Re: Americans with Disabilities Act, etc.

[Guest guest]

A society is judged on how it cares for its weakest members; the elderly,

children, and animals. How are we doing folks? Kathy

[Guest guest]

----Original Message Follows----

From: JOSKAT95@...

>A society is judged on how it cares for its weakest members; the elderly,

>children, and animals. How are we doing folks? Kathy

The responsibility of making sure no one is left behind in basic needs

(shelter, food, healthcare) falls on our society - which through democratic

processes should be met at all levels of our government.

We are the government, whether state, federal or local. If 'us' doesn't want

to do it, we won't do it at any level of government.

A certain sector have convinced some Americans it is 'us' against the

'government'. This ideal has degraded to a greed is good philosophy and the

that government is the problem. Add the many politicians that are bought by

corporate America through campaign donations and the result is legislation

that is transforming the U.S. from a democracy to a plutocracy where the

rich rule.

There is no 'us' versus 'them' (any level of government). If those in

political power aren't working for 'us' they need to be removed from a

position of power that is not serving the 'us' of this country.

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great

wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both

- Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Brandeis

And today we do not have both. The richest 1 percent of Americans now have

more income that the bottom 96 million. The richest 1 percent owns nearly

half the country's wealth. The top 10 percent owns 80 percent of the wealth.

The Census Bureau reports the gap between rich and poor is the largest in 75

years, just before the Great Depression.

Last year, for example, another one million Americans were added to the

poverty role that now totals 37 million of our citizens. As the number of

people in poverty rises, so does the number of billionaires in this country,

over 225 and increasing.

The 2005 Human Development Report (HDR) that is issued annually by the

United Nations and covers all 191 Member States shows the U.S. ranks 10th

among the world's nations in the category that combines health quality,

education, and standard of living. In the category of life expectancy the

U.S. ranks 29th. In the poverty index involving the richest 18 countries,

the U.S. ranks at the bottom in 17th place. This is a disgraceful condition

in the world's richest country and a betrayal of the hard-fought struggles

for democracy and equality waged in past decades by American workers.

Cheryl

------------------

Let's resolve to lift up the faltering American Dream

American economy losing ground to foreign innovation

By HOLLY SKLAR

The American Dream doesn't need to go on a diet in the new year. It's been

shrinking for years.

We are becoming a nation of Scrooge-Marts and outsourcers — with an

increasingly low-wage work force instead of a growing middle class. Even

two-paycheck households are struggling to afford a house, college, health

care and retirement.

The American Dream is becoming the American Pipe Dream.

" The vast majority of American workers (70 percent) think the American Dream

has been or will be harder for them to financially achieve than it was for

their parents' generation, " according to the Principal Financial Well-Being

Index.

We are living the American Dream in reverse.

The hourly wages of average workers are 11 percent lower than they were back

in 1973, adjusted for inflation, despite rising worker productivity. CEO

pay, by contrast, has skyrocketed — up a median 30 percent in 2004 alone in

the Corporate Library survey of 2,000 large companies.

Median household income has fallen an unprecedented five years in a row. It

would be even lower, if not for increased household work hours. Americans

work more than 200 hours more a year on average than workers in other rich,

industrialized nations.

We are breaking records we don't want to break. Record numbers of Americans

have no health insurance. The share of national income going to wages and

salaries is the lowest since 1929. Middle-class households are a medical

crisis, outsourced job or busted pension away from bankruptcy.

The congressional majority voted the biggest cut in history to the student

loan program at a time when college is more important, and more expensive,

than ever. Public college tuition has risen even faster than private

tuition, jumping 54 percent over the last decade, adjusted for inflation.

Our shortsighted government, beholden to powerful campaign contributors and

lobbyists, is cutting rungs from the ladders of upward mobility while

cutting taxes for the superwealthy.

That's not the American Dream.

Contrary to myth, the United States is not becoming more competitive in the

global economy by taking the low road. We are in growing hock to other

countries. We have a huge trade deficit, hollowed-out manufacturing base and

deteriorating research and development. The infrastructure built by earlier

generations has eroded greatly, undermining the economy as well as public

health and safety.

Households have propped themselves up in the face of falling real wages by

maxing out work hours, credit cards and home equity loans. This is not a

sustainable course. The low road is like a " shortcut " that leads to a cliff.

We will not prosper in the 21st century global economy by relying on 1920s'

corporate greed, 1950s' tax revenues, pre-1970s' wages and global-warming

energy policies.

We will not prosper relying on disinvestment in place of reinvestment. We

can't succeed that way any more than farmers can " compete " by eating their

seed corn.

As BusinessWeek put it in a special issue on China and India, " China's

competitive edge is shifting from low-cost workers to state-of-the-art

manufacturing. India is creating world-class innovation hubs, and its

companies are far better performers than China's. "

The United States will not succeed by shifting increasingly from

state-of-the art manufacturing and world-class innovation hubs to low-cost

workers.

Contrary to myth, many European countries are better positioned for the

future than the United States, with healthier economies and longer healthy

life expectancies, greater math and science literacy, free or affordable

education from preschool through college, universal health care, less

poverty and more corporations combining social responsibility and

world-class innovation.

Among the world's 100 largest corporations in 2005, just 33 are U.S.

companies, while 48 are European. In 2002, 38 were U.S. companies and 36

were European. CEO-worker pay gaps are much narrower at European companies

than American.

The United States dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 in the global information

technology ranking by the World Economic Forum, whose members represent the

world's 1,000 leading companies, among others. The top four spots are held

by Singapore, Iceland, Finland and Denmark, with Sweden No. 6.

Instead of pretending the problem is overpaid workers and accelerating

offshoring, we need to shore up our economy from below and invest in smart

economic development. Let's make that our New Year's resolution for the

American Dream.

Sklar is co-author of " Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All

of Us " (www.raisethefloor.org).