America was already in deep trouble long before the economy went into free fall. The wealth transfer of the past 30 years did more than just flatten wages while costs soared. The states, cities, and towns, and the majority of the 116 million households that make up this country have slowly been decimated.
The Republican budget proposal(without the clutter of numbers) clearly shows what they are planning to fight for in their opposition to the Administration. The assumptions made and the "solutions" proposed are chilling. The numbers they give won't matter because they are leaving out critical parts of the calculations - the actual conditions on the ground in this country. The math is not complex. The question isn't whether the Republican plan would fail. The question is how badly would it fail?
From the opening paragraph of "The Republican Road to Recovery", it is startlingly clear that most of the American people are ignored or dismissed.
To the American people: Many of our fellow citizens are hurting. Our economy continues to weather the worst storm since the 1970s. Far too many spend their work days worried that the next phone call will bring an end to a job only to go home and check the mail for further evidence that years of retirement savings or a children’s college savings has dissipated. Such a financial strain threatens to split many families and communities and force even more to postpone the American dream.
For an immensely significant number of their "fellow citizens", the American dream hasn't merely been postponed, it has been bludgeoned.
In 2005, the United States had the highest percentage of people living on less than 50% of the national median income of $30,858; the highest percentage of children who are not likely to live to age 60; and the third highest percentage of adults lacking functional literacy skills in the developed world, according to the UN Development Programme.
By 2006, the poverty rate for minors in the United States was the highest in the industrialized world, with 21.9% of all minors living below the poverty threshold. The standard of living for those in the bottom 10% of households was the second lowest in the developed nations.
In 2005, an average of 32% of requests for shelter by homeless families were denied due to lack of resources. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimated the number of homeless children at over 1.35 million on any given night in 2000. More than half of all homeless children are under the age of 5. The number of homeless families with children is exploding.
States have increasingly turned to brutal budget cuts (usually in education and social services) , lotteries, casinos, tobacco tax increases and other bad ideas to try and balance their budgets. Florida's budget deficitballooned from $150 million to $2.3 billion by December, 2008. Cities and towns have been steadily deteriorating.
Our economic plan curbs spending, creates jobs and lowers taxes, and controls the debt; and it will soon have our economy growing again.
For American workers, the "worst storm" began in the 1970's and it is raging out of control now, despite economic growth and rising productivity over the last 30 years.
In 1968, minimum wage produced an income level at 90% of the poverty level but by 2006, the level had dropped to 50%. From 1976 - 2006, the 90% of households saw income growth of only 10%, while the top 1% saw growth of 239%. Wages continue to lose growth in real terms.
Household and consumer debt rose from $0.9 trillion in 1977 to $12.7 trillion in 2006. The debt-to-disposable income ratio of American households more than doubled from 60% in 1980 to 133% in 2007.
From 1997 to 2007, America’s credit card debt balances increased 75%. Credit card debt soared after bank loans began to dry up due to mortgage defaults and total U.S. credit card debtreached almost $800 billion in 2007 and $951 billion by the end of 2008. Credit card defaults are now at a 20-year high.
Since 1999, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 120 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 44 percent and cumulative wage growth of 29 percent during the same period. The average premium for family coverage in 2007 was just over 12,000 dollars. Over the past six years, the amount families pay out of pocket for their share of premiums has increased by about 1,500 dollars.
Approximately 87 million people went without health insurance for some period during 2007 and 2008. That is one 1 out of 3 Americans.
College tuition and costs have increased 439% from 1982 - 2007 according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,. By 2000, the median income for every level of degree began to decline with the overall median for a doctorate degree dropping more than $10,000 in 2003. The average 2008-2009 cost per year at a public four-year college is $6,585 (up 6.4 percent from last year) and at a public two-year college it is $2,402 (up 4.7 percent from last year). A private four-year college is $25,143 (up 5.9 percent from last year).
Republicans seek to reduce the tax burden on working families and small businesses, in order to create jobs and unlock private capital. ...
How much "private capital" do the Republicans project these families and small businesses are going to be able to unlock?
Small businesses account for 99.7% of all employer firms. 52% of small businesses are home based. They employ about half of all private sector employees and account for 45% of the total US payroll. They have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade and create more than half of nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).
According to IRS data from the 2001 tax year, 3.8% of the 18.2 million business tax returns filed that year reported taxable income of $200,000 or more. 62% of business filers reported incomes of less than $50,000. Nearly 88% of business filers reported income of less than $100,000.
The Small Business Administration reported that 580,900 small businesses opened in 2003, and 576,200 closed. They estimated that two-thirds of these new companies would survive at least two years, while 44% would survive at least four years.
Instead of spending money on wasteful programs under the guise of "stimulus" and "investments," Republicans seek to ensure that the federal budget cannot grow faster than families’ ability to pay the bill.
According to the US Census Bureau data for 2006, the median household income was $44,389. Of the 110 million householdsin this country in 2005(which includes the small business owners), 32 million (29%) earned between $2,500 and $25,000, 25 million (23%) earned between $25,000 and $50,000. 20.7 million households (18%) that earned between $50,000 and $75,000. Only 16 million (14%) households earn between $100,000 - $250,000, Only 1.7 million (0.01%) earned more than $250,000.
Low income is defined 200% the poverty rate and is the standard for simple self-sufficiency. In 2008, 200% of poverty was $20,800 for an individual and $42,400 for a family of four. More than 1/3 of the households in this country were financially unable to reach or maintain the standard for simple self-sufficiency. At minimum wage it would take working 3 full time jobs to earn $41,600 a year.
The term "green jobs" appears only once in the Republican's plan :
By any reasonable definition, the Democrat budget spends too much. ... Who are the recipients of such largesse? International organizations and foreign aid recipients, including millions for reconstruction in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Labor union bosses participating in a new "green jobs" program. ... And even community organizers, such as ACORN, performing "neighborhood stabilization."
Their energy plan is based in the continuation of using fossil fuels.
Put simply, our energy policy is aimed at more energy—not less; at cheaper fuel bills—not higher; at more jobs—not fewer; and at increased energy independence—not less. ...
The Interior Department should provide lease sales of oil shale in an environmentally-sound manner, rather than hinder leasing plans. Republicans also support enabling federal agencies to take the lead in spurring a market by using fuels derived from oil shale, tar sands, and coal.
According to the Dept. of Labor, oil, gas and mining employment has been declining. There were approximately 619,000 wage and salary jobs in the mining industry in 2006; around 136,000 in oil and gas extraction; and 79,000 in coal mining. The mean annual income for Construction and Extraction Occupationsis $40,620.
Most oil field operations are performed by rotary drilling crews of four or five workers. Currently, nearly 80% of establishments in oil and gas extraction, coal mining, and other mining have fewer than 20 employees. The highest growth in employment was in the category of rock splitters and quarrymen. The continuous mining method, used with coal and other soft minerals, eliminates the drilling and blasting operations of conventional mining through the use of a machine called a continuous miner.
U.S. oil companies receive 20 to 40 billion dollars a year in subsidies from the U.S. government. These subsidies rarely involve cash payments. Instead scores of U.S. government agencies and departments create hundreds of program to support the U.S. energy sector. In 2005, the Bush administration authorized an additional 32.9 billion dollars in new subsidies over a five-year period. Oil and gas leases become assets on the books of the oil and gas companies. Increasing the leases increases the assets whether there is production or not.
Republicans propose a simple and fair tax code with a marginal tax rate for income up to $100,000 of 10 percent and 25 percent for any income thereafter, with a generous standard deduction and personal exemption. ...
Depressed wages also depress tax revenue. Tax cuts favoring the wealthy create even more revenue loss. Citizens for Tax Justiceissued a report showing
*Over a fourth of taxpayers, mostly low-income families, would pay more in taxes under the House GOP plan than they would under the President’s plan.
*The richest one percent of taxpayers would pay $100,000 less, on average, under the House GOP plan than they would under the President’s plan.
* The income tax proposals in the House GOP plan, which is presented as a fiscally responsible alternative to the President’s plan, would cost over $300 billion more than the Obama income tax cuts in 2011 alone.
Amercian households and small businesses cannot fund the federal, state and local budgets now. More than half of all households and half of all small businesses have income less $50,000. Corporate tax breaks and tax cuts for the wealthy continue to put the responsibility on families who have less and less ability to pay. The crisis states are facing with their massive budget shortfalls are also going to fall on these same families. Unlike the federal government, nearly all states balanced budget requirements.
In 2006, the median total compensation for CEO's (total direct compensation plus benefits and perquisites) was $8.2 million, according to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting 2006 CEO Compensation Survey, an annual survey of the latest proxy filings of 350 large public companies CEO base salary increased to a median $995,000 from $975,000. Median total cash compensation – salary and annual bonus – rose to $2.6 million. Corporate net income increased by 14.4%.
<Instead of recklessly borrowing and spending money on wasteful programs under the guise of "stimulus" and "investments," Republicans seek to ensure that the federal budget cannot grow faster than families’ ability to pay the bill. ...</p>
Republicans support leveling the playing field through policies that will provide tax incentives for millions more working families and small business owners to obtain access to coverage.
Two-thirds of the uninsured come from low-income families, and a third of the uninsured are either low-income parents or their children. Low-income Americans with family incomes below 200% of the poverty level run the highest risk of being uninsured. Over a third of the poor and nearly 30% of the near-poor (100-199% of poverty) lack health coverage.
Moderate to middle-income families without health insurance is growing at a rapid rate. Medical debt related bankruptcies are soaring, even among the insured.
Researchers estimate that a reduction in mortality of 5% to 15% could be achieved if the uninsured were to gain continuous health coverage. The Institute of Medicine estimated that at least 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year solely because they lack health coverage.
Rising unemployment and job losses caused an estimated 14,000 people to lose their health insurance every day in December 2008 and January 2009 alone. In 41 states, COBRA premiums cost more than 80% of unemployment benefits. In 9 of these states, the cost is more than 100 Percent.
Republicans would cut overall nondefense spending by reforming or eliminating a host of wasteful programs deemed ineffective by various government entities. And Republicans would fully fund our ongoing commitments overseas while devoting the entirety of any savings from reduced fighting to deficit reduction, rebuilding our military, and funding our commitment to our veterans. ...
FCNL and other groups track how much of our tax dollars go to defense spending. Their most recent estimate for 2008 is that 43.4 percent of our 2008 tax dollars were spent on the military, both for current military programs and past military spending.
Within the nearly $500 billion Pentagon budget, billions could not be accounted for. The Dept. of Defense cannot not pass an audit and its books are in such bad shape that an audit cannot be performed. The statutory requirement that it pass an audit is simply being ignored.
Cuts to overall nondefense spending would have devestating consequences in the areas of Education, Health and Human Services, when funding increases in this area are desperately needed. President Obama has talked about cutting defense spending but the Republicans plan opposes that.
Our country’s major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—are going bankrupt and will consume the entirety of today’s budget by 2040, as they struggle to meet the cost of retiring Baby Boomers and the continued growth in cost of providing health care. ...
The maximum benefit amount in 2009, for a person retiring at full retirement age (66) is $2,323. This is based on earnings at the maximum taxable amount for every year after age 21. In 2009, the maximum taxable amount is $106,800. The maximum annual benefit amount would be $27,876. In 2004, the average monthly benefit for men was $1,076.10 and $826.10 for women, before the Medicare premium deductions. In 2008, 200% of poverty was $20,800 for an individual.
In 2006, only 16 million (14%) households earn between $100,000 - $250,000. Only 1.7 million (0.01%) earned more than $250,000. In order for these households to receive the maximum benefit, they would have to have been in this percentile their entire working life.
By September, 2008, the value of stocks in 401(k) accounts had fallen by nearly $2 trillion. Nearly one-third of 401(k) participants in their 60s had 80 percent of their money in stocks. Pension funds have been affected as has the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the agency that insures the retirement funds of millions of Americans.
Currently, 3.4 million seniors age 65 and older live below the poverty line. Millions more are barely making ends meet just above the poverty line. While 9.4 percent of seniors had incomes in 2006 below the poverty threshold of $9,669 for an individual, and $12,186 for a couple, nearly a quarter of older Americans (22.4 percent) had family incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line. 200% of poverty is required to be self-sufficient.
Life expectancies had been declining in the United States before this economic crisis. We have the highest percentage of children who are not likely to live to age 60 in the developed world.
People who experience homelessness for long periods of time simply do not reach age 62 as often as the general population, accounting for their small numbers within the homeless population. In all of the case studies evaluated, the average life expectancy for a person without permanent housing was placed between 42 and 52 years, far below the country’s average expectancy of 80 years.
As noted above, the Institute of Medicine estimates that at least 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year solely because they lack health coverage. 1 out of 3 Americans was uninsured for all or part of 2007 and 2008, before the mass job losses began. These Americans are not receiving Medicare or Medicaid coverage.