World of Class Warfare

While Vote No on 26 and the deceptions of the Vote Yes on 26 dot net group are still worthy of being at the forefront of any Mississippian's mind, some National news has popped up that is worthy of note as well.

Class Warfare!


Richard Wolff, a professor of economics and author, wrote a very insightful piece, published on the Common Dreams dot org website, entitled "The Truth about 'Class War' in America."

First, at the end of the second world war, for every dollar Washington raised in taxes on individuals, it raised $1.50 in taxes on business profits. Today, that ratio is very different: for every dollar Washington gets in taxes on individuals, it takes 25 cents in taxes on business. In short, the last half century has seen a massive shift of the burden of federal taxation off business and onto individuals.
Second, across those 50 years, the actual shift that occurred was the opposite of the much more modest reversal proposed this week by President Obama; over the same period, the federal income tax rate on the richest individuals fell from 91% to the current 35%. Yet, Republicans and conservatives use the term "class war" for what Obama proposes – and never for what the last five decades have accomplished in shifting the tax burden from the rich and corporations to the working class.

This goes along with my response to the "Class War" accusation, which is, "Yes, it is Class Warfare! After decades of being under attack by the top 2%, the Other 98% is finally starting to fight back!"
Or, from Billionaire Warren Buffet, "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

The rabid obsession that Republicans and the Tea Party (henceforth TeaPublicans) have with lowering taxes has reached the point of absolute insanity.  The Facts show that we are living under the Lowest Tax Burden in over 50 years(1). "Taxed Enough Already" is a fevered delusion.  The result of such low taxes has been the giant leaps in the amount of our deficit.  How can we pay our bills when we are reducing our income? Even Business Insiders realize that the TeaPublican rants are just insane.

Anyone who says with a straight face that successful, ambitious people will kick back in a chaise lounge because the government is going to take 40 cents of every dollar in income above a million dollars instead of 35 cents is an idiot, an ideologue, or a liar.

Speaking of Reducing income, there has also been a vast attack on upward mobility in those same decades.

the seismic shift in our economic structures wasn't an accident: the upward redistribution of wealth in this country has been a direct result of policies for which those at the top have lobbied hard – labor policies, trade deals, cuts to the social services that lifted some of those at the bottom out of poverty and a tax structure that shifted a big chunk of the burden from corporations and the wealthiest to ordinary working families.

Income Inequality(2) has reached staggering heights. Most significant division has been since 1980 when Reagan brought in the absurd "Trickle Down" economic policies that have failed miserably - as anyone can see when looking at :

See the Red line, starting in 1979 and pulling away from the rest? That is income NOT trickling down. It is staying up top and collecting there - being leeched from the economy.  These are real numbers, real history, real facts. There is no twisting what they mean.  Sure, you might can argue the "Why" but not the "What." The top 10% have seen ALL the income growth over the last thirty two years.  The other 90% of us, those who work for a living, have seen their incomes stay pretty much flat - not even keeping up with inflation.  Our "Share" of income has dropped.  That is the only thing that "Supply Side" economics creates - more profits to the top and less money to go around in the economy.  Which means, "It is not being distributed to anyone else and so is not being spent on consumer goods either."

It is extremely clear that Lower Taxes on the top 10% + Lower Taxes on Corporations + Deregulation = Rising Income Inequality + Reckless Behavior = Economic Collapse.

Stop The Insanity!

If you want to see Class Warfare, then watch the Daily Show hi-light Fox News as it attacks "poor" people. It is absolutely disgusting.  They defend the "Rich" and attack the "Poor."  It was actually one of the driving forces behind my "Makers and Takers" post.

References
World of Class Warfare - http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---warren-buffett-vs--wealthy-conservatives
(watch part 2 as well) http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---the-poor-s-free-ride-is-over
(1) http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-05-10-taxes_N.htm
     http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3151
     http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20060440-503544.html

(2) http://www.businessinsider.com/15-charts-about-wealth-and-inequality-in-america-2010-4
     http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph
     http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/makingsense_08-16.html