Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Casey B. Mulligan: Shill for the Rich

In his never ending attacks on Obamacare (which is the law of the land) a cheerleader for the uber-wealthy, Casey B. Mulligan, writes in his latest post The Affordable Care Act’s Multiple Taxes:

"Income taxes discourage people from doing the things that create income."

This is really code for:

"If you tax the rich more, these wealthy job creators won't be able to invest and create jobs, because they'll make less profits."

Regular folks can't afford to save or invest, and usually spend the vast majority of their income on basic necessities every month, because most are living from paycheck to paycheck (some, from payday loan to payday loan). Regular folks don't have enough discretionary income left over after paying for rent and food to "do the things that create income" because they don't earn enough, and not because they are over-taxed.

And Casey B. Mulligan never, ever, mentions that these supposed "over-taxed job creators" have already been making records profits, dodging income taxes, hiding money in offshore banks, offshoring jobs overseas to lower-wage countries, busting labor unions, importing labor with H-1B visas to depress the wage market, lobbying to weaken labor and regulatory laws, receive billions in corporate welfare, force their employees onto food stamps with less than "living wages", corrupt democracy with money in politics, oppose minimum wage laws and make their workers do more for less (by not rewarding increased productivity), and use technology to displace workers (making the false claim they have to be more "globally competitive").

Meaning, these supposed "job creators" that Casey B. Mulligan fiercely defends, and who wants us to pity and idolize, have already been "doing things that create income"— but only for themselves.

The new budget deal (if passed as is) won't close any corporate tax loopholes. For the rich (and CEOs), this "deal" is already a "grand bargain" for the top 0.01% (whose income is primarily derived from capital gains) because those earning regular wages pays a higher tax rate than the billionaires do with their investment income ("doing the things that create income.") People who are paid hourly wages or weekly salaries pay:

33% on taxable income between $183,250 to $398,350
35% on taxable income between $398,350 to $400,000
39.6% on taxable income over $400,000.

Casey B. Mulligan's esteemed job creators (who would be discouraged from "doing the things that create income") only have to pay a 23.8% tax rate on their millions and millions of dollars of capital gains income every year.

Even if the Buffett Rule were ever passed (a 30% tax rate on millionaires and billionaires who earn over $1 million a year), it's still less than those earning regular wages over $183,250 a year in regular wages. And the top 0.01% still pays no Social Security taxes at all on their capital gains either—whereas 95% of wage earners pays this tax on 100% of their income.

Members of Congress pays a tax rate on 28% on their $174,000 salaries; and they also have their Social Security taxes capped at $113,700 —so they also don't pay this tax on 100% of their wages.

So long as the capital gains tax is lower than the corporate tax, the CEOs will keep funneling as much profits (millions and millions of dollars) as they can into tax deductible stock-option grants for the corporate execs.

Who pays Casey B. Mulligan to pimp for the very mega-rich? Does the New York Times pay him to write:

"Income taxes discourage people from doing the things that create income."

Which is just code for: "Take more from the poor and give more to the rich...and to hell with healthcare for the undeserving poor."

Casey B. Mulligan isn't an economist so much as he's a libertarian ideologue. I wish that anti-government/anti-people @ss would have invested all his money in Bitcoins.

2 comments:

  1. UPDATE: Here's what Casey B. Mulligan's job creators have been doing:

    A 176-page Senate report charges that from at least 2001 through 2008, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse helped thousands of Americans conceal billions of dollars of their wealth offshore by evading taxes through a variety of means, including opening accounts in the name of shell companies and sending Swiss bankers to the United States to secretly recruit new clients and avoid creating a paper trail.

    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/credit-suisse-helped-u-s-clients-hide-assets-senate-report-says

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  2. A Northern California couple who was out walking their dog had stumbled across a modern-day bonanza on their property: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree. Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated and mint condition --- but I suspect that they will have to pay a higher tax (like lottery winners) than CEOs do on their annual windfalls.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/rare-gold-coins_n_4855160.html

    Texas Governor Rick Perry on minimum wage: 'Leave it up to every company to make that decision'

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/25/1279433/-Perry-on-minimum-wage-Leave-it-up-to-every-company-to-make-that-decision

    Koch brothers use Republican activists in latest anti-Obamacare ads (Casey B. Mulligan does work for the Koch founded Cato Institute)

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/25/1280254/-Koch-brothers-use-Republican-activists-in-latest-anti-Obamacare-nbsp-ads

    The Republican "Save American Workers Act" would change the definition of a full-time work week under the health care law from 30 hours per week to 40 hours to mitigate the effect of the law's employer mandate.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/25/1280390/-Republican-bill-would-cost-1-million-workers-their-health-coverage

    GOP anti-worker Senator Corker now pretending his threats over VW union vote weren't really threats (GOP politicains actively engaged in busting labor unions)

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/25/1280320/-Corker-now-pretending-his-threats-over-VW-union-vote-weren-t-really-threats

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