to the American people (and wearing the hat of POTUS), his priorities might change. If everyone paid a certain tax rate and were held to the same standard regarding the offshoring of jobs, Trump would be operating on a level playing field with his competitors. Because of the strong-arm tactics that companies like Wal-Mart uses with its suppliers, many American companies offshored their production to stay competitive (even though they would have preferred manufacturing in America). If trade deals were renegotiated, and companies like Apple, NIKE, Ford, Boeing (etc.) were charged a 35% tariff to import their goods manufactured overseas, they would all be operating under the same restrictions. For example: It's OK for Apple to make iPhones in China if those same iPhones were SOLD in China; but their iPhones sold here in the U.S. should be made in America. It's not morally or ethically right to expect Americans to compete with foreign workers making 35 cents an hour.
ReplyDeleteIf you watched Trump's rallies (like I do, because I know the media takes things that both Clinton and Trump say out of context), you would have learned that Clinton's supporters Warren Buffett and George Soros also had similar losses approaching $1 billion and probably wrote off those losses too (Trump's losses was mostly because of the drop in real estate market, and says he's learned from his mistakes).
ReplyDeleteAnd despite what Clinton said, dozens and dozens of casinos went bankrupt (Las Vegas, New Jersey, and elsewhere around the country). The last one I
worked at went bankrupt and was demolished.
Clinton supported a law (that Liz Warren bashed her for) that made it easier for corporations to file bankruptcies, but harder for the working-poor. Clinton was in the Senate 8 years and never proposed reforming the tax code that Trump took advantage of. He even admitted this at one of his rallies, and said she never proposed changing the law because her donors would have been against it. Clinton supported bailing out auto manufacturers and banks that could have also went bankrupt.
Clinton is making a lot of false arguments, to distract from her and focus on Trump ... a strategy that people in her campaign have admitted to. The tax code that Congress, not Trump, wrote allows businesses and PEOPLE to carry forward losses. I did for 3 years from losses in the stock market in 2008. Should I be crucified for doing that? I know, you'll say, "But Bud, you're not running for President and Trump is." Well, maybe I should run next time. Would you vote for me?
Trump also said that when he appeared on those shows 20 years ago (like the Playboy channel or Howard "Shock Jock" Stern), if he had known he would be running for President, he might not have said those things he did. He was an entertainer and marketer. He says he's sure the Clinons say equally "deplorable" things when they're sitting around their breakfast table ... just like we all do privately in our own conversations. But I'm not defending Trump as a pro-Trumper --- I'm just trying to put some things into perspective (and because I'm mostly just anti-Clinton).
We are being discriminated against, despised by the leftist elite (which Clinton represents), and we are dying out. Don't we have the right to be angry? Clinton should be going to jail and she wants us to vote her to the White House?
ReplyDeleteHttp://www.nationalreview.com/article/426810/privileged-vs-white-working-class-victor-davis-hanson
I meant to say 'liberal elites' not 'leftist elites'.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a billionaire, I would kick back and enjoy all the pleasures and privileges of my wealth. Why would Trump go through all the scrutiny, ridicule, viscous attacks and character assassination that he knows will surely be hurled at him? So I admire Trump's tenacity and courage to fight for his beliefs and the desire to make a difference. They are trying to bring him down but he is still standing and fighting. Don't fall for their dirty tricks and keep supporting him to the end!
Well said! - - - Today on October 13, 2016 -- Trump delivered a scathing speech and took no prisoners. Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, crooked Hillary Clinton, FBI director James Comey, the media, the lobbyists, the whole corrupt establishment. A MUST WATCH SPEECH! It's driving a lot of controversy and the corrupt cable news channels are treating Trump like crap (even Fox News), which only proves what Trump had said in his speech today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF8rs4CYAPI
ReplyDelete