http://billmoyers.com/static/winner-take-all-infographic/chart.png
That flat, light green line at the bottom of the graph is the average income for the bottom 99% of Americans. It was $31,073 in 1970. Today is stands at $30,091, a decline of 3%.
The bright green line represents the upper 1%. In 1970 the average income for those folks was $318,659.00. Today it stands at $905,570.00, an increase of 284%.
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Corporate Profit At 50 Year High, Personal Income At 50 Year Low
by mike kohr
Not only are corporate profits at a 50 year high, the corporate tax load is at a 50 year low, while personal income is at a 50 year low.
-These historic levels of corporate profit have not been seen since 1929. Remember how that worked out?-
It's no mystery why the middle class is hurting and the ranks of the poor are growing. The answer is simple mathematics. Decades of reverse Robin Hood economic policy will have that result every time.
Note that the steady decline in personal income began under Richard Nixon and has continued under all following Republican presidents with the steepest declines occurring under George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. The only respite from this economic strangle-hold on the middle class and the poor was the 8 years of the Clinton administration.
As you examine the above graphs take note:
1.) 7 of the last 8 recessions occured when a Republican was in the White House and conservative economic policies were in place (see also "History of Recessions" http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html
2.) Job creation plummeted under Supply Side Economics
see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html
3.) The National Debt exploded under Republican economic policies
see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html
source material: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/the-era-of-corporate-profit.html
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Wall St Journal: Real US Corporate tax rate falls to 12.1%, the lowest level since 1972
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577199492233215330.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
WASHINGTON—U.S. companies are booking higher profits than ever. But the number crunchers in Washington are puzzling over a phenomenon that has just come into view: Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.
Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.
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A Chart That Debunks The Lie That The Upper 1% Are Paying More In Taxes Than Ever Before by mike kohr
The Upper 1% are NOT paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes no matter how many times the Right Wingers say they are. Their income has sky-rocketed while working people's incomes have plummeted however the percentage of income paid in taxes by the upper 1% has shrank by 10% since 1986.
read full article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/debunking-the-conservative-argument-about-the-rich-and-taxes-in-three-easy-charts/2011/11/21/gIQA366GiN_blog.html
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Since the advent of Reagonomics and Supply Side Economics things have went poorly for the Middle Class. The Rich? Woo Hoo! by mike kohr
Tax give-aways to the rich, deregulation, union busting, Republican policies promised increased jobs, increased revenues and increased prosperity. The record: $9.2 trillion in debt, the greatest income disparity in history, 4 recessions, and a decade of zero job growth.
The 99% are not mad that the 1% prospered. We are mad that many of them cheated to gain their obscene wealth by corrupting the system with their hoards of cash to influence the political process to favor themselves over everyone else.
This income disparity is the end result of Supply Side economics. And we, the 99%, are all the poorer for it. Allowed to continue, we will be the first generation in American history to leave a lower standard of living to our children and grandchildren.
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Rick Perry: Middle Income Americans Don't Pay Enough Income Taxes by mike kohr
Pay up all you deadbeats. Rick Perry says you are not contributing enough to America. And don't forget it's not just Governor Goodhair that feels this way. Just last week a montage of Republicans were spewing this meme on Fox Gnu's. Working People were called, "Moochers, Takers, Deadbeats, Raccoons and irresponsible Animals."
Oh, and they would like your vote and support in November of 2012.
Source article <-clip-
Okay, here are some facts, courtesy of the Tax Policy Center. They may not allay Mr. Perry’s dismay, but they should assuage the concerns of anyone with a soul.
•Of the 46% of households who don’t pay income tax, nearly 2/3 pay payroll taxes.
•Of the 18% who pay neither income nor payroll taxes, more than half are elderly.
•More than 1/3 have incomes below $20,000. (Note: Ronald Reagan made the decision in 1986 to exempt people with incomes below the poverty line from federal income tax. Twenty-five years later, that still seems like a good call.)
•Only 1% of nontaxpaying households are nonelderly with incomes over $20,000. I’m dismayed about them too governor. Maybe we should close some of the loopholes that allowed almost 1,500 millionaires to escape income tax in 2009 -end of clip-
by Len Burman
read full article @:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/leonardburman/2011/08/18/rick-perry-middle-income-americans-dont-pay-enough-income-taxes/
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23 polls, ALL overwhelmingly favor eliminating the Bush tax give-a-ways to the rich
by mike kohr
Overview of polls:
The lowest number is 56% from the Republican leaning Rassmussan to 76% from April's Gallup poll. Average of the 23 polls is 65% in favor of ending the Bush tax breaks for the rich only 30% in favor of spending cuts alone to reduce the national debt.
t is striking that CNN's recent poll noted that only 31% of the American people approve of the Tea Party and only 33% approve of the Republican Party. When you look at the CNN poll it is apparant who the 30% are in the aggregate of the above mentioned 23 polls, they are the base of the Republican party. And they are far out of step with the American People.
Source:
http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/bruce-bartlett/2341/23-polls-say-people-support-higher-taxes-reduce-deficit?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CapitalGainsAndGames+%28Capital+Gains+and+Games+-+Wall+Street%2C+Washington%2C+and+Everything+in+Between%29
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Appalling Greed: Richest 400 Average $270.5 Million Incomes, Pay Almost Nothing in Taxes
-Compare that to 1955, when the country's most affluent made far less money and paid 51 percent of their income in taxes-
By Sam Pizzigati May 16, 2011
In 2008, the IRS revealed last week, 400 Americans reported at least $110 million in income on their federal tax returns. These 400, in a year that ended with millions of Americans out of work and home, averaged $270.5 million each, the second-highest U.S. top 400 average income on record.
see full article: http://www.alternet.org/story/150956/appalling_greed%3A_richest_400_average_%24270.5_million_incomes%2C_pay_almost_nothing_in_taxes?akid=6972.271528.cVT-v6&rd=1&t=8
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52 YEARS OF TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH, and what do we get?
AND WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESULT OF THESE TAX CUTS FOR PLUTOCRATS BEEN?
http://wealthforcommongood.org/shifting-responsibility/
RELATED ARTICLES:
2/3rds of US Corporations Pay Zero Federal Taxes:
http://www.alternet.org/story/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up?akid=6742.271528.amLtl8&rd=1&t=8
Fox News Freaks Out Over GE's Taxes - While Doing The Same Thing
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/540444/fox_news_freaks_out_over_ge%27s_taxes_-_while_doing_the_same_thing/#paragraph10
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The Republican Road Map For America, the poor, the middle class gets tossed under the bus, The Rich? Whoo Hoo!
http://www.motherjones.com/files/images/Blog_Ryan_Tax_Rates_0.jpg
Once again the Republican Party shows it true colors, millionaires before the masses, profits before People. And then they wonder why they have been in charge for 9 of the last 10 recessions, why job creation plummets when they are in charge, why the national debt explodes when they set the budget and why they have NEVER ONCE IN 70 YEARS matched the economic accomplishment of the Democratic Party. -mike kohr-
GOP's State of the Union Responder Would Set Higher Taxes on Middle-Class Than Millionaires
by: Pat Garofalo
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was announced today as the Republican who will be responding to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week. Ryan has gained a (largely unearned) reputation as a fiscal hawk due to his radical Roadmap for America’s Future, under which the U.S. budget will eventually be balanced (after federal debt surpasses 100 percent of GDP), mostly via privatizing Social Security and Medicare.
According to an analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice, the Roadmap would raise taxes on 90 percent of Americans, while dramatically lowering them for millionaires. In fact, a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that Ryan’s plan would ultimately translate into middle-class tax rates being higher than those for millionaires:
– The Roadmap would lead to the wealthiest Americans paying a lower average tax rate than most Americans. Eliminating taxes on capital gains, dividends, and interest, as the Roadmap proposes, would overwhelmingly help taxpayers at the top of the income distribution, who receive most or all of their income from capital. For example, Wall Street financiers could shelter all of their income as tax-free stock options or carried interest.
– Middle-class families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year would see their average tax rate jump to 19.1% (from 17.7%) under this plan—an increase of $900 on average [...]
– Millionaires would see their average tax rate drop to 12.8%, less than half of what they would pay relative to current policy
As EPI’s Andrew Fieldhouse concluded, under the Roadmap, “a long tradition of progressive taxation would be abandoned; millionaires and Wall Street bankers would pay significantly lower tax rates than middle-class workers…Income inequality would soar.”
Next week, on the same day that Obama delivers his address and Ryan gives his response, House Republicans will vote to endow Ryan with “stunning and unprecedented” powers to set discretionary spending levels that are binding on the House. The levels that Ryan has laid out, if actually enacted, would result in significant reductions to vital and popular programs like Pell Grants, the FBI, and the National Institutes of Health. This week, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) also called for “elements” of the Roadmap to be in the first GOP budget.
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