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Cypress
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A revolution? No way. The citizens have to be united against the govt. for a revolt. The situation that's brewing in the US is citizen vrs. citizen.
If unresolved it will lead to civil war.
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krafty
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Citizen vs. citizen? Wrong, on so many levels-I would suggest you start reading some signs out there.
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MitchMan
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Bravo Iflyfish, well said.
Barry you asked me to lay it out, here is just some of it.
| Quote: | Originally posted by MitchMan
One of the obvious problems is that there is way too much money in politics which has enabled certain monied interests to have way too much influence
in government and policy. These policies have allowed the realization of moral hazards reflected in Wall Streets' behavior and which led to this
latest economic disaster which has wrecked main street and enriched Wall Street all at the expense of the working class, which, BTW, is you and me.
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Next, as those at the very top have used the economy more and gained income and wealth from the economy that has under compensated the working class,
a more progressive tax structure is in order. Those, particularly in the top 2%, should be subject to a much higher marginal tax rate.
Next, close the tax loop holes that both sides of the aisle have acknowledged as not serving the economy as intended.
Next, pass legislation that corrects for tax and regulation havens offshore by redefining taxable nexus using apportionment and allocation
computations similar to what the states use in combined unitary tax reporting of business entities that operate in more than one state.
Grant an amnesty of sorts to companies with offshore billions to repatriate their cash abroad, but stipulate that such cash repatriated must be
invested in industry at home, penny for penny.
Next, hire more Medicare fraud auditors to crack down on Medicare fraud.
Next, overturn Citizens United.
Next, pass legislation to prohibit the "revolving door" that results in big business lobbyists being able to influence legislation buy providing cushy
unbelieveably lucrative jobs, perqs, and political contribution funding as rewards to congressmen and women "playing ball" and towing the corporate
directives while in office.
Next, repeal the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) that effectively repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The 1933 act is what separated the
commercial banks from investments banks such that Joe Public FDIC guaranteed pass book savings deposits and checking deposits could not be co-mingled
with capital used in risky investment bank investments.
Encourage and make it easier for collective bargaining and unionization to return to pre 1980 levels.
Next, rewrite the Bush Drug Act that disallows Medicare from negotiating drug prices with the pharma companies and allow Medicare to negotiate for
drug pricing.
Next, provide a public option for healthcare or more stringently regulate HMOs and PPOs claim payout and % of costs allowed for admin costs or mandate
that a certain percentage of HMOs/PPOs be returned to non-profit organization status. Same with hospitals.
Next, Establish an auditing fund managed by the government or a regulated non-profit company or agency that pays for and monitors annual audits of
publicly held corporations instead of allowing such companies to pay for and select their own auditors (I can't think of a more "conflict of interest"
situation than what exists today where a public company, say like Enron, selects and hires and pays their own auditors).
Make the current Sarbanes Oxley Act even stronger than it is today and make sure that shareholders know exactly how much their CEOs are getting paid
and how much their stock options can dilute their (the shareholders') stock.
Next, protect our market economy by enforcing much more rigourously than in the past 30 years, the Anti Trust laws and orderly break up the too big to
fail companies, particularly in the financial sector.
Next, make sure that our regulatory agencies do not get agency head appointees that are hostile to the mission and purpose of the agency as was done
during the Reagan and Bush I and Bush II years. Stop the sabotaging of our country and our government. That way our regulatory agencies can do their
job effectively.
Put those dam CDOs, derivatives, particularly the CDSs (credit default swaps) under insurance regulations and reporting where they should have been
all along.
Do something about those dam commodity markets and the runaway speculation that has made our food and oil prices skyrocket. Instead, our commodity
markets should be in whole, or at least in part, limited to those parties that truly represent only the consumers and producers.
Put a reasonable cap on CEO and executive salaries that relate to the size of the company and profitability requiring reserves taken from the
compensation to be set aside so that a recapture of the earnings can be retrieved from the withholdings in the reserve should future profitability
wane within a reasonable time period. Some type of measure should be taken to eliminate as much as possible the ruinous risky short term profit
motivation and moral hazard behavior that has contributed to the current economic near collapse.
Furthermore, our culture has to stop deifying wealth for wealth's sake alone and start looking at our country and its economy as a means to benefit
the whole country in an economically healthy way instead of the current culture of "winner takes all" and to hell with everyone else.
How's that for starters, Barry?
[Edited on 10-29-2011 by MitchMan]
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MrBillM
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Lessons from the Revolution
I especially liked the Filthy Fem Occupier who was asked if she knew the differences between North and South Korea who replied "Well, in
NORTH Korea they treat the people better and pay them a decent wage".
OK.
It's amazing the wisdom to be culled from those in the streets.
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MitchMan
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"Filthy Fem Occupier", nice language Mr Bill. Also, indictment by innuendo. Wow, you sure know how to build an air tight case. Nice work. Very,
very persuasive... for some.
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Iflyfish
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Thank you MitchMan
MrBillM
"Lessons from the Revolution
I especially liked the Filthy Fem Occupier who was asked if she knew the differences between North and South Korea who replied "Well, in NORTH Korea
they treat the people better and pay them a decent wage".
Americans are terrible with geography and our test scores demonstrate that. Americans score among the lowest in the world in knowledge of geography.
This person confused North and South Korea but got the distinction correct. If that is all you take away from what these fellow citizens are saying
then you are going to a dinner and eating the menu.
“After more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find
Iraq on a map, a study released Tuesday showed.
The study found that less than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 33 percent could not point out Louisiana
on a U.S. map.
The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study paints a dismal picture of the geographic knowledge of the most recent
graduates of the U.S. education system.”http://articles.cnn.com/2006-05-02/politics/geog.test_1_map-geographic-knowledge-young-people?_s=PM:EDUCATION
There are many voices in the Occupy Wall Street Movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOGMJaHHRVs
The underlying theme is inequality and there are lots of ways of saying that and many different voices who are doing just that. Some are in the Tea
Party and some in Occupy Wall Street and some in the very square in Egypt where their revolutoin started.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/the-daily-need/egyptian...
The Arab Spring was started by a slap in the face of one street peddler. That event triggered a revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and a number of
other Middle East countries. There were demonstrations in Egypt today, thousands of people marching in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street
demonstrators. On the week end there were demonstrations by thousands of people all over Europe.
Do you imagine that all members of the Tea Party are intelligent and articulate? Do you imagine that all who participate in any social movement have
the same level of knowledge and motivation? You again revert to a logical fallacy by attributing to the entire Occupy Wall Street movement the lack of
knowledge of this one person.
Because Herman Cain can't tell you who are the leaders of foreign nations does that mean that all Republican candidates are ignorant or uninformed?
No, it doesn't. This sort of argument is the logical fallacy of ad hominum argument. If you can't come up with a cogent argument attack the person. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmkvtfEEFT0
I have not said the Occupy Wall Street group is becoming a revolution, neither I nor you can know that at this point. I do know that the Tea Party,
even with relatively small numbers has hijacked the Republican Party. There are many bricks in a building and some are cornerstones.
Those scruffy, smelly people are living on the streets, in bad weather, with poor sanitation facilities. I would say that these fellow Americans must
have very important beliefs and grievances that I hope for the sake of us all are listened to and understood.
I recall how long it took in the 60's to stop the self defeating Viet Nam War. I recall clearly how the protesters were vilified. I recall that these
demonstrations started out very small. I think that now in hind sight most know we were right.
1945
•First protests against U.S. involvement in Vietnam take place in 1945, when United States Merchant Marine sailors condemn the U.S. government for the
use of U.S. merchant ships to transport French troops whose express purpose is to "subjugate the native population" of Vietnam. These protesters
oppose the "recolonization" of Vietnam.
1963
•May 1963, the first coordinated Vietnam War protests occur in London and Denmark. These protests are mounted by American pacifists during the annual
remembrance of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
1964
•May 2, In the first major student demonstration against the war, hundreds of students march through Times Square in New York City, while another 700
march in San Francisco. Smaller numbers also protest in New York; Seattle; and Madison, Wisconsin.
•May 12, twelve young men in New York publicly burn their draft cards to protest the war.[1][2]
•August: the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
•In December 1964, Joan Baez led six hundred people in an antiwar demonstration in San Francisco.[3]
1970
Kent State/Cambodia Incursion Protest, Washington, D.C.: A week after the Kent State shootings, on May 4, 100,000 anti-war demonstrators converged on
Washington, D.C. to protest the shooting of the students in Ohio and the Nixon administration's incursion into Cambodia. Even though the demonstration
was quickly put together, protesters were still able to bring out thousands to march in the Capital. It was an almost spontaneous response to the
events of the previous week. Police ringed the White House with buses to block the demonstrators from getting too close to the executive mansion.
Early in the morning before the march, Nixon met with protesters briefly at the Lincoln Memorial but nothing was resolved and the protest went on as
planned.
National Student Strike: more than 450 university, college and high school campuses across the country were shut by student strikes and both violent
and non-violent protests that involved more than 4 million students, in the only nationwide student strike in U.S. history.
A Gallup poll in May shows that 56% of the public believed that sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, 61% of those over 50 expressed that belief
compared to 49% of those between the ages of 21–29.[24]
On June 13, President Nixon established the President's Commission on Campus Unrest. The commission was directed to study the dissent, disorder, and
violence breaking out on college and university campuses.[25]
On August 24, 1970, near 3:40 a.m., a van filled with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mixture was detonated on the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
the Sterling Hall bombing.
Vortex I: A Biodegradable Festival of Life: To avert potential violence arising from planned anti-war protests, a government-sponsored rock festival
was held near Portland, Oregon from August 28 to September 3, attracting 100,000 participants. The festival, arranged by the People's Army Jamboree
(an ad hoc group) and Oregon governor Tom McCall, was set up when the FBI told the governor that President Nixon's planned appearance at an American
Legion convention in Portland could lead to violence worse than that seen at 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Chicano Moratorium: on August 29, some 25,000 Mexican-Americans participated in the largest anti-war demonstration in Los Angeles. Police
attacked the crowd with billyclubs and tear gas; two people were killed. Immediately after the marchers were dispersed, sheriff's deputies raided a
nearby bar, where they shot and killed Rubén Salazar, KMEX news director and Los Angeles Times columnist, with a tear-gas projectile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_U.S._involvem...
Iflyfish
[Edited on 10-29-2011 by Iflyfish]
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krafty
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Thanks, to you Iflyfish......
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krafty
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we are all the 99% and this is a revolution. Wake the heck up!
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Barry A.
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To Fish and Mitch------
Fish----Your first long post of 10/28 @ 5:40pm was quite brilliant, but I am sure glad that "Mills" was not one of my professors at San Diego State in
the Geography and History depts. (my Major/Minor) because I would not have learned much--------I guess I am one of those without the "quality of mind"
to comprehend much of what he is saying, which means his intellectual ramblings would have gone over my head, most likely, and done no good at all.
I enjoyed what YOU had to say in both your long posts, tho, and it makes a lot of sense. I am not one who reacted over the many years the way you
state "most" did, but I do recognize that many did react that way----but I don't believe that "most" did.
MitchMan----------very well thought out post, I must say. Thank you. I saw about (19) different suggestions on how to improve things-------(7) I
agree with---(3) I conditionally agree with----and the rest (9) I really don't agree with at all. So, I guess that is progress!?!?!?!
Unrelated subject: I got my annual flu shot 14 days ago, and have just gone thru 3 days of classic flu symptoms including spending most of that time
in bed-------what's with THAT? It has me slowed down for sure, so my response to you guys is less than what it might have been. (cop-out time)
In classic poor "quality of mind" style, I have often thought that the over-complication of the reality of man's relation to each other and the earth,
and society in general, does more harm than good, and seldom leads to solutions to problems, rather just mires mankind down in endless mind-games
with those that disagree------but I am sure that "Mills" would not agree with me, or listen to me.
I am a simple man without a "quality mind"-------and I want simple solutions-------that mostly work, and then I want to get on with it. There will
ALWAYS be those that just won't, or can't, prosper------and THAT is a problem that I don't believe society will EVER solve!
Barry
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MitchMan
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Get well, Barry. I, for one, appreciate your reliably earnest input.
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Barry A.
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Thanks, MitchMan------I appreciate that. When we all mostly work together, we CAN solve most of the problems we have------I am convinced of that.
First and formost the "paid" Lobbyists HAVE TO GO, along with no-limit Corp. campaign contributions, even if it takes a Constitutional
Amendment-------that will be a HUGE start.
Barry
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MitchMan
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Iflyfish, another excellent post; brought back memories.
| Quote: | Originally posted by krafty
we are all the 99% and this is a revolution. Wake the heck up! |
Spot on Krafty, spot on!
It is absolutely amazing to me that many on the right mouth support for the very policies and warped economic/political points of view that have have
directly hurt them. The top 1% own 41% of the nation's wealth, the top 10% own 71% of the nation's wealth, the bottom 60% own only 4% of the wealth,
and the bottom 40% have less than 1/4 of 1% of the nation's wealth. GDP has grown at an average of nearly $1/2 a trillion per year since 1980 giving
nearly all that growth (and then some) to the top 1% while the average real income of the working class (bottom 97%) has decreased.
There are alot of right wingers in that 97% that persistently vote against their own best interest in spite of the glaring facts.
[Edited on 10-29-2011 by MitchMan]
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David K
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The top 1% also pay 40% of the taxes!
50% of Americans now pay NO federal taxes!!
A flat tax is the most fair as everyone pays the same rate... make more money, pay more taxes, make less then pay less.
This multi-tiered nightmare has got to go... All Americans should be treated with the same respect and equality.
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MrBillM
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Getting ONE thing right
The Marxist Occupation is FILLED with confused people.
They should (and probably will) put together a loop featuring those Simpletons. A feature could easily run a couple of hours and bring hilarious
counterpoint to the mainstream news.
BTW, my characterization was accurate. THAT Fem WAS Disheveled and FILTHY looking.
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Iflyfish
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Barry A.
Get well soon. I am on the tail end of a two week virus that similarly laid me low.
I appreciate your thoughtful posts and agree that we all do better when we all work together.
What Mills was saying was that when Personal Problems become Public Issues then real social change can happen. Examples of this are many in the
history of our country. When individual women who had been disenfranchised from the vote, they joined together and the Suffragette movement was
started and history was changed. Ditto the AA movement where people who are Alcoholic were one viewed as having a individual poor moral character
until it was recognized that Alcoholism is a disease. People by the thousands died their individual deaths until it became clear that tobacco smoking
was a public health risk and the stop smoking movement was started. When individual people of color banded together the Civil Rights Movement was
launched.
We can blame those who are unemployed or poor for their plight. It is easy to do so especially if we “have ours”. It is easy to claim moral
superiority over those who are part of the permanent underclass and point to examples of individuals who have risen above their circumstances. However
it is difficult to apply the same logic to those whose images we saw standing in soup lines during the Great Depression, or the Dust Bowl, or in New
Orleans after Katrina. We are just now coming out of a recession that went nearly as deep as the Great Depression. Those of us who have either
prospered or whose situation remained relatively the same ought to pause for a moment and consider that not everyone was so blessed. We ought to
accept the fact that a majority of Americans agree with the Occupy Wall Street Protestors.
“In fact, the majority supports the protesters. According to a National Journal poll, 59 percent of Americans agree with Occupy Wall Street, while 31
percent disagree — a level of support comparable to that found by a Time magazine survey last week.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-hard-to-hate-thes...
These people are not taking to the streets to focus our attention on Illegal Immigration, what people do with their sex organs, what women do with
their uteruses (New laws are being drafted in states that would outlaw the IUD and other forms of birth control that interfere with a zygotes
attachment to the womb), what industry should receive the next round of deregulation or a balanced budget plan. They have taken to the streets to
confront Wall Street and the Banks for tanking their futures and leaving us with the bill. They are also confronting the corruption at the core of our
Congress and the Corporate money that now owns Washington and our Public Servants.
Iflyfish
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JoeJustJoe
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
The top 1% also pay 40% of the taxes!
50% of Americans now pay NO federal taxes!!
A flat tax is the most fair as everyone pays the same rate... make more money, pay more taxes, make less then pay less.
This multi-tiered nightmare has got to go... All Americans should be treated with the same respect and equality. |
It's amazing Nomad ultra conservative blind members just repeat things that other crazy extremists in the GOP, aka nut "tea party" say, and actually
think it's true and others should believe them.
I don't know what world that David K lives on, but it's certainly not Earth, because I don't know one person who doesn't pay any taxes one way or
another.
It's a shame the " Tax Policy Center" reported 47 percent of Americans don't pay any taxes, and then the right-wingers jumped on that saying "see it's
true the rich pay all the taxes and pay for welfare of those poor lazy people who don't want to work.
The tax policy is talking about Federal taxes, and tax credits which give the impression that half Americans aren't paying taxes. The tax credits
reduces the taxes a little bit different than tax loopholes the ultra rich is very familiar with and use all the time.
The fact is the 47 percent of Americans that supposedly isn't paying any taxes....Do pays payroll taxes, state and local taxes. The middle class and
poor also pay taxes when they go to the store to buy things from stores like "Home depot" or go out and eat dinner. You can't get away from paying
taxes.
Flats taxes favor the rich disproportionally and that's why you see ultra rich fat cats like Steve Forbes calling for flax taxes. Herman Cain's stupid
999 plan which everybody hates including the GOP Candidates would raise taxes on 84 percent of all Americans according independent analysis including
the "Tax Center policy" Republicans quote all the time. Cain is a typical Republican and is only looking out for the ultra rich.
Everybody pays taxes. Here is a graph that shows all tax brackets paying taxes in proportion to their income.
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Ateo
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Iflyfish rules.
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Iflyfish
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David K
"The top 1% also pay 40% of the taxes!
50% of Americans now pay NO federal taxes!!
A flat tax is the most fair as everyone pays the same rate... make more money, pay more taxes, make less then pay less."
Your stats don’t add up:
Who Pays Income Taxes and How Much?
Tax Year 2009
Percentiles Ranked by AGI AGI Threshold on Percentiles Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid
Top 1% $343,927 36.73
Top 5% $154,643 58.66
Top 10% $112,124 70.47
Top 25% $66,193 87.30
Top 50% $32,396 97.75
Bottom 50% <$32,396 2.25
Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
http://ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html
Guess who takes it in the shorts under a flat tax, hint, it ain’t the top 1%!!!
http://www.nationofchange.org/cain-s-plan-minimum-wage-earne...
The graduated income tax exists so that the burden of taxation is spread out over the population based upon their income. Those who make more profit
more from the benefits purchased by our collective tax dollars. No one gets rich in this country on their own.
Elizabeth Warren explains this very clearly:
http://boingboing.net/2011/09/23/elizabeth-warren-explains-w...
We do agree that the tax code, as written and modified to protect the top 1% and Corporations from paying their fair tax burden, ought to be changed
to eliminate corporate welfare and loop holes.
Iflyfish
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Barry A.
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Fish------either I am reading your "chart" wrong, or the "chart" IS showing that about 50% of the tax payers (the top 50%) are paying almost all the
taxes.
Where am I going wrong here?
I listen to Eliz. Warren, and I read her stuff---------all pure poppy-c-ck as near as I can tell, and a near complete mis-interpretation of the facts.
Barry
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MitchMan
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
The top 1% also pay 40% of the taxes!
50% of Americans now pay NO federal taxes!!
A flat tax is the most fair as everyone pays the same rate... make more money, pay more taxes, make less then pay less.
This multi-tiered nightmare has got to go... All Americans should be treated with the same respect and equality. |
I was waiting for someone to take that position. You're the lucky guy.
Flash! Wealth and consumption ARE NOT LINEAR! Human behavior is NOT LINEAR! You just haven't thought through what you already know. Ofen times, in
the real world, things are NOT LINEAR. That is the major, major flaw in your argument.
The only waya flat tax would make any real sense in the real world and have any possibility of being 'fair' is if EVERY BODY HAD THE SAME INCOME, and
that isn't going to happen any time soon.
Just to illustrate, ever watch a really tall tree fall? Notice how long it takes to fall and lie flat on the ground, yet, a two inch tall match will
fall almost instantly? Ever drop an ant from 5 feet above the ground and notice the ant is not harmed at all, yet if you were to drop an elephant to
the ground from a proportionate distance to the ant's 5 foot fall that the elephant would be splattered? NOT EVERYTHING IS LINEAR in the real world.
Many, many things in economics are NOT LINEAR.
Most all humans consume and require approximately the same quantity of food, shelter, and clothing. Most all humans, on the average, are similar in
strength, intelligence, and metabolism. And, most all humans are within a very specific range of size, amount of sleep required, amount of physical
and energy levels produced. And, ofcourse, there are only 24 hours in a day. All these attributes are basically LINEAR. What is very non-linear is
our skewed and lopsided economy, the range of incomes and wealth are multiple times different. At the top income and wealth levels, exponentially
different. That's not LINEAR! And, it just so happens that those with extremely high incomes (top 2%, certainly the top 1%, absolutely for the top
1/10 of 1%) and net worth got that lopsided income and wealth by successfully "arranging" things in their favor which most often resulted in being
able to inordinately benefit from the economy and the labor of the many, both directly and indirectly, and thereby inordinately exponentially
benefitting from the economy. And, that is NON-LINEAR.
Ever hear of the widely acknowledged principle in "Engel's Law"? It states that as personal income goes up, the person consumes less of a proportion
of their income in food. The field of economics has extended that concept to be one of the main bases for understanding consumption.
For example, for those lucky Americans that own their home, the equity in the home is their largest source and proportion of their net worth and the
price is usually multiples of the household's annual income. Bill Gates' home cost $147 million is about 1/4 of 1% of his net worth. David K, ask
yourself, what is the proportion of your home to your networth. Maybe, just maybe you will start to get the idea. However, knowing how the right wing
mind commonly works, it is doubtful. Facts and logic usually isn't persuasive enough, it usually takes a catchy simple slogan, and the slogan must be
repeated often by people around you.
This NON-LINEAR characteristic of our skewed economy that lopsidedly rewards the few at the top at the expense of the working class by the economy's
overcharging and underpaying the working class, and thereby siphoning off excessive wealth and income from the production of and by the many. As I
have written before, this lopsided concentration of wealth and income at the top has left the working class without enough money to pay for the
consumption of what they produced. That's a bad thing, David K, not a good thing. The economy needs to be more in balance. It's being out of
balance is the malaise inherent in the great recession we find ourselves in. Unless, you don't think that we are in a recession.
The problem with the economy is lack of consumer demand, not lack of available investment money. Businesses are sitting on $2.5 Trillion, and there
is another $1.2 Trillion overseas. How is it that Americans have worked hard enough to produce and support a GDP that has grown for the last thirty
years, the wealthy have gotten profanely wealthy, corporate earnings continue to break records, yet the working class doesn't have enough money to buy
necessiities and the bottom 60% only have 4% of the wealth, and 50 million can't afford healthcare ... an absolute necessity?
In view of the linear sameness of the human race and the lopsided operation of our economy inordinately and ruinously favoring the wealthy, your
concept of a a flat tax is an abomination. You don't have a clue to what is fairness. A flat tax that would generate the same revenues would tax
someone $300,000 at the same rate that the bottom 50% would be taxed at. David K, did you know that the bottom 50% of taxpayers have an average
income of under $16,000? You are going to tax them at 9% and you are going to tax the top 2% at 9% (break point = $250,000 annual income) and tax the
top 1% at 9% (break point annual income of $344,000, average for the top 1% is $960,000) and the top 1/10 of 1% (breakpoint = $1.7 Million, average
income for the top 0.1%=$8 Million). How marooonic.
The top earners were able to get inordinate benefits from the skewed economy, more than they can consume, more than they need, actually, more than
they earned. They were just successful at "arranging" finances in their favor. You can't tell me that a hedge fund manager who made over $100
million in one year actually "earned" it. The working class "earns" most all their money, and the vast working class produced most all of the goods
and services with their own hands and minds. Can't say that most of the top 2% "earned" most of their money. They were successful at gaming the
economy to legally "arrange" for that income to flow into their pockets. Even the IRS makes a definitional distinction between "earned income" and
"unearned income".
Don't make the assumptive mistake that I am against a market capitalist economy. I am absolutely for such an economy. But not a skewed one. Also, I
am not at all against people earning more than one another. A reasonalbe disparity in income serves to provide the incentives toward efficiency, work
motivation, increased productivity, and much needed creativity and invention. The operative word is "reasonable" and in a great economy, there is
plenty of room for income and wealth disparity to a "reasonable" level that would provide all the incentives a society could want and need all the
while appropriately and adequately compensating the working class with more than the bare livable wage.
Did you know that for the top 1%, the average amount of income left over after paying federal income taxes was $923,000? Tax the bottom 50% that had
an average of only $14,900 on income BEFORE income tax? What, are you crazy David K?
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