Well there are billions of corporate rich propaganda actively trying to destroy trust in the government. Wannabees like Jorge have fallen for it. Bless him. These ass*oles have only one goal to increase their own wealth. Taxes are an impediment. So is effective government providing services the public likes. (Social security and Medicare drive them crazy!) So a main strategy is to have lousy government services and never miss an opportunity to trumpet how lousy the services are, so folks will support the wealthy's desire to keep lowering their taxes. Damn society and America as a whole. Damn infrastructure. Damn public health and education. Whatever. Give them their ever increasing tax breaks. Hence Mitt, the poster child for corporate greed, and the others parking the money in off shore tax havens.
These "evil overly large corporations" pay the overwhelming majority of the corporate tax burden. In fact, the big three, Exxon, Chevron, and Cononco, each paid an effective raid of greater than 42%, higher than the actual corporate rate. And those evil rich? They pay overwhelming majority of the individual tax burden. The top 1% pays nearly 40% of ALL taxes in the US. Top 10% pays 70%. The bottom 40-49% has a 0% effective rate, and the bottom 40% gets a net check from the federal government. Even in Obama's pie in the sky estimates, increasing taxes on the rich barely moves the needle. It will bring in an extra $80 billion a year. So now our deficit is $1,220 billion instead of $1,300 billion. WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE OTHER $1,220 billion? About 75% of the federal budget is spent on the poor. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Welfare benefits account for about 60%. Another 15% are education funding for poor schools, school, lunches, block grants for anti-poverty programs. Stop with the class-warfare rhetoric, it's not grounded in reality.
There is nothing new under the sun. There has always been corruption. There has always been privilege for certain classes of people. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't be working and living a life to counter that....you should. But that story transcends politics (though politics are woven into it), frankly. My hope is that one day it will be set right...but that's from my theology.
Money/greed has a stranglehold on our government. It decides which politicians are elected and which laws and regulations are passed or rejected. If a corporation or a bank can trump the voice and influence of millions people, how can that be fixed? Hell, they even get people to vote against their own financial interests by misinformation or fear mongering through media and politicians they own. A neat experiment would be to pick a congressman.. Follow every vote on every issue and stance he takes. Then compare how many times he voted in favor of his financial contributors vs his constituents.
Frustrated? Not really. Concerned? Absolutely. America is steadily becoming "that country" whose dungeons are the scariest, whose hand is the heaviest, and where fascism is creeping into politics. It wouldn't be the first time a superpower slips into what their citizens consider "unthinkable" behavior without noticing it. Why would America be any different? If you were from where I was from, you'd be concerned too. Right now, our countries have a fantastic relationship going, but that was the case with Iraq, Iran, Egypt, etc in recent history as well. How long till the hammer comes down on us too? It's easy for you to be chilled because the death happens in our region, while your country is ridiculously safe pushing buttons from the white house and silencing the terrible effects of war on your own troops. But what concerns me the most is that the American people seem content to hand over their country to some war-lovers as long as it's coupled with below average medical care and a discussion about possible changes to an imbalanced tax structure. Y'all have really low standards given the resources at your disposal and the opportunities available to you. The way I see it: your political process affects a huge number of people in the world, but not all of them get to vote in it. So any improvement in that political process can benefit me, and it's probably a good idea for me to at least try to support the efforts of those trying to improve the political process.
I'm not chilled. I do take offense that someone who doesn't live here can lay out their "concerns" with such wording, even if I've written posts before with more or less the same point. I'm just wondering if you'll become that poster whom everyone glosses their eyes over after seeing the same topics and the same wordings. I don't think you're there, but what I generally find unfortunate is that it's usually those posters who heap the most expectations upon those they're criticizing, all the while alienating the audience he addresses.
Your post is grounded in lies. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/20...ng-35-percent-more-profits-in-2011/?mobile=wp Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security aren't simply available to the poor. Statements like that are in fact class warfare and ignorant.
Doesn't seem to stop you from commenting on Pakistani politics, calling it backward n all. How is that any different? I can't say I understand why you would take offense, it seems perfectly natural to be critical of another nation's politics on a debate and discussion board. Would my criticism be any more or less valid if I was living there? If I moved there, would I forget what I believe? If I became American, which apparently I'm eligible to become, would my criticism be warranted suddenly? Perhaps you would understand my point of view if you couldn't be critical of America while living in America and the United Arab Emirates was affecting your life from its remote location? I'll take your criticism on board re audience glossing it over, but I do wonder if the same people would listen/ignore me regardless of how I word things. I do understand that my wording sounds exaggerated to yourselves, but believe me the majority of the world is talking far worse ish behind your back. At least I'm here genuinely trying to make a difference albeit in my own way, saying things I would say whether I was American or not.
More class warfare, ie reality. That's the thing when people post things like you have. Anyone that takes the time to look at it more closely can easily find the problems with your opinion. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1979 and 2007 incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%.[15] In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927.[16][17][18] In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. Financial inequality was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%.[19] However, after the Great Recession which started in 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85% to 87.7%. The Great Recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median household wealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gap between the 1% and the 99%.[19][20][21] During the economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1% grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. In this period 66% of total income gains went to the 1%, who in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth
Medicaid IS only supposed to be for the poor. SS and Medicare are designed to help older Americans who can't afford to live on their own without government assistance make ends meet. In other words, to protect the POOR. As far as your incredibly non-biased Thinkprogress link, here's another link from the non-biased National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/294938/there-obama-goes-again-larry-kudlow The so-called "big oil" tax breaks cost a whopping $2 billion a year COMBINED! The green energy breaks in the current code cost about $8 billion. Also, most of those big oil breaks are the same types of breaks that every business in America can take, but at a severely reduced rate. Every number I quoted was straight out of the OMB budget historicals or the IRS. EVERY ONE. Grow up and learn to think and analyze for yourself. The rhetoric may make great talkingpoints, but it makes really terrible math.
Repped.. A lot of people like to b**** about our government and politics but few really take the time to understand how our government and politics work and even fewer to put in the time to actually change our government besides sloganeering.
Blah, blah, blah, the richers have too much, we're gonna get those jerks. Even if the income gap has grown (and if you use a straight line year to year measure, every income group has grown at about 10% a year over the last 60 years), it doesn't matter. Every family at every bracket is significantly better off than they were even 20 years ago. Even the overwhelming majority of those in poverty report that they get enough to eat every day, even if it isn't the type of food they want to eat. Nearly everyone has some sort of cell phone, and most have smart phones. 70% of poor households have a video game system and 90% have a color tv. When I was growing up, my parents wouldn't let me call my extended family very often because of the price of long distance. There is too much envy in this country right. Man up and start taking responsibility for your own actions.
You choose to focus on certain facts that present a slanted picture. The effective tax rate for these companies is nowhere near 45%. Thats simply a lie. The tax rate for the wealthy is nowhere near what used to be while their wealth has grown incredibly. The top 1% pay 40% of all the taxes but they own 34% of the wealth. And? That's a problem? Really? I do analyze for myself and the conclusion is that you're full it.
So what is their fair share? Because they are effectively paying the highest percentage of taxes then they have since the 70's. In 1979 the top 1% was paying about 15% of the total tax burden. Also, yes the oil companies' total effective tax rate is about 42%. That includes state and local taxes as well.
This is baseless and ironic. I've been a student of political economy with a lot of experience in political campaigning. My experience working in the system very strongly influenced my opening post. All of the debate on this board about the 'issues' that the national media has you all focused on will do nothing to change the real problems that actually affect people on a day to day basis at the local level. To me, moneyed interests have us focused on what their right hand is doing, while the left hand robs us blind.
Class warfare and childishly so, shame on you. Reality says the taxes for the rich are at historic lows. Really? Lol When the income of a millionaire goes up 10% and the income of someone who makes 35k goes up 10%, who makes out in that scenario? Are you kidding me? Lol. What types of food is that they want to eat? Fruits and vegetables? They should be happy with chicken nuggets and pop tarts. You are so far in denial of reality it's absurd.
This is a selective use of the facts. The rich are paying a higher percentage of all tax revenues because their wealth and incomes have skyrocketed over the same timeframe. When you make more you pay more. The tax rate for the rich is actually as low as it has ever been. Like I said, what you're insinuating is total nonsense.
Well good for you that you are involved. That said do you think most people are as involved as you are? Also I don't see how the post is baseless or ironic since while it was directed at you it was directed more at the general population. Given that we don't often see voter turnout above 50% in elections I think it is clear that voter apathy is a problem in the US.
If you're referring to ATW's Pakistani cop thread, I said it was disturbing people in that thread were quick to dismiss Pakistan's culture as an outlier to Islam. I could've commented a lot worse considering the police did jack **** about it. Or another's religion I don't know. Maybe you'd have a different viewpoint of the people you're referring to. Of course, we do it all the time, talking out of our asses about a country we know nothing about. It wouldn't be uncalled for for you to do it too. I know your intent. Other people could take it the wrong way... You know with the state of the Middle East as it is right now.
