Why Is the Debt So High? Bernie Sanders Explains Federal Spending (2011)

Medicare Part D, also called the Medicare prescription drug benefit, is a United States federal-government program to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs and prescription drug insurance premiums for Medicare beneficiaries. It was enacted as part of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (which also made changes to the public Part C Medicare health plan program) and went into effect on January 1, 2006.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of Pub.L. 110–343, 122 Stat. 3765, enacted October 3, 2008), commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, and supply cash directly to banks. The funds for purchase of distressed assets were mostly redirected to inject capital into banks and other financial institutions while the Treasury continued to examine the usefulness of targeted asset purchases.[1][2] Both foreign and domestic banks are included in the program. The Act was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson during the global financial crisis of 2008 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008.

Wealth inequality in the United States (also known as the wealth gap[1]) refers to the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments.[2]

However, according to the federal reserve, "For most households, pensions and Social Security are the most important sources of income during retirement, and the promised benefit stream constitutes a sizable fraction of household wealth" and "including pensions and Social Security in net worth makes the distribution more even".[3]

Just prior to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address, media[4] reported that the top wealthiest 1% possess 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80% own 7%; similarly, but later, the media reported, the "richest 1 percent in the United States now own more additional income than the bottom 90 percent".[5] The gap between the top 10% and the middle class is over 1,000%; that increases another 1000% for the top 1%. The average employee "needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour."[6] Although different from income inequality, the two are related. In Inequality for All—a 2013 documentary with Robert Reich in which he argued that income inequality is the defining issue for the United States—Reich states that 95% of economic gains went to the top 1% net worth (HNWI) since 2009 when the recovery allegedly started.[7]

A 2011 study found that US citizens across the political spectrum dramatically underestimate the current US wealth inequality and would prefer a far more egalitarian distribution of wealth.[8]

Wealth is usually not used for daily expenditures or factored into household budgets, but combined with income it comprises the family's total opportunity "to secure a desired stature and standard of living, or pass their class status along to one's children".[9] Moreover, "wealth provides for both short- and long-term financial security, bestows social prestige, and contributes to political power, and can be used to produce more wealth."[10] Hence, wealth possesses a psychological element that awards people the feeling of agency, or the ability to act. The accumulation of wealth grants more options and eliminates restrictions about how one can live life. Dennis Gilbert asserts that the standard of living of the working and middle classes is dependent upon income and wages, while the rich tend to rely on wealth, distinguishing them from the vast majority of Americans.[11] A September 2014 study by Harvard Business School declared that the growing disparity between the very wealthy and the lower and middle classes is no longer sustainable.

Why Is the Debt So High? Bernie Sanders Explains Federal Spending (2011)

4 thoughts on “Why Is the Debt So High? Bernie Sanders Explains Federal Spending (2011)

  1. Bernie Sanders has always been on the side of the people. Too bad the media
    swayed public opinion against him.

    • And media is owned by the rich fucks that are enjoying all the benefits of
      this sick and twisted system. Unfortunately average imbecile out there
      thinks that universal healthcare is “comunism” 😀

  2. People don’t realize how big budget numbers are. It’s hard to imagine how
    large a billion dollars, or a trillion dollars is. We can relate to
    seconds. 60 seconds in every minute, 3,600 seconds go by every hour. It
    takes about 12 days to reach a million seconds. A 2 week old baby is
    already over a million seconds old. A billion seconds takes almost 32
    YEARS. A trillion seconds takes almost 32,000 years. Yes, that’s 32
    THOUSAND years to reach a trillion seconds. It’s time for the politicians
    to attempt to fix this, and stop the stalling and blaming. I guess it’s
    partly our own fault for repeatedly voting them back into office.

  3. This is the stupid logic of socialists/democrats. In what world do the
    government “pay” when talking about tax breaks? A tax break simply means
    taking less of other peoples money. It’s NOT the governments money – it is
    OUR money that they take and squander/misuse/waste.

Leave a Reply to howdydutt1e Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *