Haves and Have Nots Seminar - Moody Middle School

"The Social Security Administration has often cited a figure that disability fraud amounts to less than 1% of cases." This article talks about how Rand Paul could be effected by his remarks about disability misuse. However the more helpful part of the article for this project is how it also gives very helpful facts about how disability is not as abused as everyone believes it is.

"JOFFE-WALT: Well, it's definitely not easy. It can be a long arduous process to apply for disability the first time, the second time. And this is part of the problem with the programs growing. As more and more people apply for disability, there's a growing backlog of applications. It can take two years to move through an appeal for a disability claim. You hear stories of people dying while they're waiting. And while you're waiting, for the most part you can't work, so you're not making income. And then in the end, of course, there's no guarantee that you will get back on the program." People are applying to get assistance for disabilities however there is a growing line. While waiting, the disabled cannot make any income.

"The income of a typical American family has barely risen since the 1970s. The share of national income captured by the richest 1 percent of Americans is even higher than it was at the dawn of the 20th century." At the beginning, this article talks about how the income has changed since the early 20th century. It also shows different graphs about taxes and one about how the contribution from the richest Americans to the economy has grown. The author says that the United States has stayed about the same in the past few decades but the income gap keeps on growing.

"We see a narrowing of the current income gap as beneficial to the economy. In addition to strengthening the quality of economic expansions, bringing levels of income inequality under control would improve U.S. economic resilience in the face of potential risks to growth. From a consumer perspective, benefits would extend across income levels, boosting purchasing power among those in the middle and lower levels of the pay scale--while the richest Americans would enjoy increased spending power in a sustained economic expansion. Policymakers should take care, however, to avoid policies and practices that are either too heavy handed or foster an unchecked widening of the wealth gap. Extreme approaches on either side would stunt GDP growth and lead to shorter, more fragile expansionary periods." This article explains why income inequality in contributing to a lower economy, and why it is leading to harm of economic growthin the U.S.

"Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at UC-Berkeley, has been doing just that for years. And according to his research, U.S. income inequality has been increasing steadily since the 1970s, and now has reached levels not seen since 1928" Even though it may be a topic that most are uncomfortable talking about, it is an issue. U.S. income inequality has been increasing since the 1970's and it is not a necessary factor in a healthy and free democracy

"But even if the 53-year-old Ohio man learned of a job he could do with herniated discs, he said, the government disability program feels like "a blanket covering you, and to walk out from it…at my age, it's a little intimidating."" The article outlines how a former truck driver named James Ottesen is trying to cope with his disability, and how he wishes to not live off of government welfare money. This shows that the "Haves" should and do care for the "Have-Nots" in America, but the "Have-Nots" would rather support themselves rather than accepting free money. Additionally, Ottesen describes how walking away from government protection is very difficult with his disabilities and age, and that he would like to prove that while his body may be broken with herniated discs, his mind is still as sharp as ever.

Please note that this article should be accessed from a google search, for the link above does not present the full article.

"The lack of jobs is the new normal because our tax and regulatory policies are driving more businesses and jobs to other countries. One would think that with so many Baby Boomers retiring, a ton of jobs would become available. Apparently, that isn't happening, which shows how sick our job market is. It's time for new leadership to address the fundamental problems: taxes, regulations, education (geared toward future job requirements) and reduction of illegal immigration." This article speaks about the responsibility of the people that can change the unemployment. It brings a negative point that unemployment is seeming to be the new normal and that these required responsibilities should be fixed for helping employment even more.

This article talks about the instability of income throughout different social classes and how it can lead to poor economic growth. Additionally, it explains for why the the gap between the rich and the rest of the community will continue to increase.

"To only modest notice, during the campaign the Federal Reserve put forth more sobering news about income inequality: Inflation-adjusted earnings of the bottom 90 percent of Americans fell between 2010 and 2013, with those near the bottom dropping the most. Meanwhile, incomes in the top decile rose." This article provides knowledge regarding income inequality through various sets of data. Facts expressed in this article show the importance of income inequality, who is influenced by it, how taxes influence it, and where the United States stands versus other countries on the topic.

"The modern income gap began growing dramatically in the late 1970s because of several factors, Obama said. Technology and globalization allowed employers to reduce manufacturing jobs, or move them offshore." This article is focused around how income inequality affects America and what Obama's opinion is about it. It includes topics such as how income is more of a dividing factor that race and that to lessen the  gap between the rich and poor minimum wages should be increased and better education should be given to everyone.

"Even as many urban areas have experienced a marked resurgence, America's farthest-flung suburbs have been facing deep and substantial challenges, as their rates of growth have slowed and their crime and poverty rates have risen. " This article mainly focuses on suburban views of society. Exclusively, on substantial challenges, crime, poverty, and the economy.

"President Obama called it "the defining issue of our time" in his 2012 State of the Union, but he did so without ever uttering the phrase "income inequality." Perhaps that's because income inequality is one of those alliterative word pairs everyone's heard by now but few fully understand." This artical really helped me understand more about income inequality, what it means, how its measured, ect.

"In studies of many different types of human communities, anthropologists have shown that, as groups get larger and more complex, their wealth tends to get distributed more and more unequally." This article describes how societies have grown economically grown over time and how they are affected. 

"5 percent of the potential work force is more or less permanently out of action. That's not good." This article tells the reader about how the amount of disability claims in the USA is increasing and the causes and effects of this. Also, it tells about how the disability program is losing money and how it must be changed in the near future (2016).

"Oxfam releases study finding that world's richest 1 percent are set to control more than half of all global wealth by 2016, marking watershed in rise of income inequality; report, which comes days before annual World Economic Forum meeting, indicates that divide is starker than at any point in recent history. " This article shows that the gap between the classes, and ultimately income, is growing incredibly fast. This shows that something needs to be done to at least slow this down. I don't think that we should eliminate the classes, just decrease the gap.

While the average income of the population has remained largely unchanged, those receiving incomes in the top 5% have experienced a steady climb in their wages. One possible cause of this increased gap that this article mentions is increased globalization, which, according to the article, has befitted American corporations at the expense of lower and middle class workers by providing access to cheaper unskilled labor. In the video, is explains that some people have the ability to go to college, but their parents cannot afford it because of jobs like working at Walmart. A lot of the upper class can afford education and their needs, but the most of the time, the middle class can't because they don't have well paying jobs.

"What I am writing about is "educational responsibility," and, to be as tactfully blunt as possible, it is written to see if I am the only one who is upset with the ongoing diatribe from groups that choose to bash public school systems and are of the opinion that educators are the ones to blame for failure rates, poor test scores and homework not being turned in on time or at all." This article explains how people should stop bashing on the school education public system and the educators and should focus on the student's responsibilities. The author explains how less blame and responsibility should be lifted off of the teachers because students must learn how to be responsible with their own work

"WINNERS TAKE ALL The superrich have grabbed the bulk of the past three decades' gains." This article discusses how everyday people think the income distribution is equal, but in reality, the top 0.1%-0.01% control about 2/3s of the American networth