Following are some numbers, courtesy of Barlett & Steele”s ”America: What Went Wrong?” [1992]. Already, 31 years ago, NUMBERS were beginning to reveal what The Far Right was doing to sabotage the great post-World War II mass middle class prosperity. Read this book, then read their “The Betrayal of The American Dream.”
PIECE together the following Numbers – as part of the bigger PATTERN of winners & losers as the Far Right’s counter-revolution progresses – and the victims are people like YOU……
– “The wage and salary structure of American business, encouraged by federal tax policies, is pushing the nation toward a two-class society. The top 4% make as much as the bottom half of U.S. workers.”
- ”The total amount of dollars in salaries funneled to the rich soared in the 1980s – as did the number of rich themselves
…people making $20,000-$50,000 salaries only gained a 44% increase…those earning $200,000- $l million salaries gained a 697% increase…those earning salaries over $1 million gained 2,184% in increased money !!!
- The “Tax Reform Act” of 1986 cut everybody’s taxes. But 3 years later, some fared much better. If YOU made $40,000-$50,000, YOU got a $1,000 cut [16%]. If you made $l million or ore, you got a $28l,033 cut [31%] !!!
- ”Fewer rich are paying the minimum tax, contrary to reformers” promises> {surprise !!!!!] ”..collections dropped 90%”
…from 77% to 85%, depending on bracket, paid the “minimum” tax; paid LESS when they paid anything.
- ”American corporations are closing plants or slashing work forces in the U.S. & shifting the jobs to Mexico. Since 1965, more than 1,800 plants employing more than 500,000 workers have been built there, most by U.S. corporations.”
- ”The amount deducted for corporate interest payments on borrowed money soared in the 1980s, due to a wave of corporate restructurings. The lost taxes ended up exceeding the taxes paid – a first.
- ”Corporations pay lessc[taxes], and individuals make up the difference>’. In the 1950s, the corporate tax share was 39%. In the 1980s, the corporate tax share was 17%.
- In the 1980s, interest payments on the federal debt were 55.2% of American education expenses, by 1990, that debt interest payment was 93.87% of American educational expenses.
- ”Corporations discover the NOL, a tax write-off bonanza worth billions. Companies escaped paying the 34% corporate income tax on $51.4 billion in write-offs in 1988, costing the U.S. Treasury $17.5 billion.”
- 29 of the 30 biggest corporate bankruptcies occurred between 1982 and 1991. At that point in time.
- ”Congress taxes foreigners at lower rates than you…An American taxpayer earning $30,000 to $40,000 paid $3,710..
If taxed at the same rate granted United Arab Emirates investors in the U.S., the American would have paid just $49.”
- ”American academic emphasis: Money over engineering. In the 1950s, more graduates were awarded masters degrees in engineering than in business management. In the 1980s, MBAs outnumbered engineers by more than 3-l.”
- ”The High Cost of Deregulation…What Went Wrong…Thousands of firms gone. 200,000 jobs lost..In the case of the savings and loan industry, the cost to taxpayers will be staggering…Now the push is on to deregulate..banking…” !!!!!!!!
- In 1978, before deregulation, around-trip ticket, Philadelphia-Pittsburgh, cost $86. In 1992, after deregulation, that ticket cost $460. !!!!And – YOU know of other costs since 1992 !!!!!!!!!!!!
- Post-deregulation, “The collapse of the U.S. trucking industry..Most of the top 30 trucking firms of 1979 are gone.”
Which also means lost middle class jobs; means devastation in some communities.
- ”What went wrong. The number of companies that provide fully paid medical insurance for their employees is steadily shrinking as American business transfers health-care costs to workers.” In 1982-1989 alone, individual coverage slipped from 75% covered to 48% covered; families from 50% covered to 31% covered.
- Between 1981 and l991, multiple corporate raiders attacking a highly profitable company, Simplicity Pattern, from having $l00 million in the bank, to being $l00 million in debt.
- ”The Disappearing Pensions….What Went Wrong. Under federal law, a company may remove money from an employee pension fund if it certifies that enough remains to cover its pension obligations. On 8 different occasions between 1983 and 1988, companies controlled by Victor Posner tapped employees’ pension plans….Total removed from pensions: $65.2 million.” One company’s workers lost over 40% of their pension coverage. Posner was not alone, page 178 shows 15 other companies whose workers were cut from 27% and 86% on their pensions.
- ”What Went Wrong On Capitol Hill, it is the lobbyists who have the clout. they speak for vested interests, not the middle class. And they have been extraordinarily successful in blocking tax-law changes that would be detrimental to the privileged, as well as preserving tax breaks that benefit the few at the expense of the many – such as the tax exemption for interest paid on bonds issued by state and local governments.. 52% of 1989 tax-exempt interest income – $20.1 billion – went to 800,000 individuals and families earning $100,000 or more [less than 1% of filers]. 48%..went to 3 million individuals earning less than $100,000 [2% of filers]. 108.5 million individuals and families received no tax-exempt interest income..97% of all U.S. tax filers.”
- ”Rewriting The Government Rule Book Capital Gains Tax Cut: Who Gains? If Congress enacts a capital gains tax cut, the benefits will flow overwhelmingly to a tiny percentage of individuals and families. 72% of 1989 capital gains income – $108.2 billion – went to 1.3 million individuals and families earning $100,000 or more..1% of all U.S. tax filers.
28% of 1989 capital gains income – $42 billion – went to 7.2 individuals and families earning less than $100,000..6% of all U.S. tax filers. 103.8 individuals and families received no capital gains income..93% of all U.S. tax filers.”
This series of posts: The Far Right Threat to Democracy – the rich and corporations, VIII, is an effort to educate YOU
in the MANY ways the rich and corporations have sabotaged America – its government, its economy, its society. Much of that case is built on UNSPUN NUMBERS, the PATTERN of which covers the entire recent modern era: 1945-2023.
The answer to “Who Stole The American Dream?” should be obvious- it is the rich and the corporations they control.
With Justice For All 