"80% of working Americans make just over $19,000 a year before taxes. Just remember that."

Care to source that? This would appear to indicate otherwise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona...e_distribution

What's pathetic about this discussion is that people like lilpup attack teachers and others in government as the source of their pain. If you're underpaid and undercompensated by your employer, or in your profession, how is that the fault of DetroitTeacher and English and others who work in the education profession? They're not the ones taking advantage of you. When a company like Apple is sitting on $78 billion in cash and a corporation like GE pays no corporate income taxes, the idea that there's not enough money in this country to ensure that people are paid and compensated fairly is ridiculous on its face. But the rich and powerful are laughing at the rest of us when they see how easily they can get us attacking each other and doing are best to knock each other further down the income ladder. Quit being such a rube and a patsy and allowing yourself to be played that way.