Originally Posted by Bucco (Post 1674405)

Problem is in October 2017 the country was told that this tax cut would give each family about $4000 per year and wage growth would occur instantly, and despite what economist said, we were told it was fake news that corporations were the only ones to gain.

An interesting spin that this post puts on it.

Originally Posted by Aloha1 (Post 1674407)

And you were told a lie. latest data out shows wages increased 4.2 % in 2018 and are up another 5% in 2019 to date. Recall the media stories of people who claimed the 2017 tax act cost them money because they didn't get as much back when they filed their tax return as they did before. Never occurred to them that they didn't pay as much in tax to begin with. .

Originally Posted by Aloha1 (Post 1674407)

The media is complicit in the dumbing down of America.

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 1674371)

So much does not make sense to me. Children ripped from their parents, caged, and nobody seems to notice. Too many seem to feel because those little kids are a different color, they are invisible and do not count.

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 1674317)

CNM, I agree. There is so much of a prevailing attitude of “I got mine. Too bad ya don’t got yours.”

I do not understand why there are those who cannot acknowledge that the system does not work like it once did for regular hardworking people.

Remember the old “3-legged stool” for retirement that so many of us are of an age to remember. As I recall, the 3 legs on the stool were Social Security. Pension. Individual investments and savings.

Some of us knew how to make the 401s and 403s work for us while we were still working. Many had the opportunity to tax defer more money because of not having to pay through the nose for health insurance premiums, deductibles, etc. which, now, even those with good jobs have to absorb more of.

Many of us did quite well when selling our houses, especially after the cap gains law changed in the late 90s where we did not have to reinvest primary residence profits in more expensive homes and could leave a closing table with the next house already paid for and a chunk of tax free change in our pockets. (I know that law is still in effect but I think the early Boomers and Beyond were the ones who reaped the most profits from real estate.)

We had a lot of advantages over what the next generation(s) can expect. (I wrote a dissertation about that yesterday, somewhere around here.)

Anyway, Cold, just wanted to say I, too, don’t get how people do not get it.

Originally Posted by jeriteri (Post 1674441)

The recession talk is directed at the 2020 election.

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 1674371)

No. No. No. There you go. (sigh)

Yes. I was a secondary ed public school teacher for a long time, 35 years. Had I not been wired like I am to see people as individuals and to care about them and treat them fairly, I would have been terrible at my job. —Well, I wasn't.

You do not know the whole picture of who I am. I never implied that big business was the devil incarnate. My father worked for big business, as did Mr. Boomer. I also invest in stocks. To make an assumption just because I was a teacher is broad brush painting. (sigh, double sigh)

Like I keep saying, some of the answers to our problems are somewhere in the middle with compromise and discussion. But as long as we parrot and spew without thinking through, the future of our nation is at risk.

So much does not make sense to me. Children ripped from their parents, caged, and nobody seems to notice. Too many seem to feel because those little kids are a different color, they are invisible and do not count.

As parents and educators we know how important those first 5 years of life are. Children need nurturing and love for development. What in the hell are we thinking — hell is the operative word there.

How can we love and protect and teach and nurture our own and dehumanize those children. I cannot make that compute. Maybe you know. As a pre-school teacher, you surely well understand the needs of little ones. I am not attacking you. I truly would like to hear the justification for destroying the lives of innocent, defenseless children.

I asked a far right wing person I know, who adores his children and grandchildren, what he thought about those neglected children, imprisoned by hatred and getting more behind and lost every day. He told me that he had heard nothing about it. He listens to and watches only the extreme right wing media which has changed him. I once respected him. He is now full of venom. (I am so glad he lives far away from us now.) And yet, he sits in a pew every Sunday and convinces himself he is a pillar of Christianity. WWJD, huh?

We have become tribal and/or caught in the mindset of an “Us vs. Them” team sport. Ugly stuff.

(Oh well, that was only the beginning of a tangent about all the things going on around me that I just don’t get. Guess I went rather off topic but it is all connected as we choose who to admire and respect. I assume this post will be deleted. Actually, I could say a whole lot more, but why bother.)

Originally Posted by Love2Swim (Post 1674450)

I'm so glad your post was not deleted. Many of us feel the same as you do, and it is sad if people don't realize what is going on. What is sadder still, is those who do see what is happening who turn a blind eye and still call themselves a Christian.

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 1674329)

:agree: I've thought for a while that the media is talking us into a recession.
And I'm not in the Bubble right now, I'm up north for six months.

Originally Posted by Kenswing (Post 1674537)

There might be something to that.. Today's headline: 34% of economists in survey expect a US recession in 2021

Could have just as easily said 66 percent of economists not worried about a recession..

Recession coming? 34% of economists expect one in 2021: NABE survey

Then after all the doom and gloom they sneak this in as the last paragraph..

Still, for now, most economic signs appear solid. Employers are adding jobs at a steady pace, the unemployment rate remains near a 50-year low and consumers are optimistic. U.S. retail sales figures out last Thursday showed that they jumped in July by the most in four months.

Originally Posted by Kenswing (Post 1674537)

Snip...>Could have just as easily said 66 percent of economists not worried about a recession<..Snip

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldMan (Post 1674298)

The last recession resulted in several trillions of dollars of lost wealth. Some recovered, some didn't I would say for those that didn't it was significant.

In my case, I lost my 401k, my credit rating, home and wife. 10 years later I have almost recovered most, but not all.

So, yes in most of YOUR lives it may not have been detectable. But for myself and MANY others lives it was very detectable. Politics had NOTHING to do with it, economics did.