Here is the story in the LA Times this morning:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wages11apr11.story
Yes, you are right, your salary isn't what it used to be. Unless, that is, you are a CEO, and then you are raking in the money.
Further, many companies are not hiring either, as evidenced by this story in the San Jose Mercury this morning:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/11364874.htm
So where does this all leave us?
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It means that the rise in gas, health care, housing and food will eat away at what little money most people have to spend for the "extras." And that in turn is going to, at some point, show up with a slow down in the economy.
As Bondad has explained and pointed out, we are on "thin ice" with this economy, and we have been for some time. The policies of this administration have done nothing to help the overall economy, rather the policies have helped those who are well off continue to make more money at the expense of those who are in the "middle" in this country.
What exactly has Bush done to help with health care in this country? Nothing other than to blame the systems woes on "lawsuits" which has almost no effect on the bottom line of the cost of health care.
Increasingly we find our country with a divide that is going to harm us, we see more money going into the hands of fewer and fewer people, which is a sure way to destroy the fabric of our economic base.