"The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion
From the Bottom 90% -- And That's Made the U.S. Less Secure":
"There are some who blame the current plight of working Americans on structural changes in the underlying economy--on automation, and especially on globalization. According to this popular narrative, the lower wages of the past 40 years were the unfortunate but necessary price of keeping American businesses competitive in an increasingly cutthroat global market. But in fact, the $50 trillion transfer of wealth the RAND report documents has occurred entirely within the American economy, not between it and its trading partners. No, this upward redistribution of income, wealth, and power wasn't inevitable; it was a choice--a direct result of the trickle-down policies we chose to implement since 1975.
"We chose to cut taxes on billionaires and to deregulate the financial industry. We chose to allow CEOs to manipulate share prices through stock buybacks, and to lavishly reward themselves with the proceeds. We chose to permit giant corporations, through mergers and acquisitions, to accumulate the vast monopoly power necessary to dictate both prices charged and wages paid. We chose to erode the minimum wage and the overtime threshold and the bargaining power of labor. For four decades, we chose to elect political leaders who put the material interests of the rich and powerful above those of the American people."
Working people used to see Democrats as their advocates, but too often Dems seem to have colluded in bringing about the changes that have facilitated the looting of the working class (see, e.g., the repeal of Glass-Steagall, the decision not to regulate credit derivatives, the bank bailout after the 2008 crash, et al.) I've felt frustrated that Dems haven't even been trying to make the case for helpful reforms. Why did we have to wait decades for Bernie Sanders to start talking about this stuff, before other Dems bothered even to give it lip service? Of course the Republicans are as bad or worse, but I think many voters are desperate for change; and to many, Trump seems prepared to disrupt both Dem and Republican establishments – that's part of how he's sold himself.
It's ironic and unfair that Biden probably tried to do more for workers than many other recent Dems, but I'm afraid the damage to the party's image had already been done, and Biden's efforts were too little too late to turn the ship around.
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