Columbia County Political News

DOW BE DAMNED!
Part One

Recently the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 26,000 an unthinkable mark 10 years ago.  Now that the stock market is soaring, what does that mean for you?  When the Republican lead Congress passed the new tax reform bill it was touted as the "greatest" tax bill every.  President Trump said, "this bill is going to allow corporations to bring billions back to the U.S., which they will use to create jobs and increase wages, raising up the middle class.  To this point we've seen corporate revenue go up, stock values go up, but what about your paycheck?

How many of you reading this know the DJIA, (Dow Jones Industrial Average) is up 28.5% over the last year?  Can you see that increase in your pay? Has your financial situation gotten dramatically better over the last year?  I don't ask these questions to be a downer, I ask these questions to make a point to the average middle class american citizen.  The stock market is a great vehicle to make money, it's also risky, you have to be in it, to win it!

The reason almost half of you aren't aware of the stock market gains, nearly half of you aren't in the stock market. "54% of Americans invest in the market, either through individual stocks, mutual funds, pensions or retirement plans like a 401(k), according to Gallup", that means 46% isn't in the market at all.  The tax cuts and stock market has made the rich richer, (CNBC) "84 percent of the stock in the United States is owned by the top 10 percent of households by net wealth".  (CNBC) What's incredible, statistics show more than 93 percent of the stock is owned by the top 20 percent of households. The bottom 80 percent of households owns only about 7 percent of stock.

If you think you're getting rich by the rise of the stock market think again, unless you are one of the top 20% or one of the lucky few who got into the market before its historic rise.  There is no doubt the tax cuts have increased corporate profits and spurred economic growth in the U.S., yet, the national minimum wage remains at $7.25 an hour.  You would think, if Congress can create a bill to increase corporate profits, why can't they raise the national minimum wage to at least $10 an hour?  Although I'm thrilled the stock market is doing well the middle class is seeing little of that gain in their paychecks.

This market and recent Republican tax cuts is widening the wealth gap between the have and have nots, but listen to President Trump tell it, you would think everyone in the Country had a good paying job, got a wage increase and a big bonus.  Don't be fooled by the gimmicks corporate greed is alive and well.  I will talk about the tax cuts, corporate profits and the middle class in part two.