Rich begin feeling the pain in down economy

[UpInArms]

Source: Associated Press

The rich are sharing your financial pain (AP) -- and contributing to it.

It may have taken longer and it may not be as acute, but there are early hints that the economic slump is crimping the lifestyles of the wealthy.

They are investing more conservatively, spending less on luxury goods and are being more thrifty with their credit cards. Many are asking their personal shoppers and private-jet travel providers to seek the best deals rather than over-the-top extravagances.

That news may produce a shrug from many people who have lost their jobs or homes in this economy. The problem is that when the wealthy get stingy, it trickles down to the rest of us.

"It's a sluggish economy, and its difficulties are felt all over," said Joseph DiRenzo, a married 38-year-old father of three who left a hedge fund two years ago to enter commercial real estate.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WEALTHY_SPENDING?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-08-03-18-52-36

[Skittles]

1. oh where did I put that f***ing thing

oh here it is :nopity:

[and-justice-for-all]

55. HA!!

I'm sure ShrubCo would bail them out.

[wordpix]

65. ShrubCo has already bailed them with his $billion$ to Bear Stearns and the rest

:nopity:

[knixphan]

82. LOL!!!!

[OhioChick]

2. .....

:nopity:

[yardwork]

3. I cannot express the level of contempt and disdain I feel for this article

and the people supposedly "suffering."

And I also noticed and call bullshit on the tired old trotting out of the "trickle down" meme.

[wordpix]

66. me, too. As if when times were better , money poured down (sarcasm) for the rest. A drip, not a

trickle, is the best the rich have done for the country lately, if that. The rich are always looking for a deal to pay people as little as possible while they make their millions. :puke:

[KansDem]

71. I think former House rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colorado) said it best...

She referred to "trickle down" as "trickle on." :rofl:

We need more reps like Pat Schroeder...

Selected Patricia Schroeder Quotations--

• I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both.

• When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, "What choice do I have?"

• Nobody ever says to men, how can you be a Congressman and a father.

• You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.

• The Pledge of Allegiance says "...with liberty and justice for all." What part of "all" don't you understand?

• Many women have more power than they recognize, and they're very hesitant to use it, for they fear they won't be loved.

• You measure a government by how few people need help.

• When men talk about defense, they always claim to be protecting women and children, but they never ask the women and children what they think.

• Women have been an island in the military, getting little support from the inside or the outside.

• If some soldier raises his hand and says, "Knock it off, guys, the women in this unit are doing very well," it's like he's got lace on his boxer shorts. He's a sellout. So why stand up for women? What's in it for you? Nothing. So you keep your mouth shut, and the people who are against women in the military start to believe everyone agrees with them.

• There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." If we use this ethic as a moral compass, then our rendezvous with reality can also become a rendezvous with opportunity.

• When it comes to college education, American families are paying more and getting less.

• Most of our country's new jobs will be created with our minds instead of our hands.

• I believe the creator of the information can give it away free if he or she wants but they can also sell it if they want. You have the right to buy it or not. You cannot say, it is too expensive therefore I will take it. Creators can spend years of their lives working on an article or book and one click can take it away as an income stream. How do they make a living?

• Because it's so easy to copy anything, a lot of people have convinced themselves that they shouldn't have to pay for it. Well, the reason you get paid is because the people who sit all day long at their desks creating books and songs and software have mortgages. And if you're only going to sell one copy of everything and then the world is going to make a gazillion pirated copies off of it, it's going to be really hard to pay your mortgage.

• The mood of the 80s -- Get what you can, can what you get, and sit on the can.

• I love books, so it's kind of like being thrown in a candy store. (about her new job as head of a publishers' trade association)

• I have been working in a male culture for a very long time, and I haven't met the first one who wants to go out and hunt a giraffe. I am very, very troubled by the new factual data that seems to be coming out of our new leader. (about a statement by Newt Gingrich.)

• I was cooking breakfast this morning for my kids, and I thought, "He's just like a Teflon frying pan: Nothing sticks to him." (about then-President Ronald Reagan)

• Spine transplants are what we really need to take Reagan on.

[knixphan]

83. seconded.

[Xithras]

92. There is some reality to the trickle down meme

I've mentioned before that a friend of mine owns a small painting company. Well, his company specializes in painting and finishwork in high end ($1 mil+) homes. Many homes in the Oakland Hills, Marin County, SF, and other wealthy areas of the Bay Area are adorned with his work and the work of his employees.

Today, there is no work. 5 of his 6 painters have been laid off, his equipment guy was laid off, and two of his four trucks have been sold off, and a whole bunch of his equipment is up on Craigslist right now. Even worse, the DECORATORS that he worked with are almost all out of business. When you work jobs like those, people don't just call you up and ask you to paint their homes. They call decorators to refinish their homes, and those decorators call in the painters of their choice. It's hard to get in with those decorators, and he's seeing his future revenue stream evaporate as those decorators close up shop. I'd imagine that the story is much the same for the tilesetters, contractors, sheetrock and plaster guys, and everyone else they employed to work on those homes. It wasn't unheard of for some of these guys to drop a half million on a large remodel, and that money went straight into the pockets of the laborers who did the work for them. That money isn't being spent today, and those larborers are largely unemployed as a result.

My friends company is still open simply because he's started doing budget contract work, mostly repainting rentals. It pays enough to cover his last two remaining employees paychecks (in addition to the other painter, he has an office manager to run the phones and schedule appointments), keep the phones on, and pay the rent on his building. Barely.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. $6 per gallon to fuel up the Lear.

No new sails for the yacht, maybe they decide to put off buying a new Porsche til next year. That's just gotta suck for those unfortunate folks.

:nopity:

[Demeter]

5. Wait Until They Get Their Taxes Increased

or worse yet, get kicked out of their work-free incomes. Then you'll hear real screams of anguish.

[wordpix]

67. Obama should just out with it---"I will increase taxes on the top _% to keep the country solvent

after BushCo, in collusion with the former repuke Congress, has bankrupted us with a fraudulent war and corrupt cronyism." Barack just needs to say it and stop hedging.

[Demeter]

80. Did You Hear Obama Promised to Tap the Oil Reserves and Prices Dropped Like a Stone?

It's just the beginning. Change is happening, and they are scared to death that what they've done unto others will come right back at them.

[MadMaddie]

6. I have nothing against people who have worked hard for their

money....so they have to cut back...they will never experience the choice between gas or food....or a roof over their head. They will never have to decide between medicine and food.

I think they can fend for themselves.

[DebJ]

7. they just cut the wages of the people making the money for them.

[killbotfactory]

12. They do that in good times and in bad

So it's a wash.

[Dr.Phool]

8. If the rich don't watch it, and things get much worse.

They'll be on the menu soon.

Yes Garcon, I'll have the Filet of Hedge Fund Manager, with a side of Fat Cat, well done, please.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

38. Hmm...

[Hugin]

53. I wonder if all those garbage trucks were hybrids?

I doubt it. :eyes:


( :thumbsup: on the picture. )

[TomInTib]

9. I live in one of the wealthiest communities in the country.....

and I can attest to this premise.

Things are tough all over.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

15. I live in an upper middle class community where people want to appear...

...richer than they really are.

Today I saw a neighbor driving her Hummer out from Wal-mart's parking lot. ...I turned to my daughter and said, "I feel sorry for all these people who went into debt trying to appear richer than they really are".

Now Hummer owners are stuck with their high loan payments for a car which lost it's value. I see Hummer drivers and wonder how much does it cost them to run their errands?

[CoffeeCat]

39. I hear ya...

...I've said this before--I call big cars like Hummers (including my own SUV), "shamemobiles."

It's very embarrassing driving a car like that these days, because they are gas hogs and the quintessential
object of selfishness and excess.

It's like a rolling neon sign that says, "Hey, look at me in my big car! I'm a total idiot!"

That's how I feel anyway...and I deserve it.

In my defense, I did get one hell of a deal on it, and I did pay cash.

We plan on getting rid of it soon.

[Truth4Justice]

46. H-1 Hummers only get 9 MPG or less in city driving. The H3 claims 14MPH, but who knows?

Glad I don't own any of those dinosaurs!

[wordpix]

68. I just left an upscale neighborhood where a huge new McMansion is still on the market after 2 yrs.

Those developers who tore down all those trees are eating this house, and I don't feel sorry for them one firgging bit.

[gratuitous]

10. Why aren't they spend, spend, spending?

They're the only ones with any money left, and in direct disobedience of their president's explicit orders, they're not going shopping?! Why do they hate America?

[killbotfactory]

11. Yes, society is doomed if rich people feel less rich

doomed I tells ya

[Mind_your_head]

13. I can see where I might not be able to pay my mortgage and may lose my home.......

.....their yacht gas fill-up is equal to "two Chanel bags minus the wallet".....doesn't garner any sympathies with me.

(WHY should *I* be more sympathetic to THEIR situations than they are to MINE.....which are more immediate/desperate? I know how to do/grow more things than a lot of *rich* people do.....I'm gonna think twice/three/four times before I share what I know with *them* (should times get that tough, and they may).....they sure never *shared* with me, et al. (payback is a b*tch)

[Frances]

14. But are John and Cindy feeling any pain?

[Just-plain-Kathy]

21. And how much did Johnny's shoes cost?

I wonder how much the McCain's are looking to profit if the neo-cons steel this election for him.

[jwirr]

23. Hell no, how many of us have given up our beer?

[Mind_your_head]

27. You can make "fun" all you want.......

It will affect you too.....sooner than you expect, probably.

[jwirr]

29. Actually since I have been poor all my life I imagine it already has. nt

[Mind_your_head]

30. Well, if it is true what you say, I hope you will somehow figure out how

to enjoy your life (and your beer ~ or whatever).

You can "do better than that", and you most likely do (do better than just surviving).

Peace,
M_Y_H

[jwirr]

31. Actually, at age 67 and with diabetes my beers are few. I just hear

my grandson who manages the local liquor store talk about how business is doing. Believe me the brewers are feeling no pain.

[Mind_your_head]

32. *hic* eom

[Bake]

77. It already HAS!!

And it's not very damn funny.

Bake

[PassingFair]

34. I had to quit smoking 5 years ago....

I'd like to say it was for my health, but the
truth was we COULDN'T AFFORD IT any more...

[Just-plain-Kathy]

42. My husband stopped smoking twenty years ago when the price went up to $13 a carton. n/t

[Skittles]

51. I still COULD afford it but I gave 'em up anyways

because they are truly a WASTE OF MONEY :)

[Juneboarder]

73. Cigarettes???

:smoke:

[mnhtnbb]

24. Well, yes. They didn't pay their taxes on one of the gazillion homes.

[wordpix]

70. not with her wealth estimated at over $100 million

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/07/22/DI2008072200968.html

Bethesda, Md.: It's interesting that McCain's campaign has tried to dance around the issue of Cindy's wealth. Did they ever release her tax returns? Do you think that issue will rear its head again before the campaign is over? And how will the pending sale of Budweiser (her stock) to InBev affect her personal wealth?

Libby Copeland: Oh boy. To back up, Cindy McCain's father ran a company that distributed Budweiser; now (since her dad's death in 2000) she is chairwoman of the company.

The InBev thing has been really hard for me to follow. I'm embarrassed to confess that I read a few articles about this and haven't quite been able to figure out the bottom line. If it hadn't been somewhat beyond the scope of the profile I was doing -- which I thought of as more a profile of her identity and personality -- I'm sure I would have had to buckle down and do the math.

Cindy McCain's wealth -- which may exceed $100 million -- does seem to be a prevailing theme for stories about McCain and his campaign. I imagine it will not go away easily.

[treestar]

75. Oh, but we can identify with them so much more than we can with

Barack and Michelle! Those elitists are actually intelligent! Educated and eloquent. But the McPains are so much more average, like us!

:sarcasm:

[Ian David]

16. Just the other day I saw a downtrodden millionaire forced to buy white truffles instead of black.

It was heartbreaking.

[Truth4Justice]

47. How awful ! I cant even imagine how devastated they must have become!

:puke:

[CHIMO]

17. Makes One Feel So Sorry For Them

Meet the rich

From the marbled 20th floor of a glass tower in Canary Wharf the view of the river is breathtaking. It snakes down to the Thames barrier, glinting in the sunset. Close to the new city lie the serried ranks of East End estate blocks. The view is typical of London: glossy new wealth nestling close to old and persisting penury. Precious little money has trickled down from this gilded new town in the sky to its neighbours below.

The view is a reminder of the widening gap. History, many like to believe, is a Whiggish tale of wealth, social progress and fairer distribution, an onward march: we all wear the same clothes, meet on equal terms on Facebook. Yet background predicts who will run the banks and who will clean their floors. It's not happenstance; it is largely pre-programmed. General mobility is a myth. The top 10% of income earners get 27.3% of the cake, while the bottom 10% get just 2.6%. Twenty years ago the average chief executive of a FTSE 100 company earned 17 times the average employee's pay; now it is more than 75 times. Since Labour came to power in 1997 the proportion of personal wealth held by the top 10% has swelled from 47% to 54%. Labour did try to tug in the opposite direction, but after Gordon Brown's last budget as chancellor axed the 10p tax rate, many of the lowest paid were left bearing a heavier burden.

Those who make the most money, meanwhile, seem less willing than ever to see it redistributed. Tax consultants Grant Thornton estimated that in 2006 at least 32 of the UK's 54 billionaires paid no income tax at all.

High-earners tend to be elusive, preserving their privacy at home and at work, journeying between them in expensive cars. But in sessions conducted by Ipsos Mori over two evenings we did meet partners in a law firm of international renown and senior staff from equally world-famous merchant banks. Their business is money, and they make it: the law partners earned between £500,000 and £1.5m per year, putting them in the top 0.1% of earners in the UK, while the merchant bankers ranged from £150,000 up to £10m.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/04/workandcareers.executivesalaries

Maybe a tax would get the money back into circulation?

[Doctor Cynic]

18. In other news, Small Violin Corp has smashed profit expectations.

[liberalmuse]

19. The inhumanity!?

Those lessons paid off. :nopity:

[Fran Kubelik]

20. The problem is that their lack of ridiculous spending hurts the economy

Sadly. :(

[dysfunctional press]

25. isn't that how marie antoinette explained it to the french...?

and apparently they didn't understand.

[Bulletin Justin]

22. What income gap????

The gap between the filthy rich and the rest of the country may close before inauguration day if the banks continue failing. Poor darlings may have to start living in the real world.

[salguine]

26. We could solve the whole thing by just guillotining the rich.

[BrklynLiberal]

28. Just to complete the string section here....

:nopity:

Let's run 'em a f**kin benefit....

[Imagevision]

33. When the Rich start pulling their $$$ out of the future failing banks it should prove interesting...

[mitchum]

35. Good...they can carpool in the tumbrils

[Warpy]

36. Those aren't the rich. Those are the upper middle class

The rich use a totally different infrastructure, one we rarely get a chance to see. They never use public airports or fly on airlines. They don't use personal shoppers to go out and shop for them, the designers take their wares to the wealthy. Their idea of a personal shopper is an employee they send to an auction at Sotheby's, in contact via cell phone and instructed how to bid on select items.

Some high profile upper middle class and lower end rich folks are starting to run into trouble here and there if they overspent on real estate, especially in California. However, those are few and far between.

[galledgoblin]

37. I say!

I shall have to be more careful about my monocle supply, wut wut.

[Lugnut]

40. What a shame.

:nopity:

[CoffeeCat]

41. There was an interesting NY Times article...

...a few months ago about the upper/upper-middle class cutting back.

The article was written with an amusing "tiny violin" tone, but the article was chock
full of interesting insights.

These people are giving up "luxuries" such as their dog walkers, fresh flowers in the home,
expensive manicures/pedicures/haircuts--and opting for cheaper services.

The reporter spotlighted the fact that many of these services are provided by middle-class people.

Therefore, there is a trickle-down effect. People who make their living as dog walkers or flower
vendors lose income and then they give up their "luxuries." Maybe that's a Starbucks or switching
to more processed food instead of fish and chicken.

It's easiest to pull out the "tiny violins" but this stuff really has serious implications for
many levels of the economy.

Someone is maintaining the Lear jets, cleaning the yachts and selling tennis bracelets at Tiffany's--and
it's not the rich. If upper-income earners cut down, other classes will feel the effect.

[Fran Kubelik]

61. Exactly. Ultimately, this isn't good news.

As much as the schadenfreude feels good.

[global1]

43. What Did They Expect - It Was Inevitable That This Would Catch Up With Them.......

when us poor folk that work for them can't afford to buy the things that they manufacture and/or sell - then their money train slows down and could stop. This is what I don't understand - greed only goes so far and then catches up with all.

The trick is to fund us poor folk so we're able to buy the goods and services of the rich. The better we have it - it is much, much better for them.

They need to give us poor folk raises even.

[Q3JR4]

44. I'm really sad....

"People are examining, 'Do you keep the yacht, do you go to the classic car auction, do you take the private jet?'" said Joseph Montgomery, managing director of investments at Wachovia Securities. :puke:

You rich folk can come talk to me when you're $20,000 in debt with NO incoming paycheck and no savings to speak of. See what it's like finding odd jobs and praying, praying, that you don't get sick because you know if you do you'll loose everything.

For everyone who's only problem in life is whether to take the yacht or the private jet you can all piss off. :mad:

Q3JR4.

[MetaTrope]

91. Well, private jet sales doubled last year

Don't know how they're doing this year, but maybe the rich are cutting back on plans for that second jet.

[mdohoney]

45. Banking system and economic terrorism

Has anyone thought to call what the banking system without adequate controls "economic terrorism"

The people who perpetrated below prime loans should be labeled economic terrorists and hauled off to Gitmo. What they have done to the lives of average Americans is far more painful and distructive to the general welfare than 9/11.

The Oil companies who are hi-jacking the American consumer right now are economic terrorists who are getting away with trashing our economy in the name of capitalism. This is not capitalism but pure and simple greed.

The Neocons and Republicans who initiated the war in Iraq draining the national treasury and the national line of credit in the name of protecting us from terrorists have committed a terroristic act that is far more damaging to the national character of this country than the real terrorists we are supposed to fear. We are now less capable of taking care of the problems here at home for the sake of hopeless nation building.

The fruits of economic terrorism is fear: the fear of loosing our home; the fear of loosing our livelyhood;the fear of not being able to care for our families who are taken ill; the fear of not being able to obtain a quality education for our young folks. Yes, indeed, the fear created by trying to kill the new deal by destroying out society is an act of economic terrorism warrenting the severest penalties.

Many Bankers, oil company execs, and leaders of the executive branch who caused these problems need to spend some time at Gitmo til they get it that they are criminals.

Thank you for listening to my rant

[Truth4Justice]

49. Fear is what corporate-owned governments like ours thrive on. Its been 7 years of fear since 9/11.

[comtec]

52. No one seems to be asking where the money went...

This is not happen by magic,
the market did not simply evaporate overnight, the money backing up these bank loans did NOT JUST DISAPPEAR!!!

So.. WHERE did the money go?

The market crash in 1929, went into the pockets of the obscenely rich. People like papi bush worked for these assholes, and made part of the bush family fortune this way - he was a servant who was thrown a small bone. Lest we forget that until grand papi bush the bush family WERE SERVANTS!

This is a new family dynasty of servants, who finally got into their own
hell they still ARE servants, to the big money, the oil barons, the sheiks, et al!

So.. where did the money go this time?

history told us (when it was safe) where the money in 1929 went.. what about now? when will we find out where it went? What is the statue of limitation of murdering, wholesale, and entire economy?

[Megahurtz]

81. Well

who owns the Fed? :think:

[Hugin]

56. Nice rant. Welcome to DU!

:)

[BreweryYardRat]

57. I've got the same opinion.

Ann Coulter loves to scream and rant about "liberal terrorists," but when you consider the damage these megacorps have done to the American economy -- and God knows how many sick people have died thanks to Big Pharma and Big Insurance -- I'd say they qualify for the "terrorist" label in spirit, if not in the technical sense.

[susu369]

60. Please

rant on. Excellent post.

[Darth Lenore]

48. My heart bleeds for them.

Or it would, if I weren't being bled dry by rising gas prices, food prices, paying for medical care without insurance, etc....

[Skittles]

50. YOU KNOW IT DARTH

:o

[Hugin]

54. Wait! Wait! I think I may shed a tear...

Ah, nope.

Carry on.

[llmart]

58. "That news may produce a shrug"?????

I've got your shrug right here. The AP can take their sob story and put it where the sun don't shine, and they can shove that Reaganesque meme "trickle down" up their arses! Many of the rich got rich off the backs of others and now we should feel sorry for them? Meantime, the corporate media is trying to convince us lowlies that we don't really need a vacation this year - we'll just drum up a cutesy little name for it, a staycation. Isn't that clever? They'll even try to convince us that sitting in our backyard with our feet in the kiddie pool is going to be fun.

Sadly, lots of Americans will buy into it and instead of coming together to fight this class war, they take the shit the Republicans dish out and vote against their own best interests because they're brainwashed by the media into believing that they can't do anything about it.

[Fly by night]

59. One solution: eat the rich

[AndyTiedye]

76. Way Too Much Cholesterol!

[workinclasszero]

62. You mean McCain will have to stop buying 500 dollar loafers??

Oh the humanity! :nopity:

[yellowcanine]

63. "Do you keep the yacht, do you go to the classic car auction, do you take the private jet?"

Poor babies. Life is so unfair, isn't it?

[yellowcanine]

64. "Many are asking their personal shoppers and private-jet travel providers to seek the best deals"

Oh the humanity!

[Rambis]

69. fuckin hell!

I CAN'T AFFORD MY YACHT PAYMENT AND 5 ROLEX WATCHES! PERSONAL SHOPPERS RESTRICTED FOR UNBRIDLED BUYING? NOW I HAVE HEARD EVERYTHING-

http://www.mafster.co.uk/space/files/audio/LOM2Kick.mp3

[wordpix]

72. one richie I know has his second home on the market for $1.5 M Another just sold an antique car

They are really feeling the pinch. :nopity:

[treestar]

74. Notice how they try to spin it that we will suffer if the rich can't be

rich. We are threatened with even greater not-richness, as their "suffering" will "trickle down."

Inadvertantly, they are making an argument against capitalism. If we are dependent on trickling down, then the rich must always be rich. If they don't stay rich, we get poorer. It's enough to turn one into a real socialist!

[NashVegas]

78. Yes. Because We're All Making Hand-Hewn Coffee Tables

And depend on hedge-fund managers for our wage.

[underpants]

79. LOL Edward Bernays would LOVE this story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kp24ZeHtv4

[Pastiche423]

84. I can't believe I've never heard of this asshole before

(Just finished Part 2 of 6.)

[underpants]

85. I watched it Sunday night

very interesting. Some parts of the BBC program- I think- are wrong or reaching but the part about Bernays is rather shocking. I see the news product on the TV in a more skewed lense now.

[Blue_Tires]

89. thanks for that; will watch it in full later

[Yael]

86. Karma is a beautiful thing...

[daggahead]

87. Oh ... how sad.

Will the rich have to choose between chartering a private plane and flying first class on a commercial airline for their next trip to The French Riviera?

I guess sitting around for the dividend check isn't enough any more.

[MicaelS]

88. Oh the humanity!!!

"People are examining, 'Do you keep the yacht, do you go to the classic car auction, do you take the private jet?'" said Joseph Montgomery, managing director of investments at Wachovia Securities. "Those sound like nice problems to have, but at the same time, they are issues."

Do these idiots really expect the working person in America to feel the least little bit sorry for them? Because I don't, not one damn bit.

[wvbygod]

90. stingy spending trickles down but fat spending does not?

That is unpossible.

[Buns_of_Fire]

93. Trickle when they're up, trickle when they're down, Trickle in your cup, Trickle all around...

Sounds like a continence problem to me.

[wvbygod]

94. Or a Don Hendly tune

with a bubble headed bleach blond starring.

[Buns_of_Fire]

95. Well, I must admit that tune WAS running through my head when I wrote that. :-)

[fascisthunter]

96. They Don't "Feel" shit

not compared to the average American

[Generator]

97. Indeed, sad times

I gave my personal shopper the boot. She was spending too much time shopping on line! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (at least I can "save my cart"-window shopping on line)