“One has to wonder, how much cheaper is it to buy off the politicians than to just pay their fair share of taxes?”-The return on investment for bribes campaign contributions is anywhere from 100/1 up to 1,000,000/1 depending on the issue. -Not to mention avoiding jail time.
The word “capitalism” was coined in the early 19th century and was then defined as a synonym for “plutocracy,” and a “capitalist” was the same thing as a “plutocrat.” — It was given its more modern meaning of an entire political and economic system by none other than Karl Marx. It seems to me, rather ironically, that anyone who embraces “capitalism” as an ideal is really a sort of reversed-polarity Marxist. Rather like a Satanist who does not dispute the essentials of traditional Christianity, but embraces the “dark side” as the “good” side and condemns the “light” as merely the side of hypocrisy. It also seems to me that the wisest people transcend the whole capitalist/socialist dichotomy as they reject the Manichean God/Satan dichotomy, and realize that reality is not in black and white, but in full color.
32 individuals contributed more money in the last presidential election than all other donors combined. That makes it seem like it is impossible for the middle class to have any say in what happens in this country. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those 32 people only have 32 votes. The Middle Class has millions…………………………………………………………………………….………………The only thing that is going to save the Middle Class is the Middle Class. We are the 99%—- that means we have the votes to elect people who will actually represent middle class workers and provide a safety net for those who are trying to get into the middle class.We all need to know WHO is supporting the candidates. That is who they will be working for. They have no choice if they want to stay in office. You have to do the bidding of whoever is paying your way, just the same as we all do in our jobs. So, before going to vote, look it up on the internet. Open Secrets is a good site, but there are plenty ………………………………………………………………………….………………….. If the candidate is getting their money from small donors or from unions, they are going to be working for middle class working people. If their donations are from corporations or from 1%ers, that’s who their votes are going to be working for. They are not going to go against them and do anything to help the middle class.
When I graduated from high school in 1962, my husband and I bought a house and two cars within the next few years, on what he was making on a job he got right out of high school. Most of the guys I graduated with did the same. I didn’t work, few women did, and those who did actually chose to do so. Now, it isn’t really a choice for most women, unless they don’t mind living in poverty. When I decided to become a teacher, my first quarter’s tuition at a state university was $79, and we rented any books we needed for $20. Anyone could go to college with just a part time job to pay for it.
Since that time, the GNP has skyrocked and the American worker is acknowledged to be the most productive in the world. But, all of the value they are producing is going to the top 1%. The Middle Class standard of living is declining, and a college graduate hasn’t anywhere near as easy a time as we had with just high school. We produce the highest quality goods on earth, and we can’t afford to buy them. A young person told me a while back that I couldn’t really understand why their generation was so angry.
What I actually don’t understand is why they aren’t rioting in the streets.
Absolutely right, Harley. There are 3.2 million people in the 1%, even when you don’t count the rest of the world. The whole 1% thing is a red herring. Not the 1% at all, rather the 1% of the 1%. They are the ones who have reaped all the benefits of 30 years of growth in the American economy. From BusinessWeek: "The rallying cry of the Occupy Movement was that the richest 1 percent of Americans is getting richer while the rest of us struggle to get by. That’s not quite right, though. The bottom nine-tenths of the 1 Percent club have about the same slice of the national wealth pie that they had a generation ago. The gains have accrued almost exclusively to the top tenth of 1 Percenters. The richest 0.1 percent of the American population has rebuilt its share of wealth back to where it was in the Roaring Twenties. And the richest 0.01 percent’s share has grown even more rapidly, quadrupling since the eve of the Reagan Revolution.“These figures come out of a clever analysis by economists Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley and Gabriel Zucman of the London School of Economics, who is a visiting professor at Berkeley. The Internal Revenue Service asks about income, not wealth, which is the market value of real estate, stocks, bonds, and other assets. Saez and Zucman were able to deduce wealth by exploiting IRS data going back to when the federal income tax was instituted in 1913. They figured out how much property different strata of society owned by looking at the income that was generated by that property, such as dividends and capital gains. To simplify, if a family reported $1 million in rental income one year and the market rate of return on rental properties was 10 percent, then Saez and Zucman concluded that the family must have owned property worth $10 million.“The message for strivers is that if you want to be very, very rich, start out very rich. The threshold for being in the top 0.1 percent of tax filers in 2012 was wealth of about $20 million. To be in the top 0.01 percent—that’s the 1 Percent club’s 1 Percent club—required net worth of $100 million. Of course, even $100 million is a pittance to Bill Gates, whose net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is nearly 800 times that.”
churchillwasright: Your racism is showing again. Go back to Europe and leave us Americans alone. you immigrant’s kid. Churchill was “essential in war, insufferable in peace”, you are insufferable all the time.
If, in saying “we have the highest tax rates in the world,” you mean the US, you are mistaken, misinformed, or lying. The U.S. has among the lowest tax rates in the industrialized world.
aardvarkseyes over 9 years ago
To be fair, he did pay for it.
braindead Premium Member over 9 years ago
“One has to wonder, how much cheaper is it to buy off the politicians than to just pay their fair share of taxes?”-The return on investment for bribes campaign contributions is anywhere from 100/1 up to 1,000,000/1 depending on the issue. -Not to mention avoiding jail time.
Doughfoot over 9 years ago
The word “capitalism” was coined in the early 19th century and was then defined as a synonym for “plutocracy,” and a “capitalist” was the same thing as a “plutocrat.” — It was given its more modern meaning of an entire political and economic system by none other than Karl Marx. It seems to me, rather ironically, that anyone who embraces “capitalism” as an ideal is really a sort of reversed-polarity Marxist. Rather like a Satanist who does not dispute the essentials of traditional Christianity, but embraces the “dark side” as the “good” side and condemns the “light” as merely the side of hypocrisy. It also seems to me that the wisest people transcend the whole capitalist/socialist dichotomy as they reject the Manichean God/Satan dichotomy, and realize that reality is not in black and white, but in full color.
Theodore E. Lind Premium Member over 9 years ago
If most of the people would really turn out and vote, a lot of this would go away. Right now only the 20% or so bother to show up.
Technojunkie over 9 years ago
This is why government was never supposed to have much power. Too easily bought.
Diane Lee Premium Member over 9 years ago
32 individuals contributed more money in the last presidential election than all other donors combined. That makes it seem like it is impossible for the middle class to have any say in what happens in this country. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those 32 people only have 32 votes. The Middle Class has millions…………………………………………………………………………….………………The only thing that is going to save the Middle Class is the Middle Class. We are the 99%—- that means we have the votes to elect people who will actually represent middle class workers and provide a safety net for those who are trying to get into the middle class.We all need to know WHO is supporting the candidates. That is who they will be working for. They have no choice if they want to stay in office. You have to do the bidding of whoever is paying your way, just the same as we all do in our jobs. So, before going to vote, look it up on the internet. Open Secrets is a good site, but there are plenty ………………………………………………………………………….………………….. If the candidate is getting their money from small donors or from unions, they are going to be working for middle class working people. If their donations are from corporations or from 1%ers, that’s who their votes are going to be working for. They are not going to go against them and do anything to help the middle class.
It would be political suicide.
Diane Lee Premium Member over 9 years ago
When I graduated from high school in 1962, my husband and I bought a house and two cars within the next few years, on what he was making on a job he got right out of high school. Most of the guys I graduated with did the same. I didn’t work, few women did, and those who did actually chose to do so. Now, it isn’t really a choice for most women, unless they don’t mind living in poverty. When I decided to become a teacher, my first quarter’s tuition at a state university was $79, and we rented any books we needed for $20. Anyone could go to college with just a part time job to pay for it.
Since that time, the GNP has skyrocked and the American worker is acknowledged to be the most productive in the world. But, all of the value they are producing is going to the top 1%. The Middle Class standard of living is declining, and a college graduate hasn’t anywhere near as easy a time as we had with just high school. We produce the highest quality goods on earth, and we can’t afford to buy them. A young person told me a while back that I couldn’t really understand why their generation was so angry.
What I actually don’t understand is why they aren’t rioting in the streets.
Doughfoot over 9 years ago
Absolutely right, Harley. There are 3.2 million people in the 1%, even when you don’t count the rest of the world. The whole 1% thing is a red herring. Not the 1% at all, rather the 1% of the 1%. They are the ones who have reaped all the benefits of 30 years of growth in the American economy. From BusinessWeek: "The rallying cry of the Occupy Movement was that the richest 1 percent of Americans is getting richer while the rest of us struggle to get by. That’s not quite right, though. The bottom nine-tenths of the 1 Percent club have about the same slice of the national wealth pie that they had a generation ago. The gains have accrued almost exclusively to the top tenth of 1 Percenters. The richest 0.1 percent of the American population has rebuilt its share of wealth back to where it was in the Roaring Twenties. And the richest 0.01 percent’s share has grown even more rapidly, quadrupling since the eve of the Reagan Revolution.“These figures come out of a clever analysis by economists Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley and Gabriel Zucman of the London School of Economics, who is a visiting professor at Berkeley. The Internal Revenue Service asks about income, not wealth, which is the market value of real estate, stocks, bonds, and other assets. Saez and Zucman were able to deduce wealth by exploiting IRS data going back to when the federal income tax was instituted in 1913. They figured out how much property different strata of society owned by looking at the income that was generated by that property, such as dividends and capital gains. To simplify, if a family reported $1 million in rental income one year and the market rate of return on rental properties was 10 percent, then Saez and Zucman concluded that the family must have owned property worth $10 million.“The message for strivers is that if you want to be very, very rich, start out very rich. The threshold for being in the top 0.1 percent of tax filers in 2012 was wealth of about $20 million. To be in the top 0.01 percent—that’s the 1 Percent club’s 1 Percent club—required net worth of $100 million. Of course, even $100 million is a pittance to Bill Gates, whose net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is nearly 800 times that.”
Doughfoot over 9 years ago
Take a look:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-03/top-tenth-of-1-percenters-reaps-all-the-riches
kennethcwarren64 over 9 years ago
Here is a simple reminder to those of you who argue with trolls Harley or 4671: Your probably arguing with a computer program, or might as well be.
hippogriff over 9 years ago
churchillwasright: Your racism is showing again. Go back to Europe and leave us Americans alone. you immigrant’s kid. Churchill was “essential in war, insufferable in peace”, you are insufferable all the time.
hmofo813 Premium Member over 9 years ago
If, in saying “we have the highest tax rates in the world,” you mean the US, you are mistaken, misinformed, or lying. The U.S. has among the lowest tax rates in the industrialized world.