When it comes to poverty in America, the Republican candidates for President are evenly divided between the theorists—led by the brainy Rick Perry, and the realists—best and loudly represented by Donald Trump. The realists approach to the poor is simply expressed by the statement, “who gives a shit,” so that further discussion is unnecessary. The theorists, on the other hand, are still firmly committed to the “trickle down” approach and believe that abolishing regulations on occasionally offending banks and multinational corporations will accelerate the process of more for everyone. Certainly, the Republican Governors and members of Congress have been trying to do just that.
Now, it appears that the theorists have big data on their side. The American Society of Trickle Down Economics or DRIP as it is affectionately known reports that the recovery from the Great Recession—certainly a trickle down process for most—has finally begun to enrich the “minor millionaires” (loosely defined as anyone with more than 5 but less than 10 million in assets). Their latest projection strongly suggest that the enrichment of the upper middle class will begin sometime in the year 3400, fully a year earlier than originally projected. DRIP will update all of us on the progress of “trickle down” every 100 years, if it is not too expensive—so stay tuned.
In a related story, a new report on child welfare has more children living in poverty now (22%) than before the recession in 2008(18%). That’s about 3 million kids.