Turns out the Bush years haven’t been all roses for the rich. A Worth-Taylor Harrison survey of 500 American families with average liquid net assets of $28 million found that 62 percent felt “under assault” by the media and 69 percent think wealthy people are negatively portrayed by the media. And 81 percent said they would still describe themselves “as middle class at heart.” Easy for them to say.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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63 Comments
I feel no envy for the people who are wealthy. More power to them and I hope they earn more money.
Rich is only a state of mind. What is considered “Rich”?
Even those with low income here in the states would be considered wealthy in most countries of the world. We probably waste more in a day than many people in the world make in a month.
The average wage of new jobs created in the United States during the 2004-05 period is forecast to be $35,855. The majority of the worlds workers would kill for such a wage.
28 million, and ‘under assault’ by the media? Hmmmm.I SHOULD BE SO CURSED!!!
WAH! Maybe we should give them some cheese to go with their Lefite-Rothschild WHINE!
Thomas stanley outlined the average millionaire in his book “the millionaire next door”
80% are first generation millionaires, They EARNED it. They never lease, never drive brand new cars, their favored auto is the ford F150, they saved at least 20% of their income, they live in average neiborhoods and have not moved in over 10 years, and have been married for 28 years. They would tell you that there are five keys to success: Integrity, Discipline and Self Control, Social Skills (getting along with people), a Supportive Spouse, and Hard Work
Thats “middle class at heart” and for that they ARE attacked in the media, unfairly taxed, and vilified by many frequent contributors on this board.
Oh, so sad. I bet they cry all the way to the bank.
dr,The have not’s will always vilify the haves, irregardless of how they earned their money. It’s called jealously.
Don’t forget envy, JM. (by the way, “irregardless” is not a word).
It seems that people want to vilify people who have a lot of money. Remember, money is not the root of all evil, the love of money is.
I have no qualms with the Warren Buffetts, Bill Kochs and Frank Carneys of this world. They understand that idle wealth does not mean idle responsibility.Then…there are the Private Capital Managements, Jim Robbinses, and Jack DeBoers, who believe that might makes right, money makes might, and if you have more money than God, surely you must have more rights than God.I don’t believe in redistributing wealth…when our economy is working right–which it isn’t right now–everyone has an equal opportunity to make their own way.But in some cases, I’d make an exception.
Depends on how they made it.One of Wichita’s wealthiest families got that way back in the ’50’s, by buying up worthless, unplantable farmland, and collecting millions from the government for not planting it.Another was caught cheating Indian reservations out of money for oil pumped from tribal lands.”Behind every great fortune, there’s a great crime.”
NoJoCo (tina),You mean that irreconcile, irrigation, irreversable and in your irr are not real words? How irresponsible of the english language!
Probably some Republicans fault!
“Behind every great fortune, there’s a great crime.” – jed
And as long as you or anyone else believes that hooey you will never have a fortune and your family tree will not change one bit
Jed,That’s behind every great fortune, there’s a great woman.
Behind every great woman, there’s a stud swimming pool cleaner. (Am I going to hear it now).
dr,The quote is Molier’s, not mine, and I don’t need a great fortune. Neither does anyone else, especially when it’s stolen!
JM,Behind the great fortune is a good ex-wife. Beside it is a cute, brainless, teenage trophy wife!
Regardles of who said it, if YOU believe it then fortune will always elude you making you “less fortunate”
I’m not the one who’s “less fortunate!” I’ve had a wonderful, amazing life without the fortune.
Ps. I don’t necessarily believe there’s a great crime behind every fortune- more often than not, it’s a whole lot of mean little crimes!
right….your content and gratefull heart has really shown on these boards…..I suppose it just goes to show that money is not what the “less fortunate” lacks
DR–
You sound like someone who has no real world knowledge of rich.
My mom and dad are worth over a million dollars. So are my in-laws.
They’re not rich.
Rich is the trust-fund kids whose toughest decision is whether to ski Vail or Crested Butte this season. Rich is Dick Cheney making 36 million in 6 months working for Halliburton. Rich is the CEO of Walmart who makes more in two weeks than an “associate” (hahahaha) makes in A LIFETIME.
The median wage in this country is GOING DOWN. The number of people in poverty has gone up ever since Bush occupied the White House.
It’s you that has bought in to the bogus lie that an individual can acheive economic success while his society flushes itself down the toilet.
Yes, they’ll always be those who can profit magnificiently at others’ expense, but that doesn’t create true wealth and economic health.
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” It’s time to float ALL the boats, not just the billionaire’s yachts.
Again how much money I make is not dependant on how much YOUR mom and dad make or what some CEO makes, or how many trust fund babies there are.
MY income, your income and the median income are SOLELY dependant on the skills you have to offer.
If lots of people have your skill, or it only takes 6 months to learn your skill, your income will not be high. Your job will be outsourced!
If it takes years of training to eaven get an entry level position in a field, if there are very few people willing to do your job your income will be going up
The average income is dropping because the average american is not learning new skills, They expect to train once and get a job that they can work for life. when their hole drilling, machine operating…etc simple tasks are outsorced to china they have NO marketable job skills whatsoever……THAT is not the rich people fualt, that is the poor peoples fault. your income is your own responsibility….A rising tide will lift ALL boats…..but you better build a boat or you will drown
“The median wage in this country is GOING DOWN”
Oh by the way Galahad you are factually WRONG
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h08.html
Even those who have none of those skills seem to floating right along with the rising tide
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h13.html
“Again how much money I make is not dependant on how much YOUR mom and dad make or what some CEO makes, or how many trust fund babies there are.
“MY income, your income and the median income are SOLELY dependant on the skills you have to offer.”
Hehe, that’s funny, DR. What “skills” did Cheney have that made him worth 36 million dollars in six months to Halliburton? What “skills” did W. have when he made 15 million dollars on a sweetheart deal buying into a baseball team–a deal set up by his dad’s cronies?
We’re all in this together. But you reactionaries think that a fellow gets rich solely on his ability and “character.”
As if Edison could have invented the lightbulb in Papua New Guinea or Donald Trump could have made billions as a starving child in Chad or Niger.
The simplicity of your thinking gives me a headache.
And BTW, dr, YOU are factually wrong. Your census figures (besides being two years old) do not reflect inflation. The 2003 median household income of 43,318 would have to be 43,605 to equal the 38,885 it was in 1998.
According to your own figures (when adjusted for inflation) the median household income is going DOWN by a hundred dollars a year.
See this website that crunches costs or salaries using inflation–http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html.
More of that simplistic thinking, heigh ho . .
Actually, I suspect you “cherry picked” the data to find something/anything to back up your contention.
The Census clearly points out that wages HAVE GONE DOWN UNDER BUSH as this table shows–
Table P-1. CPS Population and Per CapitaMoney Income, All Races: 1967 to 2003
(Population as of March of the following year. Incomein current and 2003 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars 28/)__________________________________________________________Per capita income______________________Year Number Current 2003(thous.) dollars dollars__________________________________________________________2003 288,280 $23,276 $23,2762002 285,933 22,794 23,3162001 282,082 22,851 23,7462000 30/ 279,517 22,346 23,8701999 29/ 276,804 21,239 23,4441998 271,743 20,120 22,6761997 269,094 19,241 21,9911996 266,792 18,136 21,1711995 25/ 264,314 17,227 20,6491994 24/ 262,105 16,555 20,3261993 23/ 259,753 15,777 19,778
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/p01ar.html
Look at the wages on the far right (sorry about the columns). Under Clinton, wages keep going up in constant dollars. In 2001 when Bush forced his way to the throne, wages have gone steadily DOWN.
dr, you are truly a weasel.
Did a little more poking around on the US census site.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h08.html
If you scroll down, you can see household incomes in CONSTANT 2003 dollars. According to this, the median US household has LOST 1535 since Clinton left in 2000.
Funny thing: if you go to the link in Galahads last post, the adjusted for inflation figures show an increase every year.
How can that be? We have an increase . . . then a decrease. Heck, maybe it’s pure stability.
The point is, numbers can be played with in any number of ways to show whatever you want them to show.
For instance: The number of Iraqi citizens supposedly killed has been accepted by a lot of people at 100,000. Turns out the number was picked out of a hat by journalists in France.
The number of abortions has been claimed by, again, the left to be on the rise since Bush took office. Turns out that the number has actually decreased.
Both parties, Democrats and Republicans, used phony data to try and hoodwink people about the attempt to privatize some of social security. The republicans were using figures as if they represented 10 years of social security payments if it wasn’t changed. Actually, the number represented nearly 100 years. The democrats were using the infamous chart, put up on their websites, to show people how much they would lose if the deal went through. Turns out they were knowingly using false data that set stock market rates at 3%, knowing that the market traditionally was double that.
My opinion? If the medium income averages around 42,000 a year, people are doing okay. It’s the ones making less than 20,000 a year and trying to survive and support families that need help. But even that is more than over 70% of the rest of the worlds workers make. The bottom line is we are all guilty of conspicuous consumption.
Oh I see how it is. Gala-stupid wants to act like he can talk finances. Maybe we should talk to your daddy, he has made a little wealth to support his family. Unlike the failed socialist infantile son of his. You are his greatest failure.
I would wager you are just waiting for them all to die just so they can leave you their fortunes in some trust.
Hmmm. . .like a trust fund baby.
Galahad: Before you lay everything at Bush’s doorstep, did you consider the possible reasons that this is occurring? For instance, a major contributor to the falling real wage is globalization. It is a real problem with no easy solution. There are simply an awful lot of people in this world willing to work for next to nothing. This inevitably puts downward pressure on wages.
Protectionism is certainly no long-term answer. Unless his/her skills are cutting edge, an American worker is always going to be in peril of job loss or wage reduction.
It’s a difficult situation that we and future generations are going to have to wrestle with. But it’s not the government’s fault.
If your just a million aire YOU AINT SPIT!
Now its BILLIONAIREs. There are lots of us now! We used to be just millionaire slime. Then GW took office and anyone could make it BIG – even lowly millionaire scum! The math is simple. The percentage difference between a Billionaire and a Millionaire is the same percentage differance asit is with a millionare and a dog with a thousand dollars. A millionaire is someone with a thousand dollars one thousand times. A billionaire is someone with a million dollars one thousand times! We the many billionaires, mainly oil men, can buy the shorts right off one thousand millionares. Today a million aint nothing! Ask any oil man!
Jedi Bush
Arguing with the right wing is like shooting turds in a barrel, the more you plug ‘em with lead, the more they just float back up . . .
J.M. “counters” the statistics by just getting them wrong. Hey, no wonder he supports Bush. Here are the figures he is referring to—you be the judge.
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN 2003 DOLLARS
United States The Bush Years 2003–$43,318 2002–$43,381 2001–$43,882
The Clinton Years 2000–$44,853 1999–$44,922 1998–$43,825 1997–$42,294 1996–$41,431 1995–$40,845
What we see is like so much of what has happened since the BoyKing ascended his highchair—household incomes GO UP virtually every year under Clinton and DON’T GO UP or FALL every year under Bush. This is consistent with wages (grew under Clinton, dropping under Bush) and people living in poverty (dropped under Clinton, growing under Bush).
Then Outlandish comes up with this pearl of wisdumb—“For instance, a major contributor to the falling real wage is globalization.” REALLY, ya think? Maybe that’s why we liberals believe giving subsidies to Wal-Mart and tax breaks to multinational corporations in the Cayman Islands is really stupid and even anti-American. But hey, that’s just us. You “free marketers” love tax breaks as long as they go to the rich who deserve it by exporting good jobs and not some “welfare queen” working three part-time jobs with a bunch of little kids.
Last on the list is the really hateful comments by Right Answer, whom I suspect is really dr embarrassed that his statistical evidence turned out to be as thin as Kate Moss on a juice and cocaine diet.
The idea that I would hope for my own parents’ death is so repugnant to me . . . well, let’s just say, it takes a truly sick and depraved person to even think of it. Congratulations, Right Answer, you’re that person.
Galahad,In the first place, I have never supported Bush. But telling you that over and over again is like talking to a wall. I guess I got to assault it one brick at a time, huh:-)
Second, since lead is heavier than water, shooting turds would, by the laws of physics, sink them, assuming the lead stayed in the turds. The analogy, by the way, could only come from a Liberal.
Third, I say again that figures mean nothing without a total statistical reference. If you are a Liberal, you will come up with one set of numbers. If you are a Conservative, you will come up with another. Playing the numbers game is as ridiculous as playing the lottery.
The bottom line is: Has your standard of living increased or decreased in the last ten years? Mine has increased, others, because of globalization, have decreased. I would bet that most have increased.
As outlander said, protectionism is not an answer. Competition is. We have to make our economy and work force competitive with the rest of the world. We can’t do it with the conspicuous consumptive atmosphere we are flaunting to the rest of the world.
CEO’s, CIO,s COO,s and the rest of the “O’s” need to earn wages on par with the average in many other countries. That means taking hits of mega-millions a year. So what? One can’t live on a million a year? See above.
You want parity? You ain’t going to get it . . . ever. It is not man’s lot to embrace parity. Why? Competition. We are competitive by nature.
Well, supporting Bush’s positions is the same as supporting Bush.
How do you disagree with Bush?
Galahad constant dollars ARE adjusted for inflation giving a ACURATE protrayal of incomes.
As JM said the VAST majority of people (even those that had to get new jobs) are doing better off today than 10 years ago
If you aren’t doing better…. then I addressed why that is as well. lack of maintaining current job skills which is not Bush’s fault
you have been soundly defeated on both facts and theory.
Galahad,Where in the hell do I say that I support Bush’s policies? As usual, the liberal mind is going to read one thing and digest it as something else. If I gave you an apple, you’d think it was an orange. Well, bon appetite. Chow down on your on digestive juices.
Ahhharagh! The turds just keep bobbing up . . .
JM, answer the question: on what do you disagree with Bush? Don’t answer the question with another question.
DR, what part of these numbers do you not understand–
Median wages (in constant 2003 dollars, i.e., adjusted for inflation)
2003 23,276 -0402002 23,316 -4302001 23,746 -124End Clinton Begin Bush2000 23,870 +4261999 23,444 +7681998 22,676 +6851997 21,991 +8201996 21,171 +5221995 20,649 +3231994 20,326 +5481993 19,778
DR wrote–”[you said] ‘The median wage in this country is GOING DOWN’
“Oh by the way Galahad you are factually WRONG”
Using your own source (the US Census), I PROVED BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that I was correct and you were wrong.
Do even read the posts before you respond to them, DR?
Everyday, more and more, are becoming convinced America needs an imeediate IMPEACHMENT NOW!
Even the abues of abuses is being abused by this turd king that stole the title President.
Flush this turd now, and save America, while we can.
This WAS our country!
Yeah Galahad, you accuse me of cherry-picking data, but you are the one pasting isolated data. I post links so that people can see for themselves from the source You are really just another intelectually dishonest liberal.
“This was our country” nice quote condi. Just a perfect example of how Libs think. Well that person doesn’t believe the same as I do and I know I’m perfect in my beliefs so that person must have stolen the office and even if not then that person doesn’t have the right to be in office because it’s not inline with “our” beliefs. Wrong condi, its not inline with your beliefs. Also that is what I veiw as intolerance. You guys are cool with the Gov’t determining rules as long as they are inline with exactly what you want, otherwise its a conspiracy or evil or just inhumane. Well condi I pay taxes and Im happy the Gov’t cut back on tax money going to the poor. Im not ashamed to tell you this because I earned that money and its not the Gov’ts job to make sure people live to a certain standard, and as long as the majority believes the same then its not my job either. If you want to donate money to the poor through the Gov’t then be my guest. But the tax cut bill was passed by the Gov’t voted in by the MAJORITY, which means the majority obviously feels the same way I do. In the USA the majority rules, not condi, sorry sucker.
Okay, DR, it takes real brass to stare the facts in the face and say, “ignore those facts! HE’S the dishonest one!”
I gotta hand it to you die-hard conservatives, you don’t let a little thing like reality get in the way of your divinely-inspired truth.
Here’s the link, you dumb ass, same link as before–http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/p01ar.html
And by the way, “current dollars” at the website mean dollars unadjusted for inflation. 2003 dollars have been adjusted using the CPI (consumer price index) to make all the incomes relative to constant dollars.
So you got that wrong too. And you lecture people on your economic theories . . . unbelievable.
Let’s see how long you folks can just keep ignoring reality and contradicting it when it suits you. We’ll see how that works out for ya come 2006.
Galahad,You’re forgetting that to utopian reactionaries such a dr, reality is merely an obstacle to be overcome!
Galahad,Once and for all: I could care less about Bush or his policies. The man is a moron as far as I’m concerned. You’re beating a dead horse for no other reason than to impress your fellow Liberal whiners with your ability to blog. Hell, Ed can do that, and look at his IQ. You and Michael Moore should get together and make little Moorites. Now there’s something funny! (Oh, man…I can’t)
Dear Fraud-had,
Let me continue to speak the american-liberal tongue of hate. You have already told us that your mommy and daddy are worth money. But alas you are not. So why would anyone listen to you go on about money, wages, or the economy in general. You’re a financial failure in life and should be asking for others to teach you how to earn wealth. I’ve read your posts on various topics and you always seem to be asking for someone to give you a million bucks. So of course you can reach the conclusion that you are just sitting around waiting for your parents to kick off so you can have what you think should be yours anyway.
Go out, earn your way in life, and be a man.
Right Answer,Galahad is a man who is very successful at what he does because he is very good at what he does. I don’t know which nom de plume you are using this time (esod/hank/yadda yadda), but you are doing nothing but showing your moronic sense of lunacy. Add something interesting, humorous, intelligent, or infomative, but stick with one personality. As it is, you’re less than nothing.
JM, thanks, bro. I’m gonna have to stop ragging on you, man. We disagree, but you have integrity.
Right Answer, I’m about as successful as I want to be. I don’t want anybody else’s money. I brought up my parents and in-laws to demonstrate that I’m NOT looking for a handout and have some personal knowledge of what I speak of.
Really, may sound phony to you, but what I want is for every American to have a decent standard of living like I do.
As FDR said, “the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”
And RA, that’s a much more civil answer than you deserve . . . you can thank Walker for that . . .
Galahad,Ah, man, can you feel the love?
LOL, now THAT was funny . . .
sarcasm . . . how could we live without it?
Amen, bro.
Gala-liar,
You can’t be a big-government-hate-the-rich socialist without ‘wanting someone else’s money’. You may not want it in your hands personally, but you sure endorse using force to take it from others and spend it as you see fit. Just because you want someone else to do the dirty work for you doesn’t somehow mean that you are not that thief.
Figure out who you are.
It is interesting to listen to folks try to figure out who I am. Apparently everyone who gets in your face must be the same person.
Course some of you don’t know who you are, so I suggest you focus on figuring that out before you wonder who I am.
Wrong Answer,I know exactly who you are: You are every moron who has ever opened his mouth in search of something intelligent to say, but has failed miserably every time.
Walker,
Just because you don’t agree with my statements (or possibly understand them) doesn’t make those statements unintelligent. Only an anti-free-speech extremist would hold that view.
You cannot be the sole arbitrator of what is proper to post. Go create and moderate your own blog if you want to have that kind of control.
Hey RA, or whoever you are today,Galahad has made some good points. All you’ve managed to do is indiscrminately fling shit, in hopes that some of it might stick to something. Any gorilla can do that!Also consider that I regard anyone who claims to have the right answer as most likely wrong, when you choose tomorrow’s alias!
Hey now, it’s hardly indiscriminate.
All I have actually done is analyse his posts for insight into who he is. I’m simply calling a spade a spade.
Now I’m sure some of you will be doing that to me. However I’ve given you only a few pieces of evidence to work with. Should be interesting to see if anyone comes up with something more insightful than ‘flings’ or ‘moron’.
Man, this is like walking into a bar room brawl! Ya know, if somebody started their own business, worked hard, and made a few million, they have my respect. But people who are born to wealth are another story. People like Paris Hilton make me ill. It’s like the thing with estate taxes, or “death tax” if you’re a conservative. How much money do people need to accumilate? And how long before a few wealthy families accumilate it all and we all end up being owned by said few families? The numbers of what small percentage of people at the top own how much of the nation’s assets is already scary.
Right answer, you’re just lost. How does a person like you claim membership in the human race?
Falcone,
You are consistent. First you dis people who are ‘born into wealth’ and then me for being born human. I guess none of us deserve what were are born with. I suggest you focus on what choices people made that you disagree with instead of the things outside of thier control.
RA,I’m sure those poor, beleagured rich bastards appreciate having someone like you to defend them, but if you’re hoping they toss a few of those C-notes your way, you might want to rethink that one!
Typical loser thinking. I already got paid , at taxpayer expense!
Oh, thanks for the raise this year.
Losers.
Right Answer/BUaG–
“Just because you want someone else to do the dirty work for you doesn’t somehow mean that you are not that thief.”
You don’t really deserve a response because of the despicable way you have conducted yourself . . . but here it is anyway:
I believe that middle class and wealthy Americans, like myself, should have to give up some of their wealth so that poor American kids don’t starve, so that Katrina victims have a house to live in, so that every child has an opportunity for a decent education, so that old folks don’t have to beg on the street for a meal.
If that makes me a “thief,” then I plead “guilty.”
But it’s not thievery because we elect officials to represent our interests, and they collect the money and spend it on our behalf.
If we don’t like the way they do that, we can vote them out and vote in people who represent us better.
Which btw is exactly what’s going to happen in 2006.
Such an interesting set of ignorant statements.
1. Kids starving in the U.S.? There never has been any kind of systematic starvation here.
2. So we owe everyone a house huh? Your silly invocation of ‘victims’ is as senseless as it is stupid.
3. Education? You don’t believe in a ‘decent education’. You want kids to have the education you want them to have, regardless of what their parents want. Or has it not donned on you what the discussion on education in this country is about.
4. Old folks begging on the street? Planning to take your parents money before they die and force the rest of us to cover it for you?
5. A long time ago the government started to ignore the rule and limitations put in place to protect the people. In a nation where you are only given two choices between a pair of rich white guys do you really have representation?
They have you so fooled. Talking to you is holding yarn in front of a kitten.
Ah ha, B. Augustus. Only you have that appalling combination of vicious cynicism and arrogant superiority.
Okay, enjoy the hell you’ve made of your life.