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September 18, 2013

Seven Fun Facts about the US “Economy”!

But not to worry! It’ll Trickle Down any time now!

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ~ John Steinbeck

1. “Of all developed nations, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income, and we’re surging towards even greater inequality.” (washingtonpost.com)

2. Graph: CEO vs worker pay 1940-2004

3. Greater inequality coincides with higher levels of crime, teen pregnancy, mental health issues, drug abuse, health problems, obesity & incarceration, along with lower standards of education, social mobility, life expectancy, community relations and feelings of safety.

4. Executives receive 1/3rd of all pay in the U.S.

5. CEO’s Who Lay Off Workers Get Paid More

6. CEOs earn 343 times more than typical workers

7. 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.

“This is a direct result of too much money in politics. Our laws are written to benefit large corporations, not the people. Now even the Supreme Court is pro big business. Until we get some meaningful campaign finance reform, things will continue to get worse.”

“I would add one more insidious problem: safe districts. The art and science of redistricting is now too sophisticated. It’s to the point where several states have majorities of their populations voting one way but the opposite political party in power. We need to have an algorithmic method of creating districts that is the same for everyone. It’s safe districts that allow nutjobs to do their thing, because they know there’s no chance in hell they’ll lose come next election, except potentially in the primary to someone from their own party who is even more extreme.

Case in point, Lamar Smith. It’s gerrymandered so much that he’ll probably never lose. Just the shape of it alone is ridiculous. It encompasses every rich part of town which is most likely to be conservative. It also skips the blue parts of San Antonio and skips to the Rural areas which are more slanted to be red. Cuts right through some cities just to get the red parts of Austin. Fuckin ridiculous.

Sorry but the 5th district in florida is the most shameful example. That purple blob contains the black urban populations of Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Orlando. Pathetic. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Map_of_New_%282013%29_3rd_US_Congressional_District_of_Florida.gif/800px-Map_of_New_%282013%29_3rd_US_Congressional_District_of_Florida.gif

My personal favorite: Illinois 4th congressional district

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