A very small niche of America's uber-wealthy have pulled off what may well be the biggest con job in the history of our republic, and they did it in a startlingly brief 30 or so years. True, they spent over three billion dollars to make it happen, but the reward to them was in the hundreds of billions - and will continue to be. Full Story »
Posted by Patricia Blochowiak
Hartman dispels the myths that have been foment by the very wealthy to convince those uneducated in either economic or accounting that breaks for the wealthy equal anything for them
Quite a unique viewpoint--basically that increasing taxes on working people doesn't matter much (because increased wages will even things out), whereas increasing taxes on the wealthy contributes to the positive good of society by filling the public coffers and stabilizing our economy. I'm not sure I buy the logic, however it is an idea worth considering, and it's not every day I hear something new and completely fresh.
Something in me rebels at the idea that there is an automatic leveling mechanism at work that will balance out any tax increase for wage earners. This could be true if we didn't have tens of millions of illegal immigrants among us whom most companies are quite willing to hire and who will work for slave wages. Perhaps the author's Denmark example illustrates my point, because immigration is tightly controlled in Denmark--and in all the other high-tax/high-minimum-wage Scandinavian ... More »
An op-ed article which puts the rhetoric of the rich into glaring perspective. Unless Obama and the Democrats muster sufficient courage to rebuff the nutcake neocon scream machine (and that's in considerable doubt), America will officially become a second-rate nation (rather than the unofficial second rate one it is now.)
George W did Reagan a huge favor. Until he showed up, Reagan was a great candidate for the worst president in the history of the Republic.
Never thought of that. A very interestng take on the economy. I would like to see an article on the finer details of how low taxes for the rich causes economic collapse. From the article it is clear what he is saying but not how it works.
If this is taken seriously by the administration, they may try to put a patch on an already complicated tax system. This always provides more oportunities for people who can afford tax lawyers. Better to simplify the system and say, for instance, zero tax up to the top of the poverty wage, 20% up to the average wage, 50% up to twice the average wage and 75% for anything above that. No if's and's or but's. All income from watever source taxed.Simplicity not complication is the key ... More »
This is a must-read story for anyone who is interested in the state of the economy, and that should be all of us.
It appears as though important details were not acknowledged because they did not fit the author's beliefs.
Cause and effect are difficult to link in many of your comments. You missed the boat entirely when you link the Regan era cuts to the collapse of the savings and loan 'thrifts'. Actually, the cause was the unintended consequence of removing the ability of 'professionals' - doctors, lawyers, etc. - to claim passive depreciation losses (from real estate) against their earned income. They were already enjoying low taxes by having a low taxable income. When Congress eliminated this ... More »
Retrieving Comments
