Quotation for Today: Mitt Romney's Welfare Policies (Updated)

Social Darwinism appears to be alive and well in the Republican Party and plutocracy is the ruling theory that guides the GOP. The plutocratic governance of the GOP is maintained, nourished and reinforced by its economic welfare policies for the One Percent. 


As the quotation for today highlights (across the jump), the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, is a strong advocate of welfare policies for the One Percent; policies that would continue the intense inequality that is now prevalent in the United States. This  inequality was created by 30 years of Republican economic policies that are embraced by Mitt Romney.

A Thousand Words, Vol.1, Issue 22.

Courtesy of work on income tax reform by the Congressional Research Service, across the jump is a graph of the beneficial distribution of four tax expenditures. The information is provided in a graph of concentration curves; an adaptation of the Lorenz Curve.

Quotation for Today: Return of the Social Security and Medicare"Sharks"

Just when you thought it was safe to "get back in the water," we discover -- via the quotation for today -- that the Social Security and Medicare "sharks" have returned to the waters off "Social Security Island"; apologies to Peter Benchley and the producers of the movie, Jaws.

A Thousand Words, Vol.1, Issue 11.

The historical evolution of extreme income inequality in the United States is shown here.


The Y-axis intersects the X-axis at the year when the doubling of income share for the one percent began.  


Related information:


Konczal, Mike. "Welcome to the 1% Recovery." New Deal 2.0 5 March, 2012. 

A Thousand Words, Vol. 1, Issue 10.

Again, we are presented a graph of the intense inequity (or iniquity) of the American capitalistic system -- an economic system based on 30 years of Republican and Alan Greenspan economic and monetary policies.  The graph, a comparison of the rise in the distribution of income to the top one percent in the United States and Sweden, can be viewed here.


Paul Krugman's article accompanying the graph can be read here. 


Related information is available here.

A Thousand Words, Vol. 1, Issue 8.

The general, inequitable character of the contemporary American economy -- punishing labor while rewarding the rentier class -- is portrayed vividly here.  


To read the companion story by Mike Konczal go here.  Paul Krugman's op-ed, "Rule by Rentiers," provides a sketch of the power of the American rentier class.


Related information:


"Rescuing America." Exempli Gratia 8 March, 2012.

Quotation for Today: Lobbying for Inequality

The quotation for today opens a discussion about poverty, middle class, elites, capitalism and democracy.

A Thousand Words, Vol.1, Issue 4.

Today, we get a graphical look (link is across the jump) at the impact of inequality on poverty in the United States. Along with inequality, five other factors that affect poverty are portrayed.

Quotation for Today: Republicans' New, Old Gospel

In this world of intense income and wealth inequality in which we live, it is encouraging to see that some of our political leaders recognize the potential destructiveness of that inequality.  The possible effect of intense income and wealth inequality is the theme of the quotation for today.

Quotation for Today: Swiss Mitt: The Quintessential Davos Man?

The quotation for today, across the jump, explores the issue of who among the people gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland pays taxes at a higher rate.

Quotation for Today: Romney's Bank Accounts In Switzerland and the Cayman Islands

Mitt Romney, the leading Republican presidential candidate, released one year of his tax returns (2010 returns) and a pro forma tax return for 2011.  Romney's tax return information pointed out that he had bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Both countries are notorious as being havens for tax cheats.  

Today's quotation (across the jump) highlights the fact that Romney, although invested via a blind trust, could have addressed the location of his bank accounts; but he didn't.

Quotation for Today: Corrosive Nature of Income and Wealth Inequality

 “I spent four years in undergraduate school, four years in medical school, three years as a resident and three years as a fellow. You have to look at the people who are complaining.”

Anu Chandok, M.D.

Quotation for Today: Saving the Middle Class

"There isn't any question that income inequality has increased over the last three decades or so, despite a conservative campaign to discredit the notion."

Michael Hiltzik

Quotation for Today

Today, America is an outlier among industrial nations. Its distribution of income looks closer to that of Argentina than, say, Germany.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that our recent economic crisis had some characteristics of boom-and-busts in less developed nations. It was triggered, in part, by 1 percenters on Wall Street persuading regulators to remove restrictions on their casino. 

Eduardo Porter

Porter, Eduardo. "The 1 Percent Club’s Misguided Protectors."  The New York Times 10 December, 2011: online edition. 

Le Figaro.fr - OECD On Income Inequality

The OECD has published a new report on income inequality in developed nations.  This report may complement President Obama's speech on income inequality that he plans to give today in Osawatomie, Kansas.