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THE ECONOMIC DECLINE IS BEGINNING TO WAKE UP THE MASSES! THE FINANCIAL STORM GETS DARKER, PRICE PAIN
20 Signs Of The Staggering Decline Of The American Middle Class Family
We just got more evidence that the middle class is being systematically destroyed in America. At this point, millions of people out there have already grown accustomed to barely scraping by from month to month. But that is not what being “middle class” is supposed to be about. Middle-class families should be able to make more money than they have to spend on everyday necessities because is only by doing so that they can build long-term wealth. Unfortunately, income growth has not kept up with the pace of the rising cost of living, and millions of households have taken massive amounts of debt. At the same time, the labor market doesn't offer good-paying jobs that support middle-class life, and the lack of these positions has been contributing to the decline of this income group all across the country. In the early 1970s, the middle class accounted for around 60 percent of the population, but now middle-income households are rapidly becoming a minority in the United States. And as economic conditions continue to deteriorate, millions of hard-working families all over America are being stretched financially like never before. “In America, the middle class can no longer afford retirement. Middle-class Americans face sharp economic inequality, with ownership of financial assets highly concentrated among the wealthy,” explained Tyler Bond, NIRS research manager. “Now that we have a retirement system largely built around the individual ownership of financial assets in 401(k) accounts, middle-class Americans are struggling to accumulate sufficient financial assets during their working years. This means the retirement outlook for many in the middle class is bleak at best.” Since the onset of the health crisis, the U.S. economy has been decaying at an alarming pace. Over the past two years, the middle class has gotten smaller and smaller in this country, and now it seems that another economic downturn is upon us once again. So many families are already living on the edge right now. Recent surveys have exposed that well over 50% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck and that most Americans don't have emergency savings or a financial cushion to fall back on. When you are living on the edge, there is always a danger that you could fall over. Since 2020, we have never seen so many middle-class Americans falling straight into poverty. In other words, unless dramatic changes happen in America, the middle class is going to be absolutely eviscerated in the next decade. We must wake up now. The middle class is dying right before our eyes, and if we want to save it, we must take action now. Today, we compiled a series of new numbers that expose the rapid downfall of the U.S. middle-class.
DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SANCTUARY CITIES IN MELTDOWN
Oakland neighborhood plagued by brazen crimes
San Francisco jeweler closes shop after multiple burglaries
The Democrat tax strategy that will tighten the noose around the middle class's neck
Current Treasury secretary Janet Yellen laid a colossal rotten egg when she floated the trial balloon of imposing a tax on unrealized capital gains. Not only would the gain be subject to possibly losing some of its value after the tax is collected, but the taxpayer still hasn't collected the actual proceeds usually necessary for paying the tax.
The bad news is that this really bad idea is still slithering around the fetid catacombs of D.C. The lipstick being put on this pig is the tried-and-true exploitation of envy and resentment for the rich. The late, great Walter E. Williams often opined that he wished there was some humane way to just plain get rid of the rich...so we could finally have an honest discussion about tax policy. It so happens that we are already in the throes of the severe consequences coming from years of punishing success and rewarding failure.
That such an evil idea would emanate and continue to be pursued is rather disturbing. Another problem is the overwhelming lack of economic and financial sophistication of the usual media. When Mr. Trump's 1995 tax return was illegally leaked to the press, a writer for the Associated Press stated that Trump wrote off (oy, vey!) depreciation on his income properties. The writer stated that only billionaires get to do such things. Actually, there are literally millions of Mom-and-Pop landlords in the U.S. who do exactly the same thing.
Before Mr. Trump was unceremoniously escorted out of office, he suggested indexing the tax on capital gains to inflation. After all, a significant portion of the bump up in price between buying and selling an asset is the result of the continuous devaluation of money. The rest is the actual increase in value...typically from increases in demand or decreases in supply.
Bottom line: Unflation is a poison pill in the upcoming midterm election. The politically opportunistic antidote is, as usual, the increased screwing of the taxpayers. After all, they can be expected to be fairly docile in their cooperation. Seems like a good path to pursue in paying off one's political supporters. (William Hogarth, who may be considered the father of illustrated political satire, is best known for his painting "Canvassing for Votes," which shows two rival campaigners...both bribing a citizen.)
The twisted logic behind the push to increase taxes as a remedy for inflation relies on reduction of the deficit. After all, it supposedly does not add to the increase in the money supply. We fiscal conservatives, however, focus on spending. Not only is spending excessive, but it's fairly non-productive, except when it comes to getting the votes of targeted constituencies. Can you say "student loan forgiveness"? Absent from the calculation is that having government suck more wealth out of the public milieu further pushes us toward recession.
Taxing capital gains also has subliminal consequences, particularly when it comes to real estate. Elderly long-term landlords face an enormous tax burden after years of inflation and appreciation. Some just let the property decay while expecting their heirs to get the adjustment in the tax basis when they inherit, and they can then sell while paying little if any tax. This is also known as allowing blight to fester.
Now we're starting to hear forecasts of recession. Paul Volcker stepped in back around 1981 and deliberately triggered a recession, while simultaneously putting the brakes on inflation, since Gerald Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" lapel button didn't seem to work.
There's a pretty good joke about economists: "this guy is such a great economist that he's predicted twelve of the last three recessions."
Image via Pixabay.
With Biden in office, America’s southern border has vanished entirely.
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/is-joe-bidens-open-borders-destroying.html
So, while we in America are getting a fair number
of sex traffickers; mountains of fentanyl; low
skilled, illegal workers who drive down wages; and
more welfare mouths to feed, the Latin Americans
who come here mostly want to work and mostly
hew to traditional western, Christian values.
ANDREA WIDBURG
NAFTA JOE BIDEN’S DECADES OLD SABOTAGE OF HOMELAND
SECURITY TO BUILD THE LA RAZA ‘The Race’ WELFARE STATE AND
MEXICAN SERF CLASS OF ‘CHEAP’ LABOR THAT COST LEGALS
BILLIONS
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/mexicos-biggest-exports-to-america.html
What's more, Mexico generally benefits from
shipping its surplus uneducated population to the
states to take the pressure valve off the potential for
unrest. Corrupt Mexican officials often reap
"fees" from letting illegal migrants from other
countries as well as their own pass through their
territory. MONICA SHOWALTER
Brian Kilmeade: Is Biden's luck running out?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0EVUGJsBM4
REALITY CHECK: OBAMACARE WAS WRITTEN BY OBOMB'S BIG PHARMA CRONIES IN THE FIRST PLACE!
VIDEO
Ralph Nader: Biden's First Year Proves He Is Still a "Corporate Socialist" Beholden to Big Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTIUtjkDss&t=28s
Biden enforces largest Medicare premium hike in history while funneling more profits to private insurers
In a move that received minimal media attention, last week the Biden administration reaffirmed its decision to enact the largest Medicare premium hike in the program’s 57-year history. The president is also endorsing a plan to funnel more money to private insurance companies and escalating plans to privatize the government insurance program for seniors and those with disabilities. Medicare enrolled 62.7 million people in 2021.
The White House announced May 27 that Medicare recipients will not see their premiums lowered this year. This is despite the fact that a rate hike confirmed last November was due in large part to projected costs for a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease that have now been lowered.
In November 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced an approximately 14.5 percent increase to premiums for Medicare Part B, which covers doctor visits and some preventive care and outpatient services. The standard monthly premium rose from $148.50 in 2021 to $170.10 this year.
The hike came largely as a result of uncertainty over whether Medicare would cover the costs of Aduhelm, an exorbitantly expensive drug to treat Alzheimer’s. Under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, the controversial drug was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2021, despite disputes over whether it is effective in treating the debilitating disease.
Biogen, the maker of Aduhelm, originally priced the drug at $56,000 a year. After a considerable outcry from patient advocates and others, Biogen announced that the drug would cost $28,200 effective January 1, 2022, when the Medicare premium hikes kicked in. In April, Medicare instituted strict rules regarding who could receive Aduhelm, restricting its use mainly to clinical trials.
On May 27, the Biden administration said that despite the halving of Aduhelm’s cost, and also its restriction to a small patient pool, it would not be lowering the monthly premiums deducted from seniors’ Social Security benefits. The administration justified this move on the basis of “legal and operational hurdles.”
In a report to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, CMS wrote that “a mid-year administrative redetermination [of Medicare premiums] would be prohibitively complex and highly risky, requiring significant resources and unproven technical solutions from the varied entities which manage premium collection and payment.” In practical terms, this means that Medicare enrollees will not be receiving either a refund on the premium increases already collected this year, nor will premiums be adjusted for the balance of 2022.
CMS claims that 2023 premiums will be adjusted to reflect the lowering of the price of Aduhelm and the reduction in the drug’s usage. There is no guarantee, however, that such an adjustment will take place, as other price hikes demanded by the pharmaceutical industry or other segments of the for-profit health care system are highly likely. And the government has seldom rebated money that it has already collected from the population.
CMS also makes the fantastic claim that seniors are unlikely to feel the impact of the premium hike due to a 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment in their Social Security benefits that began in January 2022. This small increase has already been more than eaten up by rapidly rising inflation hitting food, housing, transportation and other basic necessities. The impact on seniors is particularly dire, with more than 7 million living in poverty and 7.3 million food-insecure, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
The news that 2022 premium hikes will not be refunded or scaled back comes as Biden officials are moving forward with an 8.5 percent increase in payments made to private insurers operating Medicare Advantage plans in 2023.
Under Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, beneficiaries pay their monthly premiums to the federal government but receive coverage from a private insurer for inpatient hospital and outpatient services, typically including prescription drug coverage as well. The establishment of these plans marked a major step in the dismantling of Medicare as a government program. Companies operating these plans are incentivized to limit the amount of medical care received by their enrollees in order to boost profits.
Dr. Susan Rogers, president of Physicians for a National Healthcare Program, told The Lever, “Medicare Advantage insurers such as United Healthcare, Anthem, and CVS/Aetna are celebrating record profits in the tens of billions of dollars.” She added, “Their business plan is simple: inflate their Medicare payments by making seniors look sicker than they are, and then pocket more of those Medicare dollars by ruthlessly denying seniors’ care.”
Enrollment in Medicare Advantage—signed into law in 1997 by Bill Clinton—has more than doubled over the past decade. In 2021, more than 26 million people were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, or about 42 percent of the total Medicare population. Private plans have cost Medicare $146 billion since 2008.
In addition to hiking Medicare premiums and funneling more money to Medicare Advantage insurers, Biden has expanded Medicare privatization. The Direct Contracting Entity (DCE) program was launched in April 2019 by the CMS, during the Trump administration, under the auspices the CMS Innovation Center, known as CMMI.
Similar to Medicare Advantage, the DCE program allows intermediary companies to offer unique benefits, such as gym memberships. DCE operators range from private insurers to publicly traded companies to private equity firms. As for-profit entities they are also incentivized to limit patient care, particularly for the critically ill.
While Medicare patients choose to sign up for Advantage plans, patients can be enrolled in DCE health plans without their informed consent. Remarkably, seniors for instance may be “auto-aligned” to a DCE if any primary care physician they have visited in the past two years is affiliated with that DCE. Seniors are being swindled by these plans via methods more unscrupulous than scammers trying to obtain Social Security numbers over the phone.
Notably, CMMI was created under the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010 by Barack Obama. CMMI’s aim was to develop new payment models in Medicare and Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, without going through the formal legislative process that requires public comment.
The DCE program is now being expanded by the Biden administration under a new name—ACO REACH, or Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s office told The Lever that 350,000 seniors were assigned to DCE plans as of January 2022, none of whom signed up voluntarily.
In the US health care system, access to and the affordability of medical care is subordinated to the profits of the private insurers, pharmaceuticals and giant hospital chains. Democratic and Republican politicians alike are concerned with upholding the interests of this market-driven system, not by the needs of patients and health care workers. One need only follow the money to see who benefits.
Business Insider reports that Biden received roughly $47 million from health care industry executives during his 2020 presidential campaign. The leadership of DCE contractor Clover Health donated $500,000 to the main super PAC for Senate Democrats in 2020, while Chamath Palihapitiya, the company’s financier, donated $750,000 to the same super PAC, according to the Open Secrets web site.
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Nolte: Dems Freak as Obamacare Premiums Set to Spike By 53%
Democrats are in total control of the federal government and about 13 million Obamacare recipients are about to receive notice of a 53 percent premium price increase.
The only thing that will stop reality from hitting these 13 million is if Congress acts to extend the subsidies, which will cost the American taxpayer $70 billion over three years.
Hey, remember when Obama and his media fact-checkers told us Obamacare would DECREASE the deficit?
U.S. President Barack Obama sits during the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Good times, good times…
The premium increases would be substantial if Congress does not act, with an average rise of around 53 percent, affecting roughly 13 million people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Middle class people making more than 400 percent of the federal poverty line would be especially hard hit, given that they would go back to not being eligible for any financial assistance and have to pay the full cost of their premiums.
[…]
“Right before the election, people would get notices of big premium increases, and that will certainly not reflect well on Democrats,” said Larry Levitt, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
You see, this is what happens when you do business with the government. You are constantly a victim of the whims of an unaccountable bureaucracy and mercenary politicians.
These Obamacare recipients are trapped. They have no place to go. No competition to turn to. And no upstart will come along to try and make everything work better and cheaper. You can’t compete with a rigged system as powerful as the federal government.
(Mikhail Nilov/ Pexels)
Look at the movie Joker. What turned the Joker into Joker was losing his government-subsidized mental health care. His whole life went to shit because the government made him dependent and then pulled the rug out from under him.
Look at all the veterans who died because they could only use the Veteran’s Administration.
It is utterly idiotic to give the government total say over something as vital as healthcare. There’s no competition, which means you are totally reliant on a single entity, which makes you extremely vulnerable and removes all the control and power a free market offers — a free market where you can always do business with the other guy down the road.
So what’s holding up this $70 billion subsidy from being passed? The same old BS. Right now, it’s part of a much bigger package. In other words, it’s attached to an expensive piece of emotional blackmail that has nothing to do with lowering premiums.
The hope is that a clean bill can be proposed and passed, but they are running out of time. August is the deadline, and even then, “waiting to the last minute to extend the subsidies would pose operational difficulties,” for the “Affordable Care Act marketplaces need time to set up their systems before the enrollment period[.]”
Hahahahaha: they’re still calling it the Affordable Care Act.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
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