1] billionaire Leona Helmsley: “We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes.” [“The Cheating of America;” Lewis and Allison, Center for Public Integrity]
2] “In 1988…commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, testified before the Senate Finance Committee that noncompliance with the Internal Revenue Code – tax avoidance and tax evasion – costs each taxpayer more than $1,600 a year.” [“The Cheating of America”] *** Note: – this was in 1988 – what do YOU think this tax cheating costs YOU now!!!!!!
3]. changes in tax policy “helped level the playing field.” Top 1950s rate was 52%. “..class divide..had started to come down n the 1940s, when the gap in wages between rich and poor shrank significantly..Economists would..call this era “the Great Compression”..making this an unrivaled age of American egalitarianism..In 1952 the share of national income going to the top 10% was 33%. In 1962 it was 34%. In 1972 it was..34%. The rich were getting richer, but not disproportionally to everyone else.” [“The End of Loyalty”]
4] Adam Smith: tax maxims: taxes should be based on ability to pay. Those who “enjoy [more] under protection of the state” should pay more. [“Adam Smith”; P. Hanley, editor]
5]. “Tax Tricks”: #1: Carried Interest: “The Billionaires’ Loophole”; #2: “The Estate Tax: How We Crated an American Aristocracy”; #3: Sidestepping Taxes: “The Stepped-Up BASIS”; #4: Annuity Trusts: “Don’t Trust This system”; #5: “Let’s Play Switch and Swap: The 1031 Like-Kind Exchange”; #6: “Help the Rich by Pretending to Help the Poor: Opportunity [for Rich People] Zones”; #7: “Just Passing through: The Pass-Through Deduction”
6]. “Gouverneur Morris, one of the more influential delegates to the [Constitutional Convention] believed the rich would act in ways to oppress everyone else.” [“The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution”]
7] “..it’s increasingly clear..inequality isn’t good for economic growth. A 2014 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found..countries with more inequality had less growth..also distorts public policy..” {“The Economists” Hour”]
8]. “..the concept of private gain from taxes being applied with growing success within the United states by some of the richest Americans. What happens next illustrates how thoroughly our government has been captured by the rich and powerful. The Yankees and Mets went to the Internal Revenue Service for a special dispensation known as a private letter ruling..true even if the letter is bad policy and even if it contradicts the law…”just one problem..the IRS is under no obligation to issue a private letter ruling…Instead Korb allowed the richest among us to get what they wanted, even though he..concluded..the law itself did not allow the result.” [“Free Lunch”]
9] “..taxes are used to incentivize behaviors that are good for the nation and discourage behaviors that are destructive…This is where Reaganomics has not only screwed average American working people but screwed American business – particularly small and medium-sized businesses.” [“Why the Corporate Tax Bracket Should Go Back To 52%”; Thom Hartmann; The Progressive Populist; 3/15/24]
10]. Adam Smith: “It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”
11] “Corporate Tax Tricks”: #1: “Multinational Money Game: International Profit Sharing”; #2: “Giving Away The Store: Our New Territorial Tax System”; #3: “Over There, Over there: Relocating Assets Overseas”; #4: “Stocking Up On Loopholes: Stock Options for Executives”; #5: “Look Fast! Oh, You Missed It: Accelerated Depreciation” [“Tax The Rich”]
12] “The Reagan tax cuts should have discredited supply-side economics. The evidence of failure was..the fact..even after growth resumed..the presumed supply-side benefits did not materialize..supply-siders overestimated the influence of taxation..failure of Reagan’s tax cuts to deliver faster economic growth forced the government to borrow money on the largest scale since World War II.” [“The Economists’ Hour”]
13] “For years..[Amazon].. managed to keep its tax bill down..by claiming so few profits – the focus was on..driving rivals to the point of extinction..now it was..racking up profits, it was [paying few taxes]..funneling profits through an office in Luxembourg, Amazon avoided paying the U.S. government $1.5 billion…In 2018, it would pay zero corporate income taxes for the second straight year, despite doubling its profits to more than $11 billion..it would so successfully game the tax code..it would receive a $125 million rebate…from 2009 to 2018, the company paid an effective tax rate of 3% of its profits totaling $26.5 billion.”[“Fulfillment”]
14] following are some examples of “just how thoroughly government became the servant of the rich..”;
– billionaire Warren Buffett’s company has a two-thirds-billion dollar, interest-free loan from our government for more than 28 years
– ex-President George W. Bush owes his fortune..to a sales tax increase..funneled into his pocket, a fortune further enhanced by..paying millions less in income taxes than he should have
– Paris Hilton has resources to cavort shamelessly because her grandfather, thanks to government, snatched a fortune away from poor children
– Donald Trump benefits from a tax,..enacted to help the elderly and the poor, but part of which is now diverted to his casinos [all examples provided by “Free Lunch”]
15]. Adam Smith: “It must always be remembered..That it is the luxuries, and not the necessary expense of the inferior ranks of people, that ought ever to be taxed.”
16]. “Lies and Liars”: #1: Corporate tax cuts create jobs; #2: Private-equity investors are job creators [and deserve a special tax break]; #3: People who invest i the stock market are job creators [ and deserve a special tax break]; #4. Business owners are job creators; #5: Taxing capital gains discourages investment; #6: Rich people’s charity does so much good in the world that if we tax them, they won’t have enough money to help poor people; #7: It’s their money; #8: Politicians care just as much about their constituents as they do about their donors; #9: Tax cuts for rich people will trickle down to regular people; #10: Rich people should be trusted [“Tax The Rich”]
17] “While the donor class reaps ever greater tax breaks, and corporations generous to political campaigns pay less and less..the rest of us are paying a greater share of the taxes. Not only that, poor people are now more likely than the rich to get audited.” [“Is That A Politician In Your Pocket?” – Part Six: “Our Treasury is Being Plundered”]
18]. “..a key reason..wages are stagnant or falling for most..is a tax rule enacted in 1986..Reagan signed a law that said so long as the money was owned by offshore subsidiaries, American companies could hold unlimited amounts of cash..a key reason companies..siphon profits out of the United States..” [“The Fine Print”]
19] “In 1978 California voters passed Proposition 13, which promised relief from rapidly rising property taxes. Howard Jarvis and other promoters..talked incessantly about how good it was for homeowners. The truth was..two-thirds of the savings went to industry, business and landlords like Jarvis.” “Free Lunch”]
20]. Adam Smith: “The necessities of life occasion great expense of the poor. they find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principle expense of the rich..Itr is not unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense..”
21]. “Unrigging The Economy Through The Tax Code”; #1: Equalize Capital Gains and Ordinary Income tax rates for incomes over $1 million: #2: End the Bracket Racket: create lots of brackets at much higher rates; #3: Tax The Rich!: implement a wealth tax; #4: Stop Letting Investors Delay Tax Payments on Capital Gains: mark-to-market taxation; #5: Make Corporations Pay Taxes Where They Really Make Their Profits: end profit-shifting; #6: Make Sure They Actually Pay: fund the IRS. [“Tax The Rich”]
22]. “..if democracy is to regain control over the globalized capitalism..it must invent new tools..The ideal tool would be a progressive global tax on capital, coupled with a very high level of international financial transparency.” [“Capital in the Twenty First Century”]
23]. “..so far this year 39 cents of every dollar paid in individual income taxes is needed to simply pay interest on the national debt.” [“Taxes increasingly paying for the past, not the future”; Penny & Minge; Mpls Star-Trib; 4/17/24]
24]. Adam Smith: “..as Henry Home [Lord Kames] has written, a goal of taxation should be to ‘remedy inequality of riches as much as possible, by relieving the poor and burdening the rich.”
25] “This broad rise of corporate power meant riches for the corporate elite that were beyond imagining before President Ronald Reagan signed into law the ‘Ecnomic Recovery Act’ of 1981. The philosophy of “trickle-down economics” has led to worsening conditions at the bottom of society – a shredding of the social safety net..among modern nations America..has by far the highest level of child poverty.” [“The Fine Print”]
26]. “There is no valid reason why investors should pay lower tax rates on their income than people who work pay theirs ..investors already have all the incentive they need to invest..” [“Tax The Rich”]
27] The 2004 tax holiday: $312 billion allowed back into the USA at “token tax rate of 5.2% – less than the rate actually paid by individuals and families earning $30-40,000. The only beneficiaries were the select corporations.. and their executives…no measurable benefit for the nation.” [“The Betrayal of the American Dream”] *****see Constitution’s Preamble requirement: ‘..to promote the general Welfare..”].
28]. James Madison, in Federalist Number 10, described special interests as THE great threat to American democracy, curbing those interests as THE great work of government. [“The Economists’ Hour”]
29] “In 2021..the Internal Revenue Service failed to collect $688 billion in unpaid taxes because it didn’t bother to send dunning letters or to conduct audits of wealthy individuals or corporations.” [“What If We Had $4.5 Trillion a Year to Spend on Ordinary People?”; Ted Rall; The Progressive Populist”; 3/15/24]
30] “I hope we shall crush at its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” [Thomas Jefferson; ll/16/1816]
31]. After the above serious, factual points – time for a little comedy:
– Tom DeLay: “Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.” [R-TX; 3/12/2003]
– Rush Limbaugh: “..there is no tax cut that needs to be paid for..” [5/23/2003]
– Newt Gingrich: “I favor a zero tax on savings and job creation.” [R-GA; 1997]
-oo
With Justice For All 