The Rich Got Richer and the Rest of Us Lost 40% of Our Assets

Attention Mitt Romney…. Does this seem like we are all equal in America?? Sadly 3 or those years were republican president years…  or maybe you forgot that… SO… How to make us equal again??

The slow death of the American dream for middle class families has continued in the last couple years in the wake of the financial crisis.

A new survey by the Federal Reserve shows a shocking decline in the average net worth of U.S. households from 2007 to 2010. According to the report, which adjusted figures for inflation, the average American family saw their net worth drop 40% in that three-year time period from $126,400 to $77,300.

Three-quarters of the loss, not surprisingly, is due in large part to falling home prices, which have seen no reprieve since the housing bubble began to burst in 2007. The average homeowner saw their net worth fall more than $70,000 from roughly $250,000 in 2007 to $175,000 in 2010.

But what is surprising is the fact that overall net worth has fallen to levels not seen since the early 1990′s, long before the housing bubble even began.

In three years, 18 years of savings have been wiped away for the majority of the country and at the same time wages have fallen. The average income fell from about $50,00 in 2010 to $46,000 in 2007.

But this negative trend does not stop there. As average families become poorer, rich Americans are growing richer.

The Fed survey showed the wealthiest 10% of families actually saw their net worth rise from 2007 to 2010.

Over that time period, their net worth increased from $1.17 million to $1.19 million.

As Aaron and Henry discuss in the accompanying clip, the continued decline of the American middle class and the ascent of the rich has resulted in income inequality at levels not seen since the Great Depression. Many economists agree, including Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz who recently joined The Daily Ticker to discuss why growing wage and income disparity endangers the future of our country. (SEE: The ‘American Dream’ Is a Myth: Joseph Stiglitz on ‘The Price of Inequality’)

While the bulk of consumer spending has historically come from the middle class, if the majority of Americans continue to suffer from falling wages and income, eventually something has got to give. There is no possible way for the super-rich to buy enough stuff to float the entire U.S. economy.

It’s growing increasingly clear that we live in drastic times and drastic measures must be taken to save the country’s middle class. One drastic measure is that more Americans are putting off retirement because they simply can’t afford it.

But with Americans living longer and putting increased strain on programs like Social Security and Medicare, the retirement age is going to have be raised for one reason or another.

White Student Mistakenly Gets MLK Award Meant For Black Student and Returns It On His Own

Social media was buzzing about a Boston-area high school teacher’s blunt commencement speech that told students they “are not special.”

Wellesley High English teacher David McCullough Jr. told graduates “You are not special. You are not exceptional,” quoting empirical evidence:

“Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians … 37,000 class presidents … 92,000 harmonizing altos … 340,000 swaggering jocks … 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs,” he said in the speech published in the Boston Herald.

He added: “Even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you.”

McCullough makes a statement on parents who overdo it in a modern society focused on collecting achievements. “You’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped … feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie.” But he adds in a video on Wellesley Channel TV YouTube page. “You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. … We have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement.”

McCullough’s address does push students to recognize real achievement: “The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life is an achievement,” and he encourages graduates “to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance.”

Many flocked to Twitter to express their approval of the message:

This is awesome. I don’t remember my HS commencement speech. I think I would remember this one. — S.L. Gray

Fantastic speech which sums up the neglected duty of so many Americans in 1 phrase: “Be worthy of your advantages.” — Benjamin Yee

the greatest commencement speech ever. — Neil Raden

My new hero. Tells grads “You’re not that Special … when everyone gets a trophy, the trophy doesn’t mean anything.” — Jason Dobrolecki

The Boston Herald also reported that McCullough’s words were very well received by attendees. The teacher, a father of four, admitted he’s guilty of the actions he pokes fun at in his speech.

But near the end of the address he says, “The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special. Because everyone is.”

Congressman Issa to Change Name to ASSA As He Mimics Rear End of a Donkey

Typical Election Year Politics has surfaced with Congressman Issa aka ASSA… as what seems to come out of his mouth appears to resemble what come out of the posterior orifice of a male cow. Hence it would seem appropriate if the Media began to misspell his name in a manner befitting his antics in Washington…. 

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will vote June 20 on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, the committee announced Monday morning.

The committee, led by Republican Chairman Darrell Issa, will consider whether to hold Holder in contempt of Congress for “his failure to produce documents specified in the Committee’s October 12, 2011, subpoena,” related to their investigation of the much-maligned “Fast and Furious” gunwalking operation, the committee said in a statement.

Meanwhile Holder pushes blame onto Bush administration and Issa… aka ASSA …  is not bipartisan enough to accept the reality. ]

The Department of Justice documents in question were created after Feb. 4, 2011, and are being withheld because they supposedly show internal Justice Department deliberations, Issa said in a separate statement. But Issa rejected that argument, saying: “Congress has an obligation to investigate unanswered questions about attempts to smear whistleblowers, failures by Justice Department officials to be truthful and candid with the congressional investigation, and the reasons for the significant delay in acknowledging reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious.”

Docs show Justice officials approved operation, Issa (Assa)  ASSERTS without any proof… 

House Speaker John Boehner playing the political stooge backed up Issa’s criticism, saying in a separate statement that the “Justice Department is out of excuses”:

Congress has given Attorney General Holder more than enough time to fully cooperate with its investigation into ‘Fast and Furious,’ and to help uncover the circumstances regarding the death of Border Agent Brian Terry. Agent Terry’s family, the whistle blowers who brought this issue to light, and the American people deserve answers (and whispered that they need a scandalous event to sink the Obama administration) . Either the Justice Department turns over the information requested (even if it is still under review by Justice and not subject to Congressional review at this time) , or Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the Attorney General in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation (and further our Republican political agenda) .

The “Fast and Furious” operation, which sold firearms that were intended to reach Mexican drug cartels as a way of letting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms track cartel gun-trafficking. However, a majority of the guns were never traced, and some have since been found at the scene of violent crimes, including the shooting death of Arizona border patrolman Terry in Dec. 2010.

Holder has testified about “Fast and Furious” numerous times on Capitol Hill, most recently before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday.