Why doesn't anybody challenge these guys who write this stuff?

He writes "A record number of Americans receiving food stamps. "

Great. There are a record number of Americans. The article he cites also points out that the percentage was higher in the early nineties. No depression then.

He writes " Americans filing for unemployment benefits reached its highest level in two years last week"

The number, in the article he cites, is BETTER THAN EXPECTED. What's more, this snip is a quote:

"'While this reflects a meaningful deterioration of the job market, the pace of layoffs is considerably lower than is typical of previous economic slumps,' said economists from Nomura Economics Research. "

Later, he quotes an economist I've heard little about, so I looked into his past. Mr. Roubini, among other things, has posted in favor of a single world currency. You read that correctly. Is that a good idea??

In another, Mr. Leonard notes:

"Last October, citing Internal Revenue Service data, the Wall Street Journal reported that the top 1 percent of Americans earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005. That's the highest measure of income inequality since, you guessed it, before the Great Depression."

Yes *IF* stock sales are considered as "income". If you sold the family home for $500,000 netting $400,000, would you consider that as "income"? No. In Mr. Leonard's world, income includes the sale of assets. That's code for returning to the old days of high taxation.

So while he wrings his hands over whether this is another Great Depression, be aware that the rest of us, who keep our credit clean and prime, and don't borrow money needlessly, will go about living our lives.

One last thing: there are plenty of good paying jobs - they just aren't factory jobs. If you want to return to the days where a high school diploma was a ticket to an upper middle class factory life for the average Joe and Jane: those days are gone. Get over it.

Dear Lynx,

You wrote:

"Heck, square_n_level doesn't even understand the concept of "income". With people like these, how can you have a conversation? They lack the basic education and understanding necessary to move beyond "but Limbaugh said so!""

Here's your homework assignment, Lynx: look at the front of Form 1040 (yes, the tax return). Now, find line 13. This is the spot where your reconciled Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses enter in to your INCOME. Some of these are taxed today at reduced rates (some not), but it is still INCOME which adds to your Adjusted Gross INCOME. If you sell anything for a capital gain, and you do not have offsetting capital losses, you will required to pay INCOME tax at a percentage of the amount of the recognized capital gain. Hopefully that's not confusing for you. Capital gains is INCOME for taxation purposes, with a reduced rate (today).

But here's the point (with an example) for our better-educated readers: Michael Eisner's 1997 sale of $570M of stock options. Back out his stock options, and his salary for the year was $750,000. A lot of money - no question. So my point is simply that stock option exercises and sales are the lion's share of the rich/poor income disparity people complain about. I would think that everybody knows this by now.

The wealth disparity is a different discussion. People at all levels simply need to live within their means. It's not hard to point out the oversized SUVs, houses, and living-large vacations that drive a lot of the debt out today. A Fed governor has stated that people "used their houses as ATM machines" and we all know where that money went (hint: it wasn't buy groceries).