* * * *
President
Bush was not only a "decider," he was an innovator. For the first time in our nation's history,
we fought a war, then two wars -- and, at the same time, instead of raising
revenues for the wars, he and the complicit Congress gave enormous tax breaks
to the very wealthy. It was as if we
took out credit cards in the names of our children and charged the costs of the
wars on them, while enriching the very rich even more. It was a continuation of a reckless pattern
of pandering by so-called conservatives -- aided and abetted by Democrats. Between 1979 and 2006, the top incremental
tax rate on earned income was cut in half; capital gains taxes were cut by
almost as much; and corporate taxes were reduced by more than 25%. Of course, not many corporations pay
according to even that rate because of all the loopholes and deductions their
lobbyists have pushed through Congress over the years.
If the Bush
tax cuts had been allowed to expire in 2010, as promised, for people with
incomes over $200,000, federal revenues would increase approximately $140
billion during this year. That would be
sufficient to cover basic health care needs for those without coverage in the
United States. What would the impact be
on those making more than $200,000 a year?
It would reduce their aftertax incomes, on average, by about 4.5%.
When offered
the choice between health care for all or an elimination of the Bush tax cuts
for the wealthy, Congress and the President have chosen less taxes for the
wealthy.
The
corrupting influence of money in our political system -- the massive campaign
contributions that essentially put Congress and the White House on retainer to
the wealthy -- has contributed significantly to what I call the Great
Chasm. One of many examples is what
Washington politicians -- those who are supposed to be representing all of us
-- did for hedge fund managers. Our tax
laws now allow hedge fund managers, some of whom make more than a billion
dollars a year, to have most of their earnings taxed at the capital gains rate,
15%, while middle class working men and women pay a significantly higher
rate. That loophole alone costs the
federal government more than $6 billion in lost revenue, which would be enough
to provide health care to three million children. [1] Almost $2 billion of that tax boondoggle goes
to 25 people. [2]
Over the
past decade, the incomes of the middle class have fallen, while those in the
top 1 percent have enjoyed, on average, an increase of 18% in their
incomes. And what incredible incomes
they are! The top 1 percent in the
United States are paid about 25% of the total income -- and they control a
whopping 40% of the total wealth. The
disparity in income and wealth between the small privileged class of the
economic aristocracy and the rest of us in this nation has never been as great
as it is now since the 1920's, on the eve of the Great Depression.
This is not
something that just naturally happens because of market forces. It happens because of politicians serving the
elite financial aristocracy to the immense detriment of the public interest.
How did we
build a strong, healthy middle class and a prosperous economy following the
Great Depression -- and what is taking us back now to the gross inequality and
tremendous insecurity for most people reminiscent of the Gilded Age?
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
10
6
5
