Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Nature of Progressive Taxation




It's the day after Federal tax filing is due for We the Sheeple in the USA Inc.

For the first time in my adult life as a numbered debt slave in our Brave New World Order, I finally have fallen into the lower 50% bracket of those who pay no taxes because my income has dropped precipitously since the The Return of the Great Depression.

For once, I will be getting a "refund" check.

Bah humbug.

One thing I've figured out though, is just how badly the debate of our "Progressive Tax" system has divided and conquered the masses. It's the oldest play in the Marxist playbook, yet it continues to work over and over again in perpetuating it's role as a cultural weapon of mass distraction.

It plays in perfectly with the old two-party politics theater, with the Donkey's supposedly representing the "poor" and the Elephants representing the "rich." It's one of the highest orders of bullshit ever shoved down the throats of a gullible public.

Take this recent AP story, published yesterday on Federal Tax Day: Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically

WASHINGTON (AP) — Still scrambling to file your taxes? You'll probably take little consolation in hearing that the super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago. And nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all.

The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.

We have essentially four socio-economic classes in this country:

1) The entitlement program dependent poor. (Since I'll be getting a refund despite not paying taxes, I guess I'm now in this class...even though I work).
2) The working middle class
3) The working upper class or "rich"
4) The elite wealthy

Only 2 & 3 pay INCOME taxes.

Those "top 400 adjusted gross incomes" are mostly from the #3 group.

Number 4 is our elite, ruling class. They don't pay much in income taxes. Why should they? That's for the sheeple.

They don't have much "income" on any given tax year. Their wealth is inter-generational, and it is sheltered in a variety of corporate share holdings, non-profit organizations, off-shore accounts, and the most egregious of all, the "Philanthropic Foundations."

In this way, the elite wealthy live the lifestyles that most of us only dream about in some abstract sense of unreality as portrayed by Hollywood's distorted, fun house mirror reflection of the so-called American "dream" lifestyle of luxurious opulence.

They ride on private jets while sipping on champagne and nibbling on caviar...while scheduling their next meeting with a personal masseuse at their personal mansions located at privately guarded and publicly inaccessible tropical locales - and NONE of that is "Paid" for out of their "adjusted gross personal income."

No, those are non-taxable "administrative" and "operating" expenses for their Foundations "non-profit" work.

Their "adjusted gross personal income" is the "salary" they are paid for "administering" their foundations or non-profit orgs.

This is very simplified...but still truth. The "Super Rich" are by and large not in that "top 400 tax filers with the highest adjusted gross personal incomes."

This is also how politicians use their campaign war chests.

Ever wonder why a Presidential candidate "spends" a hundred million dollars to land a job that doesn't even pay 1 million dollars a year? They're touring the country, staying in the finest luxury suites, eating the finest fare each place has to offer, and living the life of the elite wealthy...all the while they file their taxes for which their "incomes" do not reflect the reality of the life they are living financed by their campaign slush funds.

This is also why every single ex-President immediately establishes a "Library" upon leaving office...for the same purpose. It's a means of hiding their money from the tax man, while still getting to enjoy spending it as if it were there own personal funds (which they are, just not in name).

Income taxes are not for the "super rich" as the AP article tries to imply.

Both the Donkeys and Elephants are in on this scam. While their base political activists and punditry all play the script of "rich versus poor" with regards to taxation policies, they are all simply nothing more than a means of distracting and dividing all of the lower and middle classes so that we all do not notice the truth about what exactly is going on with the elite owners of this country.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama just needs to get a really big Boehner to balance the budget

:)

Grim said...

I tallied up my taxes the other day: Payed around 47% including state taxes on 98k. Saw Obama's taxes on drudge:He payed 27% on 1.7mil. Fuck this system.

Anonymous said...

There are more and more 'jobs' to be found that pay under the table. Business owners cannot afford to hire 'on the books' because of onerous regulations, and many workers are unemployed. This results in a lot of work, paid in cash, if you know where to look. Also doesn't effect your tax bill...

Anonymous said...

I would support a wealth tax over an income tax (as a replacement). As you pointed out "taxing the wealthy" only taxes those with relatively high incomes. A true wealth tax would be more like state property taxes; it would raise revenue from real and financial assets.

I bet such a proposal would raise as much protest from the left (many of the wealthiest politicians are Democrats) as the right, thus showing the fraud that the current system is.

Donald Trump has proposed a once-off 14.25 percent tax; I would prefer an annual tax of much lower rate. A tax on accrued assets is no more "socialist" than a tax on income, but I am sure the beltway right would scream even louder over this (even if it were a replacement to the income tax).

Simon Rierdon said...

As someone who had to write a nearly five digit check to the Infernal Robbing Stazi it's getting to the point where at the most productive years of my life I'm thinking about saying the hell with it and retiring to my farm. At least there I can eat well with no monetary income to speak of

paige said...

Increase sales tax on luxury items. The rich can hide their income but they will never stop buying crap.

paige said...

Increase sales tax on luxury items. The rich can hide their income but they will never stop buying crap.

Anonymous said...

Sales tax on luxury items only kills American businesses that provide luxury items. The rich will buy their yachts overseas and register it overseas.

Anonymous said...

Obama paid no taxes on his Nobel "prize" for zero accomplishments by donating the money to ten charities (mostly black charities, I recall) to avoid a 50% tax rate on the prize money. He also earned $5,000,000 for NOT writing two crappy books; Wm. Ayers allegedly wrote them. That money I think was also donated to charity. So he gets huge writeoffs. You may want to look up Linda Chavez's great column with details on all of this: "Spare Us the Hyprocrisy, Mr. President".