The Race to the Bottom

"The Race to the Bottom"
by Shayne Munger
Daily Kos
Thu May 25, 2006 at 05:37:41 PM PDT

The Federal Reserve prepares a Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) every three years. The latest survey, released in April 2006, measures the net worth (total assets) of all households in the nation in 2004. This survey is a summary of a complete and through analysis of the individual wealth of different groups of all Americans. This latest report shows a huge inequality of wealth between a small number of households at the top of the income scale and those of us at the bottom half. In addition this report shows that this inequality is consistently growing and is becoming a permanent part of our society. This analysis reinforces my consistent contention that we are well on our way to a third world economy. It also shows that the conservatives are succeeding in their goal of dismantling all the advances in wealth and security that were gained for the average American family through the Democratic social programs of The New Deal, The New Frontier and The Great Society.

The conservatives have made the dismantling of the American social programs the main part of their agenda since FDR took office in 1933 and after he moved to smash the inequality between the American classes that was one of the main causes of the "Great Depression". These Democratic programs led to the amazing growth of the American middle class, the establishment of an economy that was the envy of the world and to the rise of the United States a superpower that it is today.

These "economic" conservatives started their grab for power with the rise of Barry Goldwater and continued with the elections of Richard Nixon, Ronald Regan, George Walker Bush and George W. Bush and also with the Republican take over of the House of Representatives in the Mid 90s. They accomplished this by using wedge issues to ally themselves with the Dixiecrats of the South and the Christian conservative movement of the "Bible Belt". These wedge issues have been used to take advantage of the racial bigotry and the belief in religious theocracy by a large portion of the American electorate from the very beginning of the conservative movement. The economic conservatives, consisting of the very wealthy and corporate and financial leaders, got people to vote against their financial and social interests by exploiting these racial fears and their religious fanaticism. They are continuing to implement this agenda and dramatically accelerating this attack on the Democratic Party's moral values under President George W. Bush and his rubber stamp, corporate controlled, Republican Congress. To make matters worse, the Republican clone Democrats from the Democratic Leadership Council have aided and abetted them in this drive to the bottom. That is the bottom line for the wealthy and the corporate executives and the bottom of the barrel for the American family. These DLC Democrats include the likes of Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton Dianne Feinstein, Evan Bayh and Rahm Emmanuel. You can see this in their support for The WTO, the Fast Track Authority for the President, NAFTA, The Chinese Trade Agreement, The Bankruptcy Bill, CAFTA and the many other unfair trade agreements that have been a disaster for the American worker, the American middle class and the American family.

So let's look at the economic impact on the wealth of all Americans as a result of this immoral agenda that is being pursued by the wealthy and corporate lobby conservatives of this country....