Oklahoma Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Occupy Wall Street
Will someone explain what exactly is going on? I haven't watched enough tv to understand what is happening.
Re: Occupy Wall Street
This is my understanding of it also.
Basically, the government has defined the top 5% of wage earners as "rich" and these people bear the largest tax burden. The problem is that there is a HUGE difference between the people included in the 5% and those included in the 1%. Someone included in the 1% would be Warren Buffet and someone included in the 5%, quite honestly, are DH and I. Now, let's keep in mind those in the top 1% make most of their money on stock - these gains are taxed at VERY LOW rates (a max of 20%, I believe and Buffet has admitted his effective rate is 17%), while my husband and my WAGES - what we actually work for - are taxed at an effective rate of approx. 25%. So in reality, those that are actually WORKING are being taxed the most.
Are you following me so far?
So the point is the government needs to be looking at the top 1% for extra tax dollars, not the top 5% and I believe that is what the wall street occupiers are p!ssed off about.
Now, I am sure we can have a long drawn out conversation about who or what is considered "rich" in America given that the average household income is around $30k or something like that but - you can see, if you are a person that is working and being taxed more than someone that is buying and selling stocks for a living (and earns a gazillion dollars a year), that is kind of a problem.
Savvy?
Timely. I was just reading this. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/15/occupy-wall-street-why-baby-boomers-don-t-understand-the-protests.html
"Now, as the protests spread across the country, the core of the Occupy Wall Street movement?young, overeducated, and underemployed?is beginning to find common cause with many other people disillusioned with a social system that continues to grant its privileged elite ever-greater rewards."
In terms of the OWS movement itself, it's become kind of a protest-free-for-all for the "99%", meaning the lower 99% of wage earners. So, income discrepency between the top and the bottom, the tax burden of the middle class, corporation "personhood", debt, student loans, government bailouts to business, no jobs creation bills passed, etc.
I agree with many of their views, and I wish the movement was better organized.
As for the 1% vs 5%, I think our tax laws need some major revision. The highest tax bracket shouldn't be $250,000 and higher. We need more brackets. And the loopholes and tax cuts for the enormously wealthy need to go away.
We need a freaking fair tax. Although I am guessing DH and my tax liability wouldn't change. But that would at least be MY fault.
But yes, our tax system needs some VERY SERIOUS rehab. As most government programs do.
I was actually wondering the same thing yesterday. After searching for a while and not really coming up with anything I saw Dave talked about it on his show yesterday. Here is a link to his article on it but I would check out the archive for his show yesterday also.
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dear-occupy-wall-street/lifeandmoney_economy/text1/
I think part of the problem with the movement is that the goals are somewhat amorphous (or at least not clarified.) If I were in charge, I'd start with one issue (say, the problems with corporate personhood) and go from there. Instead, I think there's kind of a general unrest. This isn't unusual for social movements, at least until clear leaders emerge.
A lot of my students have been involved and I'm definitely passionate about growing inequality in our society. If you ever want to go check it out together, Okla, just let me know!