Post by John Durant on Apr 21, 2007 20:39:45 GMT -5
Now that the federal tax deadline has come and gone, I'd like to pose this question:
Do you think the top 2% wage earners in the U.S. are sacrificing too much with the tax burden they currently have?
Here's my answer:
The richest folks in this country continue to complain about paying more than their fair share of taxes, and I can't say I really sympathize with them very much at all. The rich complain about giving up money, when our soldiers our giving up their lives.
The rich threaten to take their assets overseas because they feel that they're so unfairly treated here. I say let them go, and when their new country of choice seizes their assets, or their country's government falls to a coup, then maybe these greedy folks will realize that America wasn't so bad after all, even with the high taxes. They'll no longer be protected by the US military or by US laws. Let them leave!
When I see that military families are forced to apply for food stamps to feed their children, and our wounded get to recover in hell-holes like Walter Reed, I really can't bring myself to shed tears for those owning 500 million dollar yachts, and for those who drink 10 thousand dollar bottles of wine on a regular basis.
This country is in debt up to it's neck, no thanks to the current administration; and they continue to spend us into oblivion. Many of the rich voted for this administration, and now they want to pass the debts George W. created onto the working class by trying to institute a flat tax.
Our working class has been decimated by big business moving overseas, and also by the lowering of prevailing wages caused by the hiring of illegal workers. They can't afford to pay for gas to get to and from work, let alone higher taxes. Their wages have fallen while health care costs have skyrocketed. Many companies don't even offer their employees health care.
The lower and middle classes in this country are in a financial crisis while the rich enjoy the greatest amount of prosperity in American history. The poor are working harder than ever just to keep from being thrown out on the streets. My sympathies go to our military families, and to the working poor in this country.
I do believe that we should give tax relief to those who reinvest in this country, and also to those who own small businesses who employ many "legal" American workers. There may come a time when we can balance the budget and can afford more tax relief, but now is not the time. We're in the middle of a war with no end in sight, and our national debt is through the roof.
The rich need to be thankful that they actually have a bright future, while many in this country have no future at all!
Do you think the top 2% wage earners in the U.S. are sacrificing too much with the tax burden they currently have?
Here's my answer:
The richest folks in this country continue to complain about paying more than their fair share of taxes, and I can't say I really sympathize with them very much at all. The rich complain about giving up money, when our soldiers our giving up their lives.
The rich threaten to take their assets overseas because they feel that they're so unfairly treated here. I say let them go, and when their new country of choice seizes their assets, or their country's government falls to a coup, then maybe these greedy folks will realize that America wasn't so bad after all, even with the high taxes. They'll no longer be protected by the US military or by US laws. Let them leave!
When I see that military families are forced to apply for food stamps to feed their children, and our wounded get to recover in hell-holes like Walter Reed, I really can't bring myself to shed tears for those owning 500 million dollar yachts, and for those who drink 10 thousand dollar bottles of wine on a regular basis.
This country is in debt up to it's neck, no thanks to the current administration; and they continue to spend us into oblivion. Many of the rich voted for this administration, and now they want to pass the debts George W. created onto the working class by trying to institute a flat tax.
Our working class has been decimated by big business moving overseas, and also by the lowering of prevailing wages caused by the hiring of illegal workers. They can't afford to pay for gas to get to and from work, let alone higher taxes. Their wages have fallen while health care costs have skyrocketed. Many companies don't even offer their employees health care.
The lower and middle classes in this country are in a financial crisis while the rich enjoy the greatest amount of prosperity in American history. The poor are working harder than ever just to keep from being thrown out on the streets. My sympathies go to our military families, and to the working poor in this country.
I do believe that we should give tax relief to those who reinvest in this country, and also to those who own small businesses who employ many "legal" American workers. There may come a time when we can balance the budget and can afford more tax relief, but now is not the time. We're in the middle of a war with no end in sight, and our national debt is through the roof.
The rich need to be thankful that they actually have a bright future, while many in this country have no future at all!
Many have said "History repeats itself", and that is so true. By 1850 the North had out paced the South in manufacturing and industrial production. The Southern economy was the leader in agriculture, and cotton was king. The South was exporting 71% of it's cotton overseas, and the rest went to Northern mills. The Northern banks began to manage much of America's wealth, and the country began to see prosperity. Europe was in trouble because Russia cut of it's grain supply. America exports were on the rise to meet the need. From 1848 to 1856 the number of banks in the America increased by 50 percent and their notes, loans, and deposits doubled. California gold continued to pump millions of dollars into the economy. Suddenly in 1857 all the growth and prosperity came to a halt. The panic of 1857 was a time of economic collapse which had both foreign and domestic roots. Interest rates in Europe doubled and even tripled. Through a series of events this caused a decline in the prices of some American stocks and bonds. A buildup of unsold inventories caused several American textile mills to shut down temporally. By the summer of 1857 the combination of speculative fever in some parts of the economy and ominous cutbacks in others created a climate of nervous apprehension. During the previous years there was a mad scramble for western lands and town and city sites, millions of dollars, made or borrowed, expended in fine houses and gaudy furniture... On August 24, 1857 an Ohio investment house suspended payments because their cashier had embezzled its funds (Enron 
). Unfortunately, much of the financial community was connected by telegraph at that time and this news spread like wild fire. The peoples confidence was shaken, and depositors everywhere made runs on the banks. In September of that same year 2 million in California gold was lost when a ship carrying it sunk. Banks began to suspend coin payments. As a result factories shut down; business failures multiplied; railroads went bankrupt and the federal treasury ran a deficit for the first time in a decade. Men and women by the thousands lost their jobs and others went on short time or took wage cuts. California gold eventually came east by the fall of 1857 and began to turn things around. The depression fell lightly on the south during this time, which bolstered their aggressive confidence. The South's export economy seemed to insulate them from much of the domestic problems. James Hammond of South Carolina made a speech in the Senate on March 4, 1858 declaring "Cotton is King". He said,"When the abuse of credit had destroyed credit and annihilated confidence; when thousands of the strongest commercial houses in the world were coming down... when you came to a deadlock, and revolutions were threatened, what brought you up?... We poured in upon you one million six hundred thousand bales of cotton just at the moment to save you from destruction... We have sold it for $65,000,000, and saved you." Slavery demonstrated the superiority of Southern civilization, continued Hammond. "In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, (illegal Mexicans 
) to perform the drudgery of life... It constitutes the very mud sill of society... Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement... Your whole hireling class of manual laborers and 'operatives,' as you call them, are essentially slaves. The difference between us is, that our slaves are hired for life and well compensated... yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated." Wow, something to think about. When congress voted to create the Federal Reserve, America stopped backing it's currency with gold reserves. The money that we pass around to day is virtually worthless. Our nation has abused credit for years, and our Federal reserves are empty. Our corporation's have riped off thousands of people. One wrong move and we have nothing to bale us out.