"While the overall economy has grown, the wages of the average worker have not even kept
up with inflation. Meanwhile, nearly five million more Americans have fallen into poverty
since 2001."

Median pre-tax household income $49,158(2001) vs $48,201 (2008)
- decrease for African American households under Bush $2,766
- decrease for Asian American households $1,381
- decrease for Hispanic households $1,043
- decrease for white households $745

Makes you wonder ... so what are the plans to turn this around?

~h~


The 3 biggest hits to the economy:

TAX CUTS have reduced annual tax revenue available for public needs by $300 billion
each year.

OCCUPATION of Afghanistan and Iraq has cost $700 billion, according to the
Congressional Research Service. That's about $400 million a day. Nobel Prizewinning
economist Joseph Stiglitz says the tab is well over $2 trillion when you add rehabilitation
for injured vets, replacement of military hardware, and the value of things we could have
produced (but didn't) with that money over the past seven years.

(What's a billion)
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth .

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the
rate USA government is spending it.


U.S. national debt $5.7 trillion $9.2 trillion*
* Of which China holds IOUs worth $390 billion
Real GDP growth over prior 8 years 4.09% 2.65%
U.S. trade deficit per year $380 billion $759 billion
Cost of imported consumer goods $1,147 billion $1,954 billion
Value of consumer goods imported from China $102.3 billion $322 billion
(in 2007 China became #1 source of U.S. imported consumer goods)
Cost of one euro $1.01 $1.45
Cost of one ounce of gold $319 $892
U.S. budget surplus/deficit +$236 billion -$354 billion

While the overall economy has grown, the wages of the average worker have not even kept
up with inflation. Meanwhile, nearly five million more Americans have fallen into poverty
since 2001.


Corporate profits before tax $719.2 billion $1,769.5 billion
Corporate profits after tax* $503.8 billion $1,351.9 billion*
Pharmaceutical company profits (top 9) (top12)** $30 billion $80 billion
Cost of imported consumer goods $1,147 billion $1,954 billion
*Standard & Poor's 500 top corporations' profits more than doubled in the period 2001-
2005 and reached 8.6% of Gross Domestic Product in 2006–the highest percentage of GDP
on record.
**Drug-companies' profits continue to be around 18.5% of their sales income, versus
3.1%for other top-500 companies.


Net worth of the wealthiest 1% $186 billion $816 billion
Number of billionaires 186 415
Their combined wealth $816 billion $3.5 trillion
Average salary of top 500 corp CEOs in 2007 $15.2 million
In 2006, buyout mogul Henry Kravis paid himself $51,400...an hour.
Bush tax cuts to the top 1% 2001-2007 $546 billion

The top 1% include many more Wall Street financiers than CEOs. The 25 highest-paid
hedge-fund managers are earning more than the CEOs of the largest 500 companies
combined. Several of these fund managers are taking home more than a billion dollars a
year.


EARNING
Median pre-tax household income $49,158 $48,201
0. decrease for African American households under Bush $2,766
0. decrease for Asian American households $1,381
0. decrease for Hispanic households $1,043
0. decrease for white households $745

WORKING
Salary of full-time minimum-wage earner in 2007 $12,168
Increase in productivity of American workers since 2001 18%
Increase in real earnings of American workers since 2001 9%
Total # manufacturing jobs 17.3 million 14.2 million
National unemployment rate 3.5% 5%
Number unemployed Americans 5.6 million 7.7 million
Number including discouraged or underemployed 9.9 million 13.5 million

LIVING
Americans living in poverty 31.6 million 36.5 million
Americans going hungry according to USDA 31 million 38.2 million
Cost of a gallon of milk $3 $3.79
Cost of a loaf of bread $.98 $1.32
Rent, 2-bedroom home, Los Angeles (month) $1,658 $2,229
Rent, 1-bedroom home, Boston (month) $1,453 $2,000
Total consumer credit debt $7.65 trillion $12.8 trillion
Personal savings rate +2.3% -0.5%

HOMEOWNERS & RENTERS
Increase in number of home foreclosures from 2006 68%
Households currently at high risk of foreclosure 2 million
Households paying more than half their income for housing 13 million
Households unable to afford even the lowest-priced home rentals in the U.S. 2.8
million


 While military spending has grown 7.5% since Bush took office, spending on almost all
domestic discretionary programs has been cut. "Discretionary" means that Congress and
the administration can decide, year by year, how much each program deserves. That has
meant less of anything that serves the common good, like (in order of size) education,
highways and other ground transportation, housing assistance, biomedical research,
federal law enforcement, public-health services, regulation of air traffic, and space flight.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has tracked federal spending and concludes
that almost all of these programs have shrunk when measured in relation to the growth of
the economy as a whole. The Center reports that outlays to mandated federal programs--
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid--have declined 2.4%, while discretionary programs
have been cut by 3.7%.

The World Health Organization ranks U.S. health care 37th in the world, behind France (1),
Singapore (6), Japan (10), United Kingdom (18), Colombia (22), and Costa Rica (36). Of six
nations studied by the New York-based commonwealth Fund--Australia, Canada,
Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States-- the U.S. ranks last.


Americans without health insurance 38.4 million 46.9 million
Children without health insurance 8.7 million
0. African American households uninsured 20.5%
0. Asian American households uninsured 15.5%
0. Hispanic households uninsured 34.1%
0. White households uninsured 10.8%
Cost of family health insurance per year $6,230 $12,106
Cost of family health insurance per month $519 $1,009

FOOD SAFETY
Number of shipments of agricultural imports 4.5 million 9 million
Number of U.S. FDA inspectors of imports 3,500 3,488
Percentage of imported food inspected by FDA 1.3%

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH SAYS: In 2004 nearly 1.8 million veterans
were uninsured and unable to get care in veterans' facilities. An additional 3.8 million
members of their households were also uninsured and ineligible for VA care. No new study
has been done since 2004 but things have only gotten worse.

Average cost/year at a public 4-year college $8,400 $13,000
Average cost/year at a private 4-year college $22,000 $29,000
Average debt shouldered by college graduates $12,000 $21,000

Gap between maximum federal Pell Grant and cost of a 4-year degree in a public school
$5,282 $8,746

THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU SAYS: "Almost 40% of the people displaced from New Orleans by
Hurricane Katrina [lived] below the poverty line last year," and "nearly a third of those who
fled the hurricane could not find jobs last year, and thousands more [had given up] trying."


Average price of a gallon of home-heating oil $1.40 $3.39
Average price of a gallon of gas $1.47 $3.14
Portion of our liquid fuels imported 52.75% 60.38%


...deals with the housing crisis by proposing to:
0. Cut the number of housing vouchers that help very poor people pay their rent by
100,000.
0. Cut the budget for housing for poor elderly people by 27%.
0. Cut the budget for housing for people with disabilities by 32%.
0. Cut the fund for repair and maintenance of public housing by 17% and eliminate
funding to repair public housing damaged by natural disasters.
0. Cut the lead-hazard reduction funds by 20%.
0. Cut the block grants to cities and states for housing and community-developme nt
programs by 18%.
Cut low-income energy assistance

Sources:
Economy

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce

Corporate profits

US Dept. of Commerce
Net worth and the number of billionaires, plus CEOs' salaries -- Forbes
Bush tax cuts to top 1% -- Congressional Budget Office. Note: This is how much more the
top 1% would have paid over 7 years if not for Bush's tax cut.

How the rest of us get by

Poverty & diversity: www.ourfutur e.org/real- state-union- 2008-numbers
Education info: http://projectonstu dentdebt. org/

Energy

Oil prices: www.eia. doe.gov/oil_ gas/petroleum/ info_glance/ petroleum. html
Exxon profits; http://money. cnn.com/quote/ financials/ financials. html?
symb=XOM&sid= 161455&report= 1&period= annual

Health insurance

Health Insurance Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau: Background for a New Historical
Series
www.census. gov/hhes/ www/hlthins/ usernote/ revhlth_paper. pdf

Agricultural imports

"Food Imports Often Escape Scrutiny," May 1, 2007, NY Times.
www.nytimes. com/2007/ 05/01/business/ 01food.html

Housing

Apartment rentals: www.apartmen tratings. com/rate/ AvgRentalPrices. html

Foreclosure and housing crisis info: The National Low Income Housing Coalition's 2008
Advocates' Guide, www.nlihc. org/doc/Advocacy Guide2008- web.pdf

Filed Under: Corporate greed, Corporate responsibility, Health insurance, Healthcare,
Labor, Money, Poverty, Wealth