Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo you ever wonder why it takes the average family 47 years to make as much as a hedge fund honcho..
Do you ever wonder why it takes the average family 47 years to make as much as a hedge fund honcho makes in one hour?The 6 Economic Facts of Life in America That Allow the Rich to Run off with Our Wealth
by Les Leopold at AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/economy/6-economic-facts-life-america-allow-rich-run-our-wealth?paging=off
"SNIP.........................................
Why so many lies? Because financial elites like Peterson don't want to pay their fair share of taxes. They don't believe in funding a safety net for all Americans. They don't want to the government to help put Americans back to work. Instead, they want an economy by and for the elites.
4. We are under-taxed, not over-taxed. The super-rich want us to believe that taxes are too high and that those taxes are harming job creation and economic growth. It's a fabrication. First of all, taxes for most Americans have declined, according to a recent New York Times analysis:
..... most Americans in 2010 paid far less in total taxes federal, state and local than they would have paid 30 years ago. According to an analysis by The New York Times, the combination of all income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes took a smaller share of their income than it took from households with the same inflation-adjusted income in 1980.
Second, we have much lower tax rates that our chief European competitors. For example, Germany, an economic powerhouse, has an average tax rate of 40.6 percent while the U.S. rate is only 26.9 percent. Germany uses that money to rebuild its infrastructure, invest in education and find creative ways to nearly eliminate unemployment.
.........................................SNIP"
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
8 replies, 1209 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (9)
ReplyReply to this post
8 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Do you ever wonder why it takes the average family 47 years to make as much as a hedge fund honcho.. (Original Post)
applegrove
Dec 2012
OP
applegrove
(118,842 posts)1. The boom/bust cycle is good for millionaires not for the average family.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)8. Specifically the financial industry. n/t
love_katz
(2,584 posts)2. Exactly.
Boom and bust means an elite few make an insane amount of wealth.
Everyone else gets the shaft.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)3. K & R.
Plutocrats for Plutocracy doesn't work.
haikugal
(6,476 posts)4. Excellent Article, Thanks!
The discussion in comments is well worth a read as well.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)5. Confirms what life has taught me, thanks.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)6. because hedge fund honchos are actually mafia dons?
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)7. 1. The super-rich are stealing our fair share of productivity.
Headings from the article;
2. Americans really want a wealth distribution more like Sweden's.
3. Everything we hear about government debt is wrong.
4. We are under-taxed, not over-taxed.
5. Government jobs are just as good as private sector jobs.
And the solution?
6. Wall Street needs to be shrunk (until we can drown it in a bathtub).