Showing posts with label Income Inequality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Income Inequality. Show all posts

David DeGraw: The 99 Percent Movement Getting Money Out of Politics

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Income Disparity: The Charts You Need to Know

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Jeff Madrick & Keith Olbermann Discuss the Super Occupied Proposal

A Proposal by Occupy Washington DC, Freedom Plaza

The 99% Deficit Proposal: How to Create Jobs, Reduce the Wealth Divide & Control Spending
Prepared by Occupy Washington DC
Freedom Plaza, November 2011

The disconnect between Congress and the people is vast. For decades, Congress has been passing laws that benefit the 1%, their campaign donors and big business interests, rather than creating a fair economy that serves all U.S. citizens. With this report Occupy Washington, DC shows that Congress is out of touch with evidence-based solutions, supported by the majority of Americans that can revive the economy, reduce the deficit and wealth divide while create millions of jobs.

OccupyWashingtonDC.org seeks a major transformation to a participatory democracy in the economy as well as in government. For forty years, concentrated corporate interests have acted with intent to take over government and other institutions. We seek an end to the rule of concentrated wealth and corporate power by shifting control, wealth and ownership to the people.

This report puts forward evidence-based solutions that will re-start the economy and avoid placing financial burdens on future generations. For the most part these ideas are not new. They are well accepted by economists and are consistent with the views of super majorities of Americans on key issues. Further, more than three-quarters of U.S. citizens say the country’s economic structure is out of balance and “favors a very small proportion of the rich over the rest of the country.” They are right. The solutions to our economic crisis are evident but they are blocked by those who profit from the status quo and control elected officials through the corrupt U.S. political system and its money-based elections.



The elites in Washington, DC seek to erase deficits that were caused by increases in war and military spending, tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, the increased cost of health care, as well as bank bailouts, and increased costs and lost revenue from the economic collapse. The bi-partisan elites seek to cut $1.2 trillion in deficits even though there is no outcry for such cuts or evidence in the economy that they are urgently needed. They are proposing cuts in services to seniors, students, the poor and middle-working class households who did not cause the crash but already suffer from its consequences. This report shows that we can get the economy moving, reduce the wealth divide and control government spending while helping the 99%.

Read the full proposal here.

Daily Kos: Fiscal Inequality: Godzilla vs. Ants

Daily Kos: Fiscal inequality: Godzilla vs. Ants:
Fiscal inequality: Godzilla vs. Ants
by Mark Sumner


No doubt you've seen many charts over the last few months breaking down income inequality in the United States. However, looking at the way money moves through the system, doesn't really capture how badly askew our nation really is; how fragile it is, and how few people really hold the controls.

Instead of looking at income, let's take a look at a broader measure of fiscal inequality. Let's look at wealth.

Wealth rolls together a number of items. It's the cash you have in the bank, the savings bonds gathering dust in a drawer, the stocks and bonds that make up your 401k. For the better off, it's corporate bonds, municipal bonds, foreign bonds and other instruments. It's your pension, if you have one. It's the stock your corporation gives you to stick around because you're such a valuable fellow. It's that vacation home in Florida, that other vacation home outside London, that other vacation home... or maybe the other six. It's the personal ownership you have in a business. It's your family trust.

Wealth rolls together a number of items. It's the cash you have in the bank, the savings bonds gathering dust in a drawer, the stocks and bonds that make up your 401k. For the better off, it's corporate bonds, municipal bonds, foreign bonds and other instruments. It's your pension, if you have one. It's the stock your corporation gives you to stick around because you're such a valuable fellow. It's that vacation home in Florida, that other vacation home outside London, that other vacation home... or maybe the other six. It's the personal ownership you have in a business. It's your family trust.

In short, it's the total of all your net assets, minus the value of your primary residence (be it ever so humble or oh so grand) and your debts. So what does America look like in those terms?

It's a staggeringly uneven distribution, with 42% of the wealth in the hands of 1% of the people. Even so, a chart like this doesn't begin to really capture how lopsided the nation really is.

Let's take a look at one of those 80-percenters.

Read more: http://bit.ly/t5F16D

99% v 1% Data Behind the Occupy Movement

Mariana Santos and Simon Rogers
guardian.co.uk

Note: There are a couple minor errors in the script which Simon Rogers says are being corrected. We will post the updated version when it becomes available. Meanwhile, it is an excellent film that gives a good understanding of the current wealth distribution in America.

Billionaires Use Tax Loopholes to Pay As Little As 1% Income Tax

DC Douglas: Why Occupy Wall Street ~ 4 Reasons


More great stuff at www.DCDouglas.com

Bill Moyers Speaks About American Plutocracy & the Occupy Wall Street Movement

PBS host Moyers says government failing Americans - Houston Chronicle: PBS host Moyers says government failing Americans
By MIKE TOLSON, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Bill Moyers says that without fair government, "we are going to become a plutocracy ... where wealth is concentrated at the top and everybody else is left with scraps.


Bill Moyers is not just a name but a brand in the world of broadcast journalism. The former press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson - who grew up in the East Texas town of Marshall - has become a staple on PBS, where, at 77, he still hosts a show on current topics.

The recipient of more than 30 Emmy awards, Moyers is an unabashed liberal who believes that the political establishment is undoing much of the progress made in the last half of the 20th century.

He will be in Houston Thursday night as part of an ongoing lecture series sponsored by the Progressive Forum. He recently spoke with Chronicle reporter Mike Tolson.


Q: There seems to be a growing sense of urgency, a feeling that Washington quickly needs to find solutions for our national problems and stop dwelling on partisan differences. Do you see the upcoming election as pivotal in some way?

A: I do. The government is paralyzed. Our government is just not working. If the election continues the status quo, we are in trouble. Our political system has gotten us into such a mess that we can't solve our problems. This happened once before when the political system broke down and could not work to bridge differences, and the result was a disastrous civil war. The system is failing now. It isn't solving the debt problem or the foreclosure problem or anything. We have been able to use military to kill our enemies, but that's about it. This election is one more chance to make good choices. If the Republicans send people to do what they have been doing - just keep saying "no" - we will reap the harvest of history. If the Democrats continue to wring their hands and settle for photo ops and rhetoric, we will get nowhere. They (political parties) are going to be finished unless we can settle the deep and divisive issues that are taking us down. This election should be opportunity for the people to take the bridge of the ship and say to the captain, "That's an iceberg out there, turn the ship."

Q: The people behind the Occupy Wall Street protests and the tea party seem to present a similar message, even though they are quite different on a social and personal level. The tea party folks have had some political impact, while the Wall Street protesters have not yet. Do you see their movement ever gaining more traction?

A: I know a lot of tea partiers. I was out listening to them and talking to them. They had a half-truth. Why do I want to put more of my taxes into a government that was serving special interests? They understood that. The other side says we have to have a safety net. The two sides can't get together. The populist movement (of the tea party) was taken over and co-opted by corporate interests. It's hard to retain fiery indignation and independence when that happens. I don't think Occupy Wall Street will have the influence they want unless they do what the tea party did and take over the nominating process. Unless they do, they will never have the satisfaction that they want and that the civil rights movement, say, had back in the 1950s and '60s. These people are not going to have long-ranging effect unless they have a party to act on their interests. They need to become a political movement instead of a grievance committee.

Q: Like many of those on the liberal or progressive side of the spectrum, you have spoken often about the decline of the middle class and the stagnation of its income. Why do you think this is so important?

A: Since 1979, 40 percent of the increase of wealth has gone to 1 percent of the population. I don't know if the destruction of the middle class was by design, but that's been the effect of it. Our economy favors the relative few at the top, and everything else is left barely hanging on, if that. That's the story of the last 30 years. This is similar to what happened between the Civil War and 1912. The industrial revolution created incredible wealth at the top and great misery everywhere else. There was a feeling by political leaders that the wealthy deserved their riches because they are virtuous. And then the people rose up and in bloody soil planted the seeds that the 20th century used as markers to lay down a civilized society: the right of women to vote, the end of child labor, the creation of Social Security and rights for unions to organize and so on. Unless we can resurrect a vigorous fair government that works on behalf of everyday people, we are going to become a plutocracy like Mexico where wealth is concentrated at the top and everybody else is left with scraps.

Q: In spite of your grim assessment of current political and economic realities, you say that you are ever optimistic. Why?

A: I don't know how to live in this world without expecting a more confident future and doing something every morning to try to bring it about. I think that is motivating folks down on Wall Street and across the nation. These protesters have put their faith in the last seemingly credible force in the world, and that's each other.

mike.tolson@chron.com

Jeffery Sachs: The New Progressive Movement - NYTimes.com

The New Progressive Movement - NYTimes.com: The New Progressive Movement

By JEFFREY D. SACHS


OCCUPY WALL STREET and its allied movements around the country are more than a walk in the park. They are most likely the start of a new era in America. Historians have noted that American politics moves in long swings. We are at the end of the 30-year Reagan era, a period that has culminated in soaring income for the top 1 percent and crushing unemployment or income stagnation for much of the rest. The overarching challenge of the coming years is to restore prosperity and power for the 99 percent.

Thirty years ago, a newly elected Ronald Reagan made a fateful judgment: “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” Taxes for the rich were slashed, as were outlays on public services and investments as a share of national income.

Read more: http://nyti.ms/sfKEHl

Five Ways Income Inequality Happens | Reuters

Five ways income inequality happened, and will continue | Reuters: Five ways income inequality happened, and will continue

by John Wasik


(Reuters) - As if on cue for an Occupy Wall Street commercial, the latest Congressional Budget Office report highlighted the large crevasse between the upper 1 percent of U.S. households and the rest of us.

When it comes to income inequality, this is what U.S. politicians should be digesting now. While it's hardly a major revelation that for the top 1 percent of earners real after-tax income rose 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, the top 20 percent made more in after-tax income than the remaining 80 percent. That's quite a difference since the lowest-income group's median income only rose 18 percent.

Income inequality couldn't be more of a mainstream issue as some 70 percent of Americans surveyed want wealth shared more equally.

The reasons for the growing disparity, which the CBO, without irony, measured by an increasing "Gini coefficient," were buried deep in the report. It's how income was taxed that allowed the ultra-wealthy to keep more of what they earned compared to middle- or lower-class Americans.

INVESTMENT INCOME EARNERS ARE TAXED LESS

Most lower- and middle-class earners make their money from wages, which are subject to Social Security, Medicare, federal and state taxes. But income from businesses, capital gains and dividends may be taxed at lower rates. In the CBO study period, the share from capital gains and business income increased, meaning upper-income families reaped greater after-tax benefits just from the kinds of non-wage income they reported.

When you're on salary, you get taxed regularly through your paycheck. If you hold stocks, bonds, business equity and property, your capital gains -- if any -- can be delayed for years. Holding securities in tax-deferred retirement accounts can put off taxes for decades.

Read more: http://reut.rs/tZrfHL

How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule by David Korten

How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule by David Korten: How to Liberate America
How is it that our nation is awash in money, but too broke to provide jobs and services? David Korten introduces a landmark new report, “How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule.”

by David Korten


The dominant story of the current political debate is that the government is broke. We can’t afford to pay for public services, put people to work, or service the public debt. Yet as a nation, we are awash in money. A defective system of money, banking, and finance just puts it in the wrong places.

Raising taxes on the rich and implementing financial reforms are essential elements of the solution to our seemingly intractable fiscal and economic crisis. Yet proposals currently on the table fall far short of the need.

A newly released report of the New Economy Working Group, coordinated by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, goes beyond the current debate to call for a deep restructuring of the institutions to which we as a society give the power to create and allocate money. How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule spells out the steps required to rebuild a system of community-based and accountable institutions devoted to financing productive activities that create good jobs for Americans and generate real community wealth.

Over the past 30 years, virtually all the benefit of U.S. economic growth has gone to the richest 1 percent of Americans. Effective tax rates for the very rich are at historic lows and many of the most profitable corporations pay no taxes at all.

Despite the financial crash of 2008, the financial assets of America’s billionaires and the idle cash of the most profitable corporations are now at historic highs. Their biggest challenge is figuring out where to park all their cash.

Unfortunately, most of those who hold the cash and the corporations they control have lost interest in long-term investments that build and expand strong enterprises. The substantial majority of trades in financial markets are made by high-speed computers in securities held for fractions of a second. Business pundits still refer to this trading as investment. It bears no resemblance, however, to the investment required to put people to work rebuilding a strong America.

Corporations are using their stores of cash primarily to buy back their own stock, acquire control of other companies, invest in off-shoring yet more American jobs, and pay generous dividends to shareholders and outsized bonuses to management.

It was not always so. In response to the Great Depression, our country enacted financial reforms that put in place a system of money, banking, and investment based on community banks, mutual savings and loans, and credit unions. These institutions provided financial services to local Main Street economies that employed Americans to produce and trade real goods and services in response to community needs and opportunities.

Read more: http://bit.ly/sUmApY

Annie Leonard: The Story of Broke
Why There Is Still Plenty Of Money To Build A Better Future

From yes! magazine:



Read the complete article: http://bit.ly/rrFS0Y

Elizabeth Warren: Who I Am ~ “It Just Isn’t Right”



Learn more from ElizabethWarren.com

Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow Discuss Class Warfare