"Taxes,
after all, are the dues that we pay for the
privileges of membership in an organized society." – FDR
This Week's George Stephanopoulos did not challenge
Sen. John McCain's assertion that "history shows every time you have
cut capital gains taxes, revenues have increased -- going back to Jack
Kennedy." Stephanopoulos did not note that, notwithstanding a potential
short-term revenue increase, many economists have challenged the claim
that revenue goes up over the long term as a result of capital gains
tax rates being cut. (Full Story)
"The Government Accountability Office in August 2008
reported that behind the corporate cries of pain over the tax burdens
they are forced to bear is a startling truth: Between 1998 and 2005,
two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no U.S. income
taxes - zip." From
David Korten's Agenda
For a New Economy pg 127
Over time, the United States has expected less and
less of its elite, even as society has oriented itself in a way that is
most likely to maximize their income. The top income-tax rate was 91
percent in 1960,
70 percent in 1980, 50 percent in 1986, 39.6 percent in 2000, and is
now 35 percent.
Income from investments is taxed at a rate as low as 15 percent. The
mortgage-interest tax deduction is most generous, of course, to the
affluent, and while it's small potatoes to anyone who makes a good
income, so too, is the savings
incentive provided by 401(k) plans. The estate tax, meanwhile, has been
gutted.
Don Peck's book Pinched.
...American workers are treated daily to a steady diet of
the concerns of the very wealthy, with almost never a mention of the
concerns of average workers. And at the top of the list of concerns of
the very wealthy: taxes. From Thom Hartman's book Threshold
pg 135.
...Bloomberg dismissed Warren Buffett's call for tax
fairness as "just
theatrics",
pointing out, "If Warren Buffett made his money from ordinary income
rather than capital gains, his tax rate
would be a lot higher than his secretary's"
That's a good point - which is exactly why Buffett calls for capital
gains and ordinary income to be taxed at the same
rate. From Extra! the Magazine of Fair, November 2011
If there is anything that Republicans agree on it is that
taxes should be flat, but keep in mind that any is a cut for the already wealthy. They
oppose extending the payroll tax cuts which would help working people,
but favor lowering corporate taxes and capital gains taxes.
Since US media and elected officials are beholden to big
money, it is a worthwhile investment for large contributors to invest
in the US political process. That is how major corporations have
climbed out from under their tax burdens, how extreme wealth gets to
keep more and more of their stash, and why most people (you) will have
to pay more.
The simple-minded Republican mantra that lower taxes and smaller government are always better
is effective in accelerating income disparities to
extreme levels, removes the tax burden from the already wealthy, and
makes government an ATM machine for the well connected.
Media, reliably representing the corporate interest, does not point out
advantages of a progressive tax. The graduated income tax does not
burden you when you are out of work. It can roll back obscene bonuses,
improve anemic demand, level our increasingly poor wealth disparities,
damp speculation, prevent a new aristocracy, help break
politicians dependence on oligarchs, and it is in the spirit of true
Christianity by burden the already comfortable and relieve the
poor. Under Ike the top marginal rate was around 90% and the economy was never better.
Both
fundamental fairness and sensible economic policy justify progressivity
in the
tax code. The progressive income tax lost most of its
progressivity
under Republicans since Eisenhower (the
top marginal rate was round 90%)
and the net result has been an increase in the already poor
distribution of income in the US. The elimination of the estate tax
(shrewdly labeled the 'death tax' by Republicans) will continue our
move toward aristocracy. The
Walton Family (owners of Wal-Mart) stand to
gain $37 billion
dollars if and when the estate tax is repealed.
Republicans have not made
government smaller, nor have they been fiscally responsible. They did
not pay for the wars that they provoked, they borrowed massively from
third world countries (passing this debt on to the next generation),
and enriched their cronies with much of the proceeds. How is that
different than a banana republic ?
Cutting
taxes to bankrupt the government empowers the private sector, restores aristocracy, and makes them the rulers.
Republicans often favor a flat sales tax, sometimes called in
an Orwellian sense the 'Fair Tax'..
It is backed by very wealthy and, like all other Republican policy, it is extremely
regressive. Be careful what you wish for. It is an integral part
of the Republican scam. We have a distribution
of income much like that of 1929. Making it worse makes
economic collapse more likely.
Republican candidates often think that the 'fair tax' (their
words to describe a flat sales tax) is a good idea. It isn't.
It is, actually, a trojan
horse for their regressive agenda. It puts tax burden on the
poorest. They would like to 'privatize' Social
Security and shred what's left of the social safety net as well. They ignore the lessons of the great depression.
Property Tax
As inflation proceeds, as it always does, retirees on fixed
incomes find that the value of their homes has increased and so have
their taxes. It pushes retirees out of their homes especially quickly
along the shoreline. Seniors may have few options for paying higher
taxes considering that inflation in practically everything else
makes the problem worse.
It is no wonder the argument over the town
budget looks like a generational war: Retirees vs Students.
The basic problem is the property tax. It is regressive, a
force for urban sprawl, a destroyer of undeveloped land, and a patently
unfair lever that forces seniors from their homes. Since the State
mandates property taxes as the main source of school funding, it makes
education dependent on the affluence of each town.
Some Legislators in Florida
have proposed doing away with the property tax as a funding source for
the schools. They have proposed modest increases in the State's sales
tax to provide for school funding. Actually, the sales tax is
fairly regressive also. It hits everyone whether they are earning or
not, so it can depress consumption. Look at it this way: a
relatively poor person will need to spend a large percentage of his
income and his consumption taxes will be much higher by percentage than
the very wealthy who need to consume only a small part of their income.
The best solution, although at State level, would be to
eliminate the property tax as a funding source for the schools by
replacing it with the graduated income tax. The income tax hits only
people who actually have income...not students or seniors, and
when it is graduated it can put the burden on those most able to pay.
Considering the obscene CEO salaries that we often hear about, it is
only reasonable to tax high earners at high percentage rates. We used
to do this, but Republicans changed it.
The Property Tax should be minimal. It is unfair, subject to
inflation, contributes to urban sprawl, and it is highly regressive.
The graduated income tax falls most on the comfortable and is, overall,
fairest and best for the economy.
Graduated Income Tax
The graduated income tax is the fairest and best one to pay
for the town's schools or other State expenses. It is also best at
national level.
It doesn't hit you when you're not working.
It is heaviest for the people who are most comfortable.
It is a solution for those obscene CEO salaries, and
outsized bonuses. Don't conflate greed with incentive. In the
Eisenhower years marginal tax rates could exceed 90 percent. Our finest
CEO's, at that time, were happy to work for $1 a year. Broadcasters
then
understood public service obligations.
It leads to more robust demand. The wealthy don't have to
spend as much, by percentage, as the rest of the people do. The
Republican story that they are the 'job creators' ignores the facts
that more jobs have been exported than created by corporate
america.
It puts a damper on the natural tendency to oligarchy and aristocracy.
Tobin Tax
Excessive speculation creates volatility in the economy and is one of
the causes of cycles of boom and bust. In the 1930's there were steps
taken to damp it down. The Glass-Steagle Act protected taxpayers from
excessive banking risk, but that was rejected in the zeal to
deregulate.
The Tobin Tax is a tax on speculator's currency transactions. It is a good idea.
Republicans won't hear of it.
Howard Zinn on Taxes and Class War
America's
Invisible Rich By Sam Pizzigati, Too Much: A
Commentary on Excess and Inequality Politicians can't seem to
see any wealthy people when deciding whom to tax.
Read more »
War
Republicans are always ready to
go to war, but not to pay for them. They claim
to be fiscally responsible, but cutting taxes and putting the cost of
the war on the tab, financed by third world countries, puts an
unconscionable burden on the next generation. The War in Iraq was
financed by supplementals. Joe Stiglitz has excellent suggestions for
reform in his book The
Three Trillion Dollar War:
War is profitable. It is also regressive since many people suffer
for the benefit of a very small group. (See Empire.)
The US has
the world's largest military. It is
bankrupting us, it is motivating a new arms race, it is terrorizing
many countries of the world, and it is clearly a making us less safe.
We have, in our boastful, arrogant claim to be the world's superpower,
created determined enemies and no one will be surprised if we are
ourselves subject to attack from outside. Most US tax dollars go
to pay for empire.
It appears that the US military is actually a security force
for multi-national corporations. These corporations are, by Supreme
Court ruling, dedicated to making money. They are not particularly
patriotic, so will offshore jobs to the lowest wage, least regulated,
lowest tax, lax environmental countries (or states if they absolutely
must be in this country) or a combination of countries that maximizes
their profits. That is how the market propels us to the bottom. That is
the Republican agenda.
Federal Budget Priorities
The Federal budget is probably the strongest statement of US
priorities that we have. In a democracy,
It should reflect the wishes of the people, but, according to polls, it
doesn't. Much better results would result from the People's
Budget, which has been endorsed by Paul Krugman, Dean Baker,
Jeffrey Sachs and even Forbes magazine.
Here's what we have:
Percentage of US discretionary budget spent for military:
57% (since the wars
on Iraq and Afghanistan are funded in supplementary budget requests,
they must
be added to that!)
US Military Budget as a percent of World total military
expenditures: 49%
Percentage of US discretionary budget spent on education
and other social services: 8%
Number of Americans classified as "food insecure" in 2004:
38 million
Number of Americans without health insurance: 45 million
Total direct aid to Israel 1948-2006: $255 billion
Total Cost of US Support for Israel: $1.688 trillion (not
counting money and lives lost in Israel propelled wars like Iraq, not
counting loss of $trillions in business with the rest of the world
because
of US support for Israel etc)
Federal aid for each resident in Louisiana in 2002 (from
their taxes):
$1,500
Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2003 (per
capita income in
Israel-$16,710; they do not pay taxes to the US): $581
Direct U.S. aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2004 (per
capita income in Ethiopia - $110): $2.50
Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel: 27%
Population of Israel as percentage of total world
population: 0.1%
Number of Palestinian minors killed by Israeli security
forces (2000-2007):
814
Total number of Palestinians injured or killed (September
2000-April 2007):
31,296
Number of bullets fired by Israeli security forces in the
first week of the second Intifada: 1,300,000
Number of unexploded Israeli bombs strewn across South
Lebanon after the
2006 war: 1,000,000 or 1.4 per resident