OT..Lentinman....The disparity between the rich vs the poor is the greatest since the Depression. It will only continue that way (and increase IMO). Could you imagine the control future generations of the Gates or Buffet's would have in the United States in 100 years if their families inherited all that money? The power and control would be amazing. There would be nothing like the growth of the middle class (after WWII) to dilute out their influence.
Sen. Edwards was discussing his plan of raising taxes on the most wealthy to pay for subsidized health care for all. Someone against it made an interesting point on whether we should just raise the top rate back to the historical 90%. He said he'd rather raise taxes than cut his proposed health care plans. The response back was if you raise taxes on the rich it won't matter, they already have their money. They will always be rich. They'll just invest to protect it. What you are doing in fact is making it so that the middle-class, no matter how hard they work, can never become rich.
And in reality, with the U.S. Government's fiscal irresponsibility for the last 20 years, they've pretty much doomed future generations to that. My generation is probably the last one that will be better off than their parents and I don't even know if that holds true (cause my parents bought a house and raised a family on 1 middle-class income, not the current two. In my situation I'm much better off, but I'm speaking in general terms for all). The thing of it is IMO the average person does not realize this or can turn off the tv set long enough to care. That's why I still have faith in them spending recklessly until the day of reckoning comes. Think of it this way:
(1) More people vote in American Idol than have ever voted in real elections. These are the people who think the U.S. Government is taking care of them.
(2) 2/3 of homeowners (according to bankrate.com) don't even know the specifics of what type of mortgage they have.
(3) Everyone complains about high gas, yet the moment GM does a $1500 "money back" gimmick the sales of Suburbans will shoot way up. They will buy based on "monthly payment" not on the actual cost of the vehicle.
It'll be interesting for certain. I respect your position of sitting on the sidelines. I always say the key is not how much you make in the market, but not to lose any. I'm just willing to continue taking a bit more risk for awhile longer is all. I'm already up a decent level now for the year. I'm willing to give up those gains (back to even) for the risk of sticking around to make more. I will admit though that the risk vs reward is not as good as it was even a few years ago.
Dave
