The Uber-Rich Must Pay!

It's bad enough that they haven't been paying enough already, but now the Republicans are whining that they should be paying much less! Maybe none at all!

When a CEO flies to Washington D.C. on a "company jet" to attend a bail-out hearing in front of Congress, they are flying in THEIR jets, collectively owned by senior corporate officers and/or major shareholders. Just because you might own a few stocks in their company (or they are being held by your IRA or pension fund), YOU'LL never fly in one of those multi-million dollar Learjets.

Uber: "The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than."

I was watching a program on PBS last night and it drew the conclusion that after a 20-year study that in fact, it wasn't the wages of State employees that's caused the State budget deficits; but that lately it has been just the lack of revenues. It conceded that at the current rate, pensions couldn't be sustainable in the future, but that was only because of the Great Recession (unemployment, housing prices, etc), and this shouldn't be a permanent concern. While it was true there was a very small proportion of State workers who were over-paid, those cases were rare, and in fact, State workers' actual wages usually only accounted for a very small part of any State's overall budget. But I agree, reform should be encouraged, especially while dealing with their over-time wages.

See Alan Grayson's article today about corporate tyranny and union organizers: "Did They Die in Vain?"

It's not common workers (and the poor) who are busting the State and federal budgets, but the GOP wants you to believe otherwise, so that the uber-rich can pay LESS in taxes, because with cuts in government services (reduced budget outlays), it's usually only YOU that will feel the sacrifice. The uber-rich will never make any sacrifice, at least, never voluntarily unless they are forced to by our politicians, via us, the voters.

More from Alan Grayson: "Ronald Reagan cut taxes on the rich and added $1 trillion to the federal debt, and turned America from the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation.

Then George W. Bush cut taxes on the rich and added another $4 trillion to the federal debt, and vaporized 20% of our national wealth in the last 18 months of his administration.

Yet in December, the Republicans in Congress forced us to extend tax cuts for the rich for two more years, at the cost of $70 billion a year. And now, they want to cut social services by $70 billion a year."

Since the dawn of humanity there has always been the haves and have-nots, from the most primitive tribes to the ancient Pharaohs; from the Roman emperors to the despots of the middle East; from the dictators in Cuba, China, and North Korea to those guys in North Africa today.

The ones who have the wealth, also have the power. When they have the power, they control the wealth and the people - just like the big corporations and the bankers have been doing to the people in America for the past century...ever since they invented a central bank and corporations for themselves. They used the politicians to trick the voters.

Now the uber-rich have TOO MUCH cash, so much so that they don't even know what to do with it! But one thing they know for certain is, they don't want you to have any of it!

Current technology and innovation hasn't kept up with the available cash that the uber-wealthy have to invest. It's become too easy and less risky for them to invest; it's much simpler and safer for them to just sit on their money and continue profiting from what they already have and/or control...such as oil. So if they won't invest in us and the country, then tax them more, and allow us to invest in ourselves.

Even before the Bush Tax Cuts, they were already paying far too little in taxes. With loopholes and other accounting and corporate strategies (and cracks and lack of enforcement in government regulations), the uber-rich, while paying more in taxes than you and I, weren't paying their proportionate share in regards to their actual incomes...many (if not most) of their personal incomes were taxed at the same rate as a person earning only $30,000 a year!

A too-low capital gains tax rate has allowed for this vast disparity, in both their taxes being paid as revenue to our government treasures, and explains the stagnant wages we've earned as compared to theirs over the decades.

By taxing them, they accuse us of stealing, "by taking from the rich and giving to the poor". That's BS and has been their propaganda line for years and years. If we tax them more, they always accuse us of being Socialists and "spreading the wealth around", as though THAT were somehow an "evil" thing - because they always compare it to Stalin's economic policies. But we are completely different. He was the STATE taking from THE PEOPLE, we are THE PEOPLE taking back from the CORPORATE STATE.

When you have the wealthiest people hoarding 2 to 3 trillion dollars ("money on the sidelines") of the nation's total wealth, and they're not investing in anything, that money is not circulating throughout the economy. Jobs can't be created, infrastructure can't be improved, social services are under-funded, states lose much needed revenues for public services, schools suffer, and the economy goes into a tailspin. Mass layoffs occur.

If there were a way to pry those funds loose from the "hoarders" and money grabbers such as with a 25% capital gains tax (since these people won't voluntarily help our nation) then our government (we) should raise their taxes so that WE can invest in America and its people - - - since obviously the wealthy now refuse to do this.

If I only earned $7 an hour at my job, I wouldn't pay any taxes at all unless I were forced to do so, but the IRS always manages to get my share (whether I think it's fair or not). So why not also force the wealthy to PAY more taxes instead of EVADING as many taxes as they can, by using their high-priced corporate accountants? The uber-wealthy can't wiggle out of that one...it's simple math. If corporate CEOs, investment bankers, hedge fund managers, and real estate tycoons earned $1 billion dollars from their "paper investments" (stock trades, stock-options, commodity trades, property flips, currency swaps, etc), then they'll have to pay $250 million for every billion they rake in to help pay down our national and State's debt.

TAX THE UBER-RICH 25% ON ALL THEIR CAPITAL GAINS.

THEY won't invest in America, so tax them so WE can invest in our country. There would be no deficits, budget crisis, or blaming unions or public workers for earning fair wages. The middle-class will never return if we only relied on the wealthy (they were the ones that killed the middle-class). We have to rebuild the middle-class ourselves...by having the uber-rich do the responsible and fair thing, and invest in those who made them uber-rich in the first place.

Socialism would be taking ALL their money and dividing it equally among all of us. I don't advocate that, just like I don't think they should hoard ALL the money either. There has to be a fair and equitable distribution of a nation's wealth so everyone can prosper to some degree ("floating all boats"). Reducing the majority (the masses) to poverty isn't the American way, that's what the ancient Egyptians did, and look what happened to the Pharaohs after several thousand years of economically oppressing their people. Now we see the results as it was happening again in places like Egypt.

But America can't wait several thousand more years, we have to tax the uber-rich now, before it's too late and we're all just slaves to the bankers and corporations. Or is it too late, and we are already?

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

And we must remember: The uber-rich are NOT our ultimate rulers either!

(PHOTO BELOW) Uber-rich toys: Just a sample of their cars, their planes, and their boats (beach-front mansions, mountain retreats, and private islands are not included)- - - What's in YOUR wallet? The uber-rich must pay a 25% capital gains tax for the survival of this nation. Don't worry, they won't suffer much...in fact, they'll never even feel a thing. (Click photo to enlarge)