Did You Know? December 2017
Most Americans think the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us is much smaller than it actually is. A 2010 survey found that most Americans thought the top 20 percent owned 58 percent of the nation’s wealth.
The actual number was 84 percent. The gap has grown steadily in the last four decades. The concentration of wealth at the very top has grown faster than for any other group. In 1979, the top 1 percent owned 20.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. In 2013, it owned 36.7 percent.
What are the likely consequences of continued growth in inequality?
(Data from various Federal agencies as quoted in Wealth, Income and Power by G. William Domhoff)
If you believe issues like this deserve our attention,please join us for our Indivisible meeting at 3:30 PM in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month. During the Dec. 12 meeting, we will discuss the growth of inequality and its implications.
Did You Know? November 2017
Did you know that the Aurora Public School District has an annual budget of approximately half a billion dollars? The district serves about 40,000 students and employs nearly 5,000 teachers, administrators, bus drivers, custodians, etc.
Moreover, the funds for this huge enterprise all come from taxes of one sort or another. While candidates for the school board run on a non-partisan basis, in recent years, large amounts of out-of-state money have been spent on behalf of candidates who support using school district funds for charter and private schools, leaving students in traditional public schools with fewer resources.
If you believe that issues like this deserve your attention, please join us, HG Indivisible meeting, 3:30 PM in theAspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month.
During the November meeting, we will take a deeper look at critical issues facing schools.
Did You Know? October 2017
Income inequality has become steadily worse in the United States. Since 1979 income for those in the bottom 80% has increased 18%. Income for those in the 85-99th percentile range has increased by 63%. Income for those in the top 1% has gone up 188%. Of the 38 nations with medium to high standards of living in 2013, only Chili, Mexico and Turkey had higher rates of inequality. This level of inequality has implications for our democracy and future national strength. (Data sources: Congressional Budget Office and OECD)
If you believe issues like this deserve our attention, please join us for our HG Indivisible meeting at 3:30 pm in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month. During our meeting in October we will discuss the growth of inequality and its implications in some depth.
Did You Know? September 2017
The Federal Reserve Bank has begun to study financial inequality in the United States to determine its impact on economic opportunity, social mobility, consumer behavior and our overall economy. Initial data show that income inequality is smaller than wealth inequality. The top 5% take home about 50% of income while the bottom 50% take home about 15%. For wealth (real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.) the gap is bigger with the top 5% owning about 63% of the nation’s assets and the bottom 50% owning about 3%. While it is still possible to go from rags to riches in the U.S., it is highly improbable. (Data Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank)
If you believe issues like this deserve our attention, please join us for our HG Indivisible meeting at 3:30 pm in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month. At our meeting in September we will discuss the role of big money in politics. Our October meeting will focus on inequality and tax policy.
Did You Know? August 2017
Government funds nearly two-thirds of all U.S. health care costs. A study published in the American Journal for Public Health reported that per capita spending for health care was $9,267 in 2016. Of that amount, government spending totaled $5,960, or 64.3%. Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Administration health programs accounted for 47.8 percent. Government outlays for public employees’ health insurance and tax breaks for employers who provide health insurance for workers in the private sector account for the rest. (Sources quoted in the study include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of Management and Budget, the Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service.)
If you believe issues like this deserve our attention, please join us for our HG Indivisible meeting at 3:30 pm in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month. At our meeting in August we will discuss the book Dark Money by Jane Mayer.
Did You Know? July 2017
The average per-person cost of medical care is over $9,000 per year in the United States. Healthcare expenditures now account for over 17% of national GDP. The United States spends more on health care (as a percentage of GDP) than any other developed country. Yet, on measures of health care effectiveness (life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, reported chronic medical conditions, etc.) we rank dead last. In terms of cost effectiveness, we simply aren’t getting our money’s worth.
Healthcare spending has far outstripped both GDP growth and increases in median family income. In the period 1960-2014, median family income grew 78% and GDP grew 447%. Healthcare costs have increased by 873% during the same period. (All these costs were adjusted for inflation to provide valid comparison.)
If healthcare costs continue to increase at the rate since 1960, it will bankrupt the nation. Rather than simply shifting costs, we believe congress needs to focus on lowering costs.
If you believe issues like this deserve our attention, please join us for our Indivisible meeting at 3:30 in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of each month. Topics for the July meeting will include medical care and it impact on national debt.
(Data cited is from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Commonwealth Fund, OCED, NBC News, and the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank)
Did You Know? June 2017
The Heather Gardens Indivisible group believes that our democracy depends upon a broadly and factually informed voting public. The current hyper-partisan climate makes it hard to find unbiased factual information. With what we hope will be a series of short monthly columns, we will endeavor to provide unbiased sources of information about important issues. This month, we recommend USAFacts
(https://www.usafacts.org). This web site provides all sorts of information about our nation including revenue and spending at all levels of government. The information is drawn from government agencies and is presented in a very readable and searchable format. For example, you can easily look up the percent of federal spending goes for Medicare, our military, or justice systems. It won’t answer every question, but it is an excellent place to start. Check it out. The Indivisible group meets at 3:30 p.m. in the Aspen Room on the second Tuesday of every month.