The Three Headed Monster Driving Stock Market Up and Everything Else Down

Originally posted at AcronymTV

Food Stamps benefits were reduced for about 47 million Americans on November 1st. More cuts to social safety net programs could be on the way. The poor and working class will continue to get pinched, while the wealthiest American are doing better today than before the financial crisis.

The top 10% of Americans in terms of wealth are doing better than ever, thanks to the fact that they own 80% of the stock market. McJobs pay so little that the minimum wage has decreased, when adjusted for inflation, by almost $3 an hour in the past 20 years. In last week’s Washington Post-ABC poll, 75 percent rated the state of the economy as “negative” or “poor.”

And, as Robert Reich reminds us, “many employers – including the nation’s largest, Wal-Mart – now pay so little that food stamps are necessary in order to keep food on the family table, and other forms of assistance are required to keep a roof overhead.”

The same forces that keep housing prices and consumer confidence low actually drive profit in the stock market. Don’t be fooled. There is a class war is in full swing. Ask yourself: how are we going to win?