Recently, our nation’s congress is in a standstill with a divided government. We have more republicans in the legislative branch, but our president is democrat making it very difficult to get anything done. We need a president who can create greater cooperation between democrats and republicans while representing the middle class. Currently, the top one-tenth of one percent has more wealth than the bottom 99 percent combined. This outrageous inequality has to be prevented by dissolving wealth towards those in the bottom. America does have the highest corporate tax rates, but this does not give a liable reason to not pay them, large American companies such as GM and Seagate are making massive profits while paying 0% tax. Therefore, we need economic …show more content…
I do not agree we should lessen our military greatly, but this arms race of nuclear weapons needs to decrease. Bernie Sanders agrees to curtail a fair amount of military spending such as the missile defense program and the F-35 jet, all the while creating more money for domestic and welfare programs. Sander’s policies on trade with China is also a unique approach, since 2001 the growing trade deficit led to the loss of 2 million manufacturing jobs in America. Currently congress is trying to pass the TPP which claims to strengthen the American economy, but at the expense of millions of jobs. These China trade deals protect multinational corporations rather than the interests of American workers. This trend could also be seen in the Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China which claimed to create more jobs but rather 3 million were lost. It is also sad to see that millions of Americans have to work 3 jobs over 50 hours a week with no overtime pay just to pay the bills. The minimum wage needs to be raised to a living wage, and Bernie is proposing 15 dollars an hour. There is empirical evidence in US history that raising the minimum wage increase the economy. In the past 75 years the minimum wage has increased 22 times while keeping a steadily increasing GDP. We need a president that supports the interests of hard-working Americans rather than corporations, an increase in minimum wage is
In the United States, the top one percent received about 20 percent of the overall income for 2016. This creates an uneven distribution of income causing Americans to argue about whether or not the wealthy should pay more in federal income taxes. One side of the argument is that the wealthy make a huge portion of the nation’s income; therefore, they should have higher tax rates. The other side argues that wealthy Americans already pay their fair share of taxes by paying nearly 40 percent and should not be forced to pay more. These arguments both use compelling evidence to make their claims; however, a solution could be reached by increasing the tax rate of the top one percent by only 10 to 20 percent.
From 1938-1969, in America was in a period called the great compression, a time where the difference between the richest and poorest Americans was very small and economic growth was explosive. Due to past and current economic policies and events, income inequality has exploded in America, which is why in 2015 America had the highest level of wealth inequality in the world at 80.56 gini[1] . In the future this inequality will slow down economic growth, increase debt for middle income Americans, make America less democratic, and reduce economic mobility. This problem, however, does have solutions and this paper will lay out some of the solutions and the effect they will have on the economy, but first I will explain the history of income inequality in the US.
In a research of Harvard professor 5000 people in America have opinion in how they think about the actual distribution of wealth in the U.S. and the 92 percent choose the ideal would be 20 percent and 20 percent the middle class. However, the reality is very far from it. “The poorest are not even registered, they are on the package change and the middle class is barely distinguished from the poor, even the rich between the 10 % and 20 % are worst off, only the top 10 % are better off. Only the one percent gets ten time higher and 40 % all the nation wealth. The bottom 80 % 8 out 10 people only has 7 % between them.1 % makes a quarter of the national income today”(you tube, 2015). All of this data reflex one of the truly perspectives in economy of the U.S. Not only people with low wages are the most affected, but also those who have good jobs and
There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries
Americans today live in a distinctly unequal society. Inequality is now wider than it used to be in the last century, and the division in income, wages, and wealth are broader than they are in other developed economies of the world. Wealth inequality is the imbalance of wealth or income within a society, and it is one of the most vital economic challenge the US is facing today because the distribution of wealth is more dispersed, making the inequality in wealth distribution at its highest. While the matter has been discussed for many years, the actual income disparity in the U.S. has heightened and is now verging on an extreme gap that portends to impede long-term economic growth. The huge gap between the wealthy and poor is squeezing the U.S. economy, the wealth gap threatens economic growth by diminishing social mobility and producing a less-educated workforce who are not able to compete in the global economy. unrestrained level of income inequality causes political pressures, it discourages trade, investment, and hiring. The present level of income inequality in the U.S. is shrinking GDP growth, and the world's largest economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession.
The U.S. are compared with other countries and we can see the we have top U.S. tax rates are low compared with those in Europe. And consequently, we see that the inequality strains the bonds within the society itself, people less trust the government or each other. While social trust is crucial in having a stable political situation in the country: "very high executive pay used to provoke public scrutiny, congressional hearings, and even presidential interventions". So it comes a turn of the inequality of market income". I agree, that the first step was already made by rising the minimum wage, but it`s no enough. We should pick up the slack of our union policy, what experience the drastic
branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S. Congress.
The American dream is all but a figment of the imagination that is unrealistic to attain since it is becoming harder and harder for any middle class to sustain itself in the middle or the poor society to prosper to the intermediate class. What once was possible is almost impossible to achieve success and wealth through hard work, persistence, and action. The top one percent of the American society is making it impossible for the lower class to hold on to hope for a better future. The richer are getting richer by remarkably increase profits. Yet, the lower class wages have either decrease in some sectors of employment or have remained stationary resulting in “income inequality. That is “…the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population” (inequality.org). Today it is even more evident that the lower class is stuck, unable to go nowhere. Savings is almost none existence to the middle and poor classes yet, they are working harder than ever before. Fortunately by having a free democratic society take control over “wealth inequality” the economic difference can stabilize through unionization for all low-wage labor.
For many years, there has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not the Senate should undergo a reform. Many Canadian citizens are unsatisfied with the fact that the Senate is not elected. How are citizens to be sure that they are being properly represented when they are not able to choose who represents them? Although the Senate is an integral part of the governmental system, many Canadians are leaning towards the idea to completely abolish the Senate. The credible, David C. Docherty, outlines the previous attempts for the Senate reform while describing the mindset of Canadians and where the reformation of the Senate currently stands in his article “The Canadian Senate: Chamber of Sober Reflection or Loony Cousin Best Not Talked About.” The previous attempts for the Senate reform while describing the mindset of Canadians and where the reformation of the State currently stands.
In a country that is historically held to be the wealthiest in the world, it is troubling to realize that the wealth is being taken by so few within the society. With the wealthiest 1 percent earning 23 percent of the annual wealth within the economy, it is no wonder that so many within the country are seeking change. While the current president Barrack Obama is leading the way in removing wealth from the billionaires, it seems as though his efforts may not come fast enough to save the American economy. Additionally, even with the current tax system billionaires avoid large tax bills through hidden accounts and investments that result in reduced tax amounts. On this point, I must rest my question as to whether the government is doing what is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that wealth is properly distributed.
Edin and Skinner begin their article by explaining to their readers that income inequality is a prevalent and complex problem in America today. The authors also point out that although President Obama and several other Democrats have proposed legislative approaches, such as raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich, to combat this problem, it will take a long time for these proposals to become law due to the Republican-dominated Congress. Because the authors believe these laws will take too long to be put into
In “Income Inequality: The Public and the Partisan Divide,” Blendon and Benson explain the issue of income inequality and the need to address it. The importance of explaining this problem provides insight for the people who are not educated about the topic, hopefully triggering more public awareness. Blendon and Benson support their opinion by discussing that the two major political parties in the U.S. agree that income inequality is a problem that must be recognized, but cannot come up with a synopsis on how to take care of it. Also, they describe how different perspectives cause different ideas for fixing the issue. Blendon and Benson explain how partisan views towards the role of government are one of the perspectives towards how the income
Wealth inequality is already shaping American politics and society, and has the dangerous potential to be the defining problem of the upcoming generation. A sizable cause for wealth inequality in America is a dire lack of
The United States debt and defecit is a major problem in our society. One thing I would propose to the President would be to tax the rich. Time. It's useful to keep in mind how the rich are different. When you are poor, you are willing to trade your time to earn money. When you are rich, you trade your money to get more time. For example, the rich hire people to clean their homes, and they don't waste time shopping for bargains. In business school I learned that when people have different preferences, you can usually find a way to engineer a deal. Gratitude. Imagine that the government arranges to provide genuine person-to-person gratitude to the rich in exchange for higher tax rates. Suppose (bad idea alert) the government makes it a
The era of volatility has created a shift from America being the middle-class society to simply rich or poor (Sachs, 2011). A gap this large has not been experienced since the 1920’s (Sachs). “The top 1% of households takes almost a quarter of all household income” but an economy this top heavy will not be able to succeed (Sachs, 2011, p. 30). The working classes are struggling with housing, wage, and employment issues. Rich individuals are ignoring these troubles, shipping their business operations out of the country, thus furthering the downward spiral of the economy (Sachs). To make matters worse, this has become in a large part a political issue, because the rich can influence candidates with funding, where the poor and working