John Sarbanes: “So 87 percent of it is going to corporate profit. That is one of the big differences. That is one of the reasons we are…”

“So 87 percent of it is going to corporate profit. That is one of the big differences. That is one of the reasons we are not creating jobs. When it goes to workers' wages, it makes its way back into the economy, stimulates economic activity. As a consequence, it helps produce jobs. Now it is so heavily weighted away from workers and toward the corporations that are showing these record profits that we are not getting the same economic stimulus. Then they say, well, if the corporations make big profits, they will invest in plant and equipment. But the corporations won't invest in plant and equipment if they don't think there is going to be a demand for what that plant and equipment will produce. The major source of the demand comes from workers' wages, which is being grossly shortchanged in this so-called economic recovery. It is no wonder we are facing such a severe economic situation. Twenty-four percent of the people who are unemployed have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks. They are the so-called long-term unemployed. We are now at a record in that this percentage has been above 20 for 18 consecutive months. The last time we had long-term unemployed at that level for such a long period of time was in the 1982 recession, when the unemployment rate went up to close to 10 percent. So what is happening is a lot of the impact is being concealed or disguised. People have dropped out of the workforce.”