U.S. HEADED TOWARD BECOMING A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY?
Is The U.S. Headed Toward Becoming Third World Country?
Middle class melting away! Sen. Bernie Sanders responded Wednesday to a new report by the Social Security Administration which highlighted the expanding income and wealth gap in the United States. The report showed that half of all workers in the U.S. made less than $28,031 last year while the wealthiest 110 workers received a $14.2 million increase in average pay.
“What this new report shows, and what many other studies have shown over the last 40 years, is that the United States is experiencing the kind of obscene levels of wealth and income inequality that are not unusual in impoverished third world countries,” said Sanders. “Since 1999, median income has gone down by nearly $5,000 and more Americans are working longer hours for lower wages.”
Sanders has proposed legislation to combat income and wealth inequality including an increase in the minimum wage, a nationwide jobs program, fixing failed trade policies and more.
According to a recent report, released every year by the Social Security Administration, average wages for all workers went down last year compared to 2012, except for the 110 wealthiest Americans making over $50 million last year who received a $14.2 million increase in average pay.
“What this new report shows, and what many other studies have shown over the last 40 years, is that the United States is experiencing the kind of obscene levels of wealth and income inequality that are not unusual in impoverished third world countries. Since 1999, median income has gone down by nearly $5,000 and more Americans are working longer hours for lower wages.”
The report also shows that last year 39 percent of all American workers made less than $20,000 and more than 50 percent of all American workers made less than $30,000.
The median wage of $28,031 for American workers is lower today than it was in 1999, after adjusting for inflation.
Sanders concluded, “If we don’t act boldly to create millions of new jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, increase the minimum wage to a living wage, and end our disastrous trade policies, the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a Third World economy,” said Sanders. “We have got to act with a fierce sense of urgency to rebuild the disappearing middle class.”
- To reduce income and wealth inequality and rebuild the middle class, Sanders has called for the following:
- Increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to at least $10.10 an hour.
- Investing $1 trillion in rebuilding our roads, bridges, airports, railways, dams, water systems, and culverts to create at least 13 million new jobs.
- Rewriting our trade policies to make sure that American corporations invest in the U.S. and not in China.
- Transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy and energy efficiency to create millions of new jobs.