The United States desperately needs a common sense political middle, but right now it seems if not tiny, it is silent.
We have the MAGA cult on one side seeking to undermine governments role in society and leave an “empowered” population to pull itself up by its bootstrap.
And on the far left we have them trying moaning to make connections where none exist.
This has nothing to do with a rigged economy? The danger in oligarchy is not the money, but the political influence and power. That is the responsibility of voters and politicians. That is a concern if you look carefully at the current administration. Think DOGE for one example.
Yup, people are angry- because they have been fed a bunch of propaganda from right and left trying to create that anger, fear, envy, entitlement, woe is me, I’m being ripped off, not my fault, mentality.
There is no evidence that 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. In fact, there is no clear definition of what that means. How a person spends their money and on what is as important as how much they have to spend.
Location and household size matter as well.
Data about living paycheck to paycheck is self reported and thus questionable. How does an individual define a necessity?
Look around your community at the businesses – restaurants, salons, liquor stores, fitness centers, bars, jewelry stores, sports and entertainment venues, etc. – providing non-necessity goods and services and ask yourself, is only 40% of the population keeping them in business.
If you were invested in the stock market or real estate, you too would have become richer since Trump was elected and before. No doubt Mr Sanders did too. That is not evidence of a rigged economy.
According to disclosures, Sen Sanders…
Key Sources of Wealth
• Senate Salary: Sanders earns $174,000 annually as a senator, a steady income from his decades-long public service career.
• Book Royalties: A major boost came from bestsellers like Our Revolution (2016) and Where We Go from Here (2018), which generated over $2.5 million in advances and royalties between 2011 and 2023. His 2023 book It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism added about $170,000 in royalties.
• Real Estate: He and his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, own three properties:
• A 2,500 sq ft home in Burlington, Vermont (purchased in 2009 for $405,000; now valued at ~$600,000).
• A vacation cabin on Lake Champlain in Vermont (bought in 2016 for $575,000; appreciated to ~$933,000 by 2025).
• A Washington, D.C. rowhouse (purchased in 2007 for $489,000; now valued at ~$800,000). These assets form the bulk of his wealth but are partially mortgaged.
• Other Income: Modest earnings from speaking engagements and his congressional pension (estimated at $73,000/year post-retirement eligibility).
The Senator justifies his wealth by saying he earned it and not from inheritance or investments.
I’m thinking, did the money Sanders earned create hundreds of thousands of jobs around the world, create new industries, improve economies and the lives of billions of people?
Is that the rigged part Senator?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 