Again, you are just cherry picking data again. Most jobs being created are not burger flippers, and there is nothing wrong with food service nor health services. Not everyone can be the CEO of Exxon at the same time.

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http://www.fairtax.org

Elminate all taxes on income and replace with a national sales tax.

That's not data cherry picking, those are the averages from your link. There's nothing wrong with any job but when higher paying jobs are being replaced with lower paying jobs something has to give and reduced standard of living is the obvious result. As standard of living in the lower economic tier drops, social service costs increase on a proportionate basis, generating more health services workers indirectly paid with public funds and more highly paid federal workers to disperse those public funds. How many food service jobs offer health care is another part of the equation as home preparation of meals decreases, dining out expands and where do those increased number of food service workers obtain their health services other than qualifying with a public agency by low income status?

I guess the minimum wage hike is working.

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"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end - Liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition - The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. - Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Action

I don't think Clinton's tax hike had anything to do with the 22 million jobs created. I think the dot com bubble had to do with most of it. Similarly the 7 million jobs under Bush's tax cut could be argued to be a product of the real estate bubble - and I don't think I would argue against it.

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"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end - Liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition - The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. - Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Action

Not sure what your Up and down in parentheses mean but I suspect they indicate wage growth, or decrease.

If such is the case an increasing average wage for services would indicate that jobs being added in the service sector are a higher wage than the average. In which case most of the jobs being added to the service sector are not likely burger flippers and cashiers at Wal-mart - unless they recently started getting paid greater than 17 an hour.

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"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end - Liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition - The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. - Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Action

The economy in the mid to late 90s was built on speculation and ended in hard-core recession.

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"I miss the days when they made toys that could kill a kid."
- Jerry Seinfeld

As a 23 year businessman....2007 SUCKS.
2006 was a strong year for many, including us. This year people are spending less on goods and services across the board.
Consumer spending WAAAAY down.
Housing market is in shambles.
Auto industry is reeling.
Small business spending is at a 33 year low...I'll say that again...a 33 year low.

The economy is NOT in good shape - jviehe your continued attempts to try and paint a rosy picture is as bad as any politicians spin.

2007 has NOT been a good year....unless you are a foreign investor.

The economy produces trillions more than it did 5 years ago, and millions more are employed. I dont see how you can see it otherwise. What we need now is to reform the tax code, cut spending, and get govt out of our lives. Then you would see even more prosperity.

__________________
http://www.fairtax.org

Elminate all taxes on income and replace with a national sales tax.

Ah, there are more people now than under Clinton.

If there weren't more jobs now than under Clinton, things would REALLY be screwed up!

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Curly

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.

- Hermann Goering

Not an increase/decrease in wages but increase/decrease of jobs in those categories with average pay in each category. My point was a loss of jobs in higher paying goods production with an increase in the lower paid service sector, which includes, among others, burger flippers (food service), retail and health care. That shift indicates a reduction of overall standard of living in the lower economic tier ultimately resulting in increased public funded social costs.

It's a transaction based service economy, with no inputs of new wealth using vast monetary expansion based on public and personal debt for purposes of growth. How debt can be expanded with the ability to service it, sustainability, becomes the primary criterion for future growth. Not a sound economic base by any measure.

I'm curious - what do you do for a living that you believe the economy is good?
Can't be anything to do with manufacturing, housing, auto industry, retail, small business..etc. etc.

It's cold in hell....I agree with you 100% here.

67% of ALL consumer based spending is debt spending....67%.
It is maddening to believe it could continue this way forever -

Some posters with their glowing remarks on how healthy the US economy is obviously disagree and feel that circumstance is endless. With consumer spending at 72% of GDP, any slowdown in consumer spending derived from any condition, such as now defunct home equity loans ($1.2T in 2006), will have a major impact on GDP, the financial oracle of most Americans.

Some other interesting financial statistics related to the US economy:

2006 Federal spending

Budget - $2.57T
Deficit - $390B
Supplementary spending - $150B
SS borrowing - $175B

Percentage of incurred operating debt, 28%


2006 GDP - $13.2B
Growth over 2005 GDP - 3.3%
2006 US Government debt - $715B

$715B/$13.2T = 5.4% (net of economic flowthrough)

It seems many Americans, at least those clinging to tame government and interested party economic reports, have lost or ignore their basic math skills.

Information Technology, and its not just me, if you believe polls.

http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/

__________________
http://www.fairtax.org

Elminate all taxes on income and replace with a national sales tax.