"Unemployment was at it's highest in Dec. of 2008 at 7.3%. We're at 9.1% and that's better??????????"

Do you remember what was happening in the fall of 2008? It was so terrible (home prices dropping precipitously, retirement savings dropping 50%), that a black man was elected President of the United States, answering the old question of what it would take to have that happen. That's how bad it was at the end of the Bush error. We would have voted for any non-conservative, even Hilary!

It took some time for businesses to decide that they needed to slow down buying and lay people off. But here in 2011 it is still the events of 2008 that are the basic reasons for the mess today and their very slow recovery. We haven't forgotten Bush and his policies that got us here.

Wouldn't you say that no US carmaker going out of business was better than what we thought would happen in 2008? I sure would. Wouldn't you say that fewer banks going belly-up is better than what we thought would happen in 2008? I sure would. Wouldn't you say that the stock market getting healthier is better than what we thought would happen in 2008? I sure would.

Things are better and worse than there were in 2008. In 2008 numbers were still getting worse in unemployment. There really are alot more jobs now, but it's alot of borderline minimum wage jobs. Job creators are not really opening many good jobs, only really giving more hours to people they haven't let go.

And now those same banks that were bailed out are now nickel-and-diming their lower waged consumers. Bank of America is charging $5/month to use their debit card. Banks charging monthly fees to use their checking accounts now. But the rich and well paid don't get these charges.

Then you have gas companies that are making billions in profits, yet raise gas prices whenever a relative storyline breaks out the middle east or a hurricane hovers offshore. Gas station employees getting close to minimum wage and gas station owners struggling to keep up when gas prices rise. Not for nothing but a company that makes multi-billion dollar profits would make you think that even their lowest employees get paid well. Wrong.

I hear they had lots of celebrities at the protests.



This has been your moment of levity. Carry on bickering.

P.S. That is Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks at a Wall Street Rally in 1918.

good point

Some countries have wage controls, that is, more than a flat minimum wage. A minimum wage for each profession.

(was wondering...) "...What The Protesters Are Angry About..."

1. Unemployment is at the highest level since the Great Depression (with the exception of a brief blip in the early 1980s).
2. At the same time, corporate profits are at an all-time high, both in absolute dollars and as a share of the economy.
3. Wages as a percent of the economy are at an all-time low.
4. Income and wealth inequality in the US economy is near an all-time high: The owners of the country's assets (capital) are winning, everyone else (labor) is losing.

The top earners are capturing a higher share of the national income than they have anytime since the 1920s. CEO pay and corporate profits have skyrocketed in the past 20 years (+298%), "production worker" pay has risen 4%.

http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-...utm_campaign=bi

During the Great Depression, everyone suffered it seems.
Now its the lower and mid-lower classes that are suffering.
There are millions struggling just to live.

I've seen several replies like this and I say it's BS.
Yes it is true there are millions of people that do live well, have decent jobs, have money to buy crap and go to Chilis etc on a regular basis.

But at the same time everybody is getting held down. You may be scraping by with no debt or whatever, but your wages should or could be much higher than they probably are. People shouldn't have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to pay for rent & food & a few amenities. Or $20,000+ a year for tuition.

The 99% isn't just about the poor people that can't get a job. It is about the 99% of people that are getting underpaid and screwed by financial institutions and policies. The people that are the gears, veins, and life force of the US economy. The only way you are not in the 99% is if you are making billions of dollars per year.

And he is going to be a college graduate that is gonna get smacked in the face by the real world when he finds out how hard it is even for a college graduate to find a decent job worth his years of education.