1 percenters fucking 99 percenters.
according to government figures, 1 percenters' share of america's total income is the highest it has been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they have faced in two decades. through bonuses, many 1 percenters will profit from the 23 trillion dollar bailout largesse the treasury department now says could be headed to financial firms. most of them benefit from irs decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations.
but what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run of the mill gilded age, is the unprecedented protection the 1 percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues.
to review: with 22,000 americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, congress is considering universal health care legislation financed by a surcharge on income above $280,000- that is, a levy almost exclusively on 1 percenters. this surtax would graze just 5 percent of small businesses and would recoup only part of the $700 billion the 1 percenters received from the bush tax cuts. in fact, it is so miniscule, those making $1 million annually would pay just $9,000 more in taxes every year or said another way, 9/10ths of their 12 month haul.
nonetheless, the 1 percenters have deployed an army to destroy the initiative.
the foot soldiers are the land rover liberals. these democratic lawmakers secure their lefty labels by wearing pink ribbon lapel pins and supporting good causes like abortion rights. however, being affluent and/or from affluent districts, they routinely drive their luxury cars over middle-class economic interests. hence, this week's letter from boulder's dot com tycoon rep. jared polis and other so called liberals calling for the surtax's death.
echoing that demand are the corrupt cowboys--those like sen. max baucus, of montana, who come from the heartland's culturally conservative and economically impoverished locales. these cavalrymen in both parties quietly build insurmountable campaign war chests as the biggest corporate fundraisers in congress. at the same time, they publicly preen as jes' folks, make twangy references to "voters back home" and now promise to kill the health-care surtax because they say that is what their communities want.
that fantastical fairy tale, of course, couldn't exist without the millionaire media- the elite journalists and opinionmongers who represent corporate media conglomerates and or are themselves extremely wealthy. ignoring all the data about inequality, they legitimize the assertions of the 1 percenters' first two battalions, while actually claiming america's fat cats are unfairly persecuted.
most brazenly, nbc's meredith vieira asks president obama why the surtax is intent on "PUNISHING THE RICH"?
for his part, obama has responded with characteristic coolness-and a powerful counter-strike, "no, it is not punishing the rich," he said, "if i can afford to do a little bit more so that a whole bunch of families out there have a little more security, when i already have security, that is being part of a community.
from the coloradoan and written by david sirota.
but what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run of the mill gilded age, is the unprecedented protection the 1 percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues.
to review: with 22,000 americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, congress is considering universal health care legislation financed by a surcharge on income above $280,000- that is, a levy almost exclusively on 1 percenters. this surtax would graze just 5 percent of small businesses and would recoup only part of the $700 billion the 1 percenters received from the bush tax cuts. in fact, it is so miniscule, those making $1 million annually would pay just $9,000 more in taxes every year or said another way, 9/10ths of their 12 month haul.
nonetheless, the 1 percenters have deployed an army to destroy the initiative.
the foot soldiers are the land rover liberals. these democratic lawmakers secure their lefty labels by wearing pink ribbon lapel pins and supporting good causes like abortion rights. however, being affluent and/or from affluent districts, they routinely drive their luxury cars over middle-class economic interests. hence, this week's letter from boulder's dot com tycoon rep. jared polis and other so called liberals calling for the surtax's death.
echoing that demand are the corrupt cowboys--those like sen. max baucus, of montana, who come from the heartland's culturally conservative and economically impoverished locales. these cavalrymen in both parties quietly build insurmountable campaign war chests as the biggest corporate fundraisers in congress. at the same time, they publicly preen as jes' folks, make twangy references to "voters back home" and now promise to kill the health-care surtax because they say that is what their communities want.
that fantastical fairy tale, of course, couldn't exist without the millionaire media- the elite journalists and opinionmongers who represent corporate media conglomerates and or are themselves extremely wealthy. ignoring all the data about inequality, they legitimize the assertions of the 1 percenters' first two battalions, while actually claiming america's fat cats are unfairly persecuted.
most brazenly, nbc's meredith vieira asks president obama why the surtax is intent on "PUNISHING THE RICH"?
for his part, obama has responded with characteristic coolness-and a powerful counter-strike, "no, it is not punishing the rich," he said, "if i can afford to do a little bit more so that a whole bunch of families out there have a little more security, when i already have security, that is being part of a community.
from the coloradoan and written by david sirota.
posted by Ron Shock | 4:59 PM
5 Comments:
For the most part, adding more taxes to small business is not a good idea, unless their product is something you want to eliminate. More taxes equal higher cost, and that leads to lower sales and lost jobs.
The upper 10% in income already pay the bulk of our taxes--what percent of their income is fair? If we raise it too much, can we prevent them from "going Gault"?
We need to tax consumption, rather than production. Replace the income tax with a national sales tax at the retail level, applied to all products. Give everyone a rebate based on the taxes paid by someone at the poverty line. The rich spend more, so they would pay more. When they created jobs, the money wouldn't be taxed until the new wage earners spent it--this would encourage more jobs.
A consumption based system would eliminate tax loopholes, and the ability for some people to deduct and loophole their way out of paying much in taxes.
Wealth isn't zero-sum. When people make things they often create wealth that wasn't there before. Taxing the creation rather than consumption discourages the wrong end of the system.
When you quote another writer, at least do him the courtesy of retaining his capitalization.
sevesteen, you, as always, make good points but then again so did the writer. i have always though a vat would be a good idea.
liz, i do it just to bug you.
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