UN: World Will Miss Economic Benefit of 1.8 billion Young People | Common Dreams
The largest cohort of young people ever known is about to find their most economically productive years wasted.
The world population is now passing 7 billion people... of this 7 billion, 1.8 billion are aged between 10 and 24, and 90% of those live in the developing world.
Some 620 million economically active young people ages 15 to 24, about 81 million were unemployed at the end of 2009, the highest level in two decades of record-keeping.
With the world now home to the largest number of young people in history, a new World Bank report on investing in youth will describes the real cost to families and country economic growth when young people are left to grapple on their own with HIV/AIDS and other diseases; violence; unemployment; inequality; and a loss of faith in their ability to join the workforce, acquire new skills to increase their wages and standards of living, raise families, and become proud citizens in their communities.
The opportunity for a demographic dividend is but a fleeting moment... it must be claimed quickly or it will be lost.
Either we do nothing risking alienating youth from the mainstream and instilling in them a legacy of distrust and hopelessness... or we invest in the biggest source of human potential the world has ever had, and reap benefits of that investment through greater growth and social well-being for generations to come.
The potential economic benefits of having such a large global population of young people to potentially go unfulfilled, as a generation suffers from a lack of education, and investment in infrastructure and job creation... what an immeasurable, devastating loss it would be.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
.. on the horizon.
late last night doing some reading came across this Matt Tabbi Isn't Winning --- It's Cheating piece...
...(those of us old enough remember his dad Mike doin a similar thing on ny tv news years ago)..
..it's a good window on what's wrong.. the system has been so badly bastardized by decontrol and special interest money,** and the cheats & charlatans let totally loose, no one can any more hope to determine how it's going to all shake out... the complete and growing instability reflects this...
as a tally of just how bad the problems have grown... all must read & weep, for derivative investments alone we're now up to almost $700 TRILLION !!!!! ... that's FOUR times what it was at the last financial meltdown just several short years ago... and three times total world wealth of around $250 trillion!!
... it's where lots and lots of $$$$ are going, and it's all hyper-speculative crap.. bringing hardly anything to the economic tables of the world...
...a gargantuan ponzi scheme, rapidly bleeding & sucking the world dry... and the a-holes making millions/ billions don't at all G-A-S !! ...
...this master plan is working spot-on for them... (and each lobbying $ comes back in immediate returns that are bizarrely astronomical !! ... $220 in tax benefits for every $1 spent on lobbying — a 22,000% return !!!
...and just look at this extremely DANGEROUS DEAL they've gotten into doing now ... they do the mother of all Vegas gambling.. collect winnings when it pans out... and should it come up snake-eyes, we're stuck with their outrageous 'bring-down-the-system' bets...
... they're smart guys, they know it's gonna end, and they're just grabbin as much as they can and setting up to protect themselves before it does..
...makes ya wanna exterminate the freakin bastards... (and all our so called 'leaders' on both sides that are helpin em get away with it!!)..
...one thing is for absolute certainty.. we're not gonna be able to avoid the mother of all meltdowns too much longer...
...burying heads in the sand... what we really don't know or want to hear about is approaching ever more rapidly...
... stay safe friends...
** Big money had a lot of influence before... with the advent of super PAC with the wrongheaded Citizens United Supreme Court decision; they now have a great deal more. Super PACs will “have more influence in being able to select who members are. It’s actually much worse than lobbying, much more dangerous."
...(those of us old enough remember his dad Mike doin a similar thing on ny tv news years ago)..
..it's a good window on what's wrong.. the system has been so badly bastardized by decontrol and special interest money,** and the cheats & charlatans let totally loose, no one can any more hope to determine how it's going to all shake out... the complete and growing instability reflects this...
as a tally of just how bad the problems have grown... all must read & weep, for derivative investments alone we're now up to almost $700 TRILLION !!!!! ... that's FOUR times what it was at the last financial meltdown just several short years ago... and three times total world wealth of around $250 trillion!!
... it's where lots and lots of $$$$ are going, and it's all hyper-speculative crap.. bringing hardly anything to the economic tables of the world...
...a gargantuan ponzi scheme, rapidly bleeding & sucking the world dry... and the a-holes making millions/ billions don't at all G-A-S !! ...
...this master plan is working spot-on for them... (and each lobbying $ comes back in immediate returns that are bizarrely astronomical !! ... $220 in tax benefits for every $1 spent on lobbying — a 22,000% return !!!
...and just look at this extremely DANGEROUS DEAL they've gotten into doing now ... they do the mother of all Vegas gambling.. collect winnings when it pans out... and should it come up snake-eyes, we're stuck with their outrageous 'bring-down-the-system' bets...
... they're smart guys, they know it's gonna end, and they're just grabbin as much as they can and setting up to protect themselves before it does..
...makes ya wanna exterminate the freakin bastards... (and all our so called 'leaders' on both sides that are helpin em get away with it!!)..
...one thing is for absolute certainty.. we're not gonna be able to avoid the mother of all meltdowns too much longer...
...burying heads in the sand... what we really don't know or want to hear about is approaching ever more rapidly...
... stay safe friends...
** Big money had a lot of influence before... with the advent of super PAC with the wrongheaded Citizens United Supreme Court decision; they now have a great deal more. Super PACs will “have more influence in being able to select who members are. It’s actually much worse than lobbying, much more dangerous."
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
International Debt - African Crisis
International Debt Crisis - African Debt Crisis
The African debt crisis is one among a wide range of problems that this HUGE continent is facing.
After Asia, Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent. At about 12 million sq mi, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20% of the total land area. With 1.0 billion people (2009) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 15% of the world's human population.
Regrettably, most countries in Africa can be considered Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC countries).
Over 60% of Africa’s debt is owed to official creditors such as the World Bank, the IMF and world leaders. The high interest rates along side the cost to reschedule debt have forced Africa and other developing regions into a relapse of instability, extreme poverty, and human suffering... tens of millions are at great risk... and the situation is growing rapidly worse.
In 1970, Africa owed just under $11 billion in debt... by 2002, that debt had swelled to the unbelievable figure of almost $300 billion. Its foreign debt today (partially reduced by debt forbearance) of roughly $175 billion amounts to more than $200 per person, a large burden in a region where the average annual incomes are under $1,000.
Less well known is the fact sub-Saharan Africa experienced an exodus of more than $700 billion in capital flight since 1970. Some of this money wound up in accounts at the same banks that made loans to African governments. Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world in the sense that its foreign assets exceed its foreign liabilities. But there is a key difference between the two: the assets are in the hands of private Africans, while the liabilities are public, owed by the African people at large through their governments.
Africa’s debt inflows and capital flight outflows are closely connected... there is a powerful statistical correlation between the two. For every dollar of foreign borrowing, on average more than 50 cents leaves the borrower country in the same year. This tight relationship suggests that a substantial portion of Africa’s capital flight has been debt-fuelled.
As foreign loans come to Africa and a part of the proceeds is siphoned abroad, Africa still receives an inflow of money, albeit less than the face value of the debt. The net drain on African economies comes in subsequent years when the creditors are repaid with interest.
Every day people in Africa die from curable disease, poverty and hunger. The government cannot put money into helping these people because it must pay $15,000,000,000 a year in debt repayment to places like the World Bank and IMF. African economic advances cannot possibly be made when it must pay a shocking $1,000,000,000 a day interest fee. These loans from organizations such as the World Bank are meant to aid the country during this economic crisis... but these loans actually sabotage African countries.
Nigeria is a prime example... it borrowed $5,000,000,000 from the World Bank... to date they have repaid $16,000,000,000... and shockingly, due to high rates of interest built up... they still owe the bank $32,000,000,000 in interest.
To help solve the problems... more can and should be done to identify looters and their accomplices and to repatriate stolen funds back from those safe-haven countries where the funds have been deposited.
Better enforcement of existing laws to curtail money laundering and new laws to strengthen safeguards are needed to staunch the outflow of illicit money from Africa into the havens abroad.
African governments should be encouraged to selectively repudiate debts incurred by past dictatorial regimes that cannot be demonstrated to have been used for legitimate purposes... this will stop dead in its tracks new funds from being unscrupulously lent out.
The vital economic function of transferring money from savers to investors – creates scope for self-dealing, fraud, and outright theft that can be curtailed only by public vigilance. Repair of international financial architecture is desperately required, strengthening incentives for the exercise of due diligence by creditors and responsible borrowing by governments.Without these reforms, ‘debt relief’ can offer only a temporary solution to a crisis set of problems, and the impoverished African people will continue to bear the brunt of the suffering.
The African debt crisis is one among a wide range of problems that this HUGE continent is facing.
After Asia, Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent. At about 12 million sq mi, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20% of the total land area. With 1.0 billion people (2009) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 15% of the world's human population.
Regrettably, most countries in Africa can be considered Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC countries).
Over 60% of Africa’s debt is owed to official creditors such as the World Bank, the IMF and world leaders. The high interest rates along side the cost to reschedule debt have forced Africa and other developing regions into a relapse of instability, extreme poverty, and human suffering... tens of millions are at great risk... and the situation is growing rapidly worse.
In 1970, Africa owed just under $11 billion in debt... by 2002, that debt had swelled to the unbelievable figure of almost $300 billion. Its foreign debt today (partially reduced by debt forbearance) of roughly $175 billion amounts to more than $200 per person, a large burden in a region where the average annual incomes are under $1,000.
Less well known is the fact sub-Saharan Africa experienced an exodus of more than $700 billion in capital flight since 1970. Some of this money wound up in accounts at the same banks that made loans to African governments. Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world in the sense that its foreign assets exceed its foreign liabilities. But there is a key difference between the two: the assets are in the hands of private Africans, while the liabilities are public, owed by the African people at large through their governments.
Africa’s debt inflows and capital flight outflows are closely connected... there is a powerful statistical correlation between the two. For every dollar of foreign borrowing, on average more than 50 cents leaves the borrower country in the same year. This tight relationship suggests that a substantial portion of Africa’s capital flight has been debt-fuelled.
As foreign loans come to Africa and a part of the proceeds is siphoned abroad, Africa still receives an inflow of money, albeit less than the face value of the debt. The net drain on African economies comes in subsequent years when the creditors are repaid with interest.
Every day people in Africa die from curable disease, poverty and hunger. The government cannot put money into helping these people because it must pay $15,000,000,000 a year in debt repayment to places like the World Bank and IMF. African economic advances cannot possibly be made when it must pay a shocking $1,000,000,000 a day interest fee. These loans from organizations such as the World Bank are meant to aid the country during this economic crisis... but these loans actually sabotage African countries.
Nigeria is a prime example... it borrowed $5,000,000,000 from the World Bank... to date they have repaid $16,000,000,000... and shockingly, due to high rates of interest built up... they still owe the bank $32,000,000,000 in interest.
To help solve the problems... more can and should be done to identify looters and their accomplices and to repatriate stolen funds back from those safe-haven countries where the funds have been deposited.
Better enforcement of existing laws to curtail money laundering and new laws to strengthen safeguards are needed to staunch the outflow of illicit money from Africa into the havens abroad.
African governments should be encouraged to selectively repudiate debts incurred by past dictatorial regimes that cannot be demonstrated to have been used for legitimate purposes... this will stop dead in its tracks new funds from being unscrupulously lent out.
The vital economic function of transferring money from savers to investors – creates scope for self-dealing, fraud, and outright theft that can be curtailed only by public vigilance. Repair of international financial architecture is desperately required, strengthening incentives for the exercise of due diligence by creditors and responsible borrowing by governments.Without these reforms, ‘debt relief’ can offer only a temporary solution to a crisis set of problems, and the impoverished African people will continue to bear the brunt of the suffering.
Monday, October 24, 2011
.. the non-sense CONTINUES...
Even with Dodd-Frank financial reform, from a market perspective, there are still within the structure of current banking operations unresolved issues that are not being adequately addressed.
One is that banks should NOT be allowed to have prop trading in-house... at all. Proprietary trading (aka 'prop trading' or PPT) occurs when a firm trades stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, their derivatives, or other financial instruments, with the firm's own money as opposed to its customers' money, so as to make a profit for itself.
At the very least, the clearing house and the trading arm now reside withing the same banks need to be completely separated into different companies, so as to have a physical secure and unbreachable wall in between.
The reason is that when the the banks, who are active players in trading the markets, can see where all the future market transactions are heading with their clearing house operations, they can position and front-run everybody... (great for them... BAD for everyone else!). It's an unfair advantage not only disrupting the normal functioning of the markets, but it also creates great deal of market volatility and instability.
It is absolute insanity that with new government regulations coming out of almost everywhere everyday, there is no regulatory oversight in that aspect of banking industry activities.
One is that banks should NOT be allowed to have prop trading in-house... at all. Proprietary trading (aka 'prop trading' or PPT) occurs when a firm trades stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, their derivatives, or other financial instruments, with the firm's own money as opposed to its customers' money, so as to make a profit for itself.
At the very least, the clearing house and the trading arm now reside withing the same banks need to be completely separated into different companies, so as to have a physical secure and unbreachable wall in between.
The reason is that when the the banks, who are active players in trading the markets, can see where all the future market transactions are heading with their clearing house operations, they can position and front-run everybody... (great for them... BAD for everyone else!). It's an unfair advantage not only disrupting the normal functioning of the markets, but it also creates great deal of market volatility and instability.
It is absolute insanity that with new government regulations coming out of almost everywhere everyday, there is no regulatory oversight in that aspect of banking industry activities.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
'The Abandoned Class'
The Abandoned Class | Common Dreams
"Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest ‘properly understood’ is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest — in other words, the common welfare — is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being.
The common good and common sense have been sacrificed on the altar of corporate profit over the past three decades.
At last this process has hit a counterforce, as more and more people reoccupy the public domain and demand a shift in national direction. For now, we all belong to the abandoned class."
“Everyone is important... My God, what if it were true?"
"Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest ‘properly understood’ is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest — in other words, the common welfare — is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being.
The common good and common sense have been sacrificed on the altar of corporate profit over the past three decades.
At last this process has hit a counterforce, as more and more people reoccupy the public domain and demand a shift in national direction. For now, we all belong to the abandoned class."
"We can’t live like this. None of us can."
Monday, October 17, 2011
Got Class Warfare?
Got Class Warfare? Occupy Wall Street Now!
An outstanding Henry Giroux Truthout Op-Ed article...
"... what ruling classes have long tried to bury beneath the discourse of meritocracy and the myth of the classless society - that is, the harsh consequences of class power, hierarchical rule and savage inequality.
The richest 1% in the 1970s only took in about "8-9% of American total annual income," whereas today they take in 24%. Furthermore 10% of Americans as of 2007 have taken in 50% of all wages, higher than any other year since 1917.
The economic top 1% of the population now owns over 70% of all financial assets, an all-time record. As Joseph E. Stiglitz makes clear, "In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1% control 40%. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12% and 33% According to Robert Reich, one stark measure of the inequality that marks American society today is evident in the fact.. the 5% of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37% of all consumer purchases.
There is no longer any distinction between political and corporate sovereignty. We now have a corporate-controlled state, not a democratic mode of governance. The rich and corporate elite control the system of government and leave a poisonous imprint upon national political culture, perhaps most notably a vociferous disdain for the common good. "A criminogenic environment" spreading fraud through lack of regulation and promotion of a compensation system creating perverse incentives in which cheaters prosper, "markets become perverse" and honesty is treated as a liability.
Any society in which morality disintegrates into self-interest and financial cruelty celebrated as a central element of a market-driven social order has no longer anything to do with either freedom or democracy.
Occupy Wall Street may be the beginning of a movement in which the future becomes alive with a new understanding of justice, equality and freedom and a willingness to fight for the promises of a radical democracy."
Carefully read the entire article, it is a remarkable piece of writing from one of the leading educational thinkers of our modern age.
It is important to note there is an AJ interview with Henry Giroux that should also not be missed.
“In an alleged democracy, the image of the public sphere with its appeal to dialogue and shared responsibility has given way to the spectacle of unbridled intolerance, ignorance, seething private fears, unchecked anger, along with the decoupling of reason from freedom. What this decline in civility, the emergence of mob behavior suggests is that we have become one of the most illiterate nations on the planet. An illiteracy not in the sense of ability to read, the new illiteracy is about more than learning how to read books or words; it is learning how not to 'read the world.' As a result of this widespread illiteracy has come to dominate American culture. We have moved from a culture of questioning to a culture of shouting, and in doing so have re-staged politics and power in both unproductive and anti-democratic ways.”
― Henry A. Giroux
An outstanding Henry Giroux Truthout Op-Ed article...
"... what ruling classes have long tried to bury beneath the discourse of meritocracy and the myth of the classless society - that is, the harsh consequences of class power, hierarchical rule and savage inequality.
The richest 1% in the 1970s only took in about "8-9% of American total annual income," whereas today they take in 24%. Furthermore 10% of Americans as of 2007 have taken in 50% of all wages, higher than any other year since 1917.
The economic top 1% of the population now owns over 70% of all financial assets, an all-time record. As Joseph E. Stiglitz makes clear, "In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1% control 40%. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12% and 33% According to Robert Reich, one stark measure of the inequality that marks American society today is evident in the fact.. the 5% of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37% of all consumer purchases.
There is no longer any distinction between political and corporate sovereignty. We now have a corporate-controlled state, not a democratic mode of governance. The rich and corporate elite control the system of government and leave a poisonous imprint upon national political culture, perhaps most notably a vociferous disdain for the common good. "A criminogenic environment" spreading fraud through lack of regulation and promotion of a compensation system creating perverse incentives in which cheaters prosper, "markets become perverse" and honesty is treated as a liability.
Any society in which morality disintegrates into self-interest and financial cruelty celebrated as a central element of a market-driven social order has no longer anything to do with either freedom or democracy.
Occupy Wall Street may be the beginning of a movement in which the future becomes alive with a new understanding of justice, equality and freedom and a willingness to fight for the promises of a radical democracy."
Carefully read the entire article, it is a remarkable piece of writing from one of the leading educational thinkers of our modern age.
It is important to note there is an AJ interview with Henry Giroux that should also not be missed.
“In an alleged democracy, the image of the public sphere with its appeal to dialogue and shared responsibility has given way to the spectacle of unbridled intolerance, ignorance, seething private fears, unchecked anger, along with the decoupling of reason from freedom. What this decline in civility, the emergence of mob behavior suggests is that we have become one of the most illiterate nations on the planet. An illiteracy not in the sense of ability to read, the new illiteracy is about more than learning how to read books or words; it is learning how not to 'read the world.' As a result of this widespread illiteracy has come to dominate American culture. We have moved from a culture of questioning to a culture of shouting, and in doing so have re-staged politics and power in both unproductive and anti-democratic ways.”
― Henry A. Giroux
Friday, October 14, 2011
"Capitalism and Poverty"
Richard D. Wolff, "Capitalism and Poverty"
For those 'better-off,' they must search out and understand the true picture...
"America's poverty line works out to $15 per day per person for everything: food, clothing, housing, medical care, transportation, education, and so on. If you have more than $15 per day per person in your household to pay for everything each person needs, the Census Bureau does not count you as part of this country's poverty problem.
So the real number of US citizens living in poverty -- more reasonably defined -- is much larger today than the 46 million reported by the Census Bureau. It is thus much higher than the 15% of our people the Bureau sees as poor... conservatively estimated, about one in four Americans already lives in real poverty.
Another one in four is or should be worried about joining them soon... and no wonder such a system has provoked Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and so many of its signature slogans and demands.
A serious commitment to end poverty and its costly social effects requires us to face that capitalism has always reproduced widespread poverty as the other side of profits for a relative few."
For those 'better-off,' they must search out and understand the true picture...
"America's poverty line works out to $15 per day per person for everything: food, clothing, housing, medical care, transportation, education, and so on. If you have more than $15 per day per person in your household to pay for everything each person needs, the Census Bureau does not count you as part of this country's poverty problem.
So the real number of US citizens living in poverty -- more reasonably defined -- is much larger today than the 46 million reported by the Census Bureau. It is thus much higher than the 15% of our people the Bureau sees as poor... conservatively estimated, about one in four Americans already lives in real poverty.
 |
| A report from the Children’s Defense Fund finds child poverty jumped 10% between 2008 & 2009. ... the single largest annual jump in the data’s history. |
Another one in four is or should be worried about joining them soon... and no wonder such a system has provoked Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and so many of its signature slogans and demands.
A serious commitment to end poverty and its costly social effects requires us to face that capitalism has always reproduced widespread poverty as the other side of profits for a relative few."
Sunday, October 9, 2011
How Bad Will Things Get?
Thom Hartmann Interview - How Bad Will Things Get in AA America? | Professor Richard D. Wolff
It's assuredly not been good so far... but we've yet to see the real bad, bad time in America. The greater majority of Americans still do not understand what it truly means to have a government so poorly run for decades now.. Where political parties are so corrupted by the power of money, they are not any longer functioning properly or even rationally.
Not enough money is being taken in because the very wealthy and the corporations have lobbied and been successful in getting their taxes reduced to the point the government is now broke, and looking to further cut services a majority can ill afford to loose, while the well off enjoy lifestyles beyond belief.
Tens of millions of Americans have been laid off, as a result profits are now some of the highest they have ever been. And all the while the MICC 'war machine' now controls such might and power and spends so much on itself and all the numerous wars it has established to continue on its worldwide quest for empire and profit. It too is crippling the economy, yet too few realize and understand how serious the problem actually is. And in addition, our world environment continues to be uncomprehendingly laid to waste by 'for profit' motives and policies.
America has the distinct potential to collapse into anarchy and violent civil unrest.
We are at the very edge of full-scale meltdown.. and there soon will come time when all must implode. As all ponzi schemes reach their inevitable conclusions, this ENORMOUS 'house of cards' will be no different. Unbridled avarice can lead and take us only so far... history has proven this time and again.
The very poor will suffer first, and the most.. they already are. Tens of millions up to the hundreds of millions are at serious risk from every part of the equation. The environment, economy, wars, overpopulation... as bad as it might be now, all will increasingly continue to impact them in ways inconceivable to most.
Some are starting to ask... What Can Now Be Done?...
Learn and Understand What Is Happening...
Not having enough time leads us all down a path which we do not want to go.
It all starts with spending more time learning from independent researchers and thinkers... agenda driven main stream media is part of the problem, not any kind of solution.
There are hundreds of exceptional INS sources, find your own 'best ones'.. and subscribe to their feeds. Seek out those voices you learn over time to respect and trust, and pay real attention to what they have to say. There are huge numbers of absolutely brilliant and dedicated individuals out there, doing some great and most necessary work. Support them financially if and when you can.. for as their voices dim, so do our hopes.
And make use of applications such as 'Read It Later' when you can't find the immediate time. They work very well, and are exceptionally useful keeping track of crucial information you do not want to miss out on viewing.
Know The Critical Issues... The Ones That MUST Get Changed NOW!!...
Get Involved In Dialogue With Others...
We cannot act alone in this.. talk up the issues with friends, family, and neighbors.. this discussion is critical. Solutions only come about from dialogue. And if you know and have any contact with young people... they especially must become involved, for they are the ones that will truly have to make change happen long term.
These are difficult long term problems, only to be solved with even more difficult longer-term solutions.
Force The Issues With Representatives In Government...
Don't let them so easily 'off-the-hook.'
This is not as difficult as many would make it out to be... and it is REALLY important!!
Learn and keep handy the contact numbers for offices locally and in Washington... and call and leave your 'message' about what you believe they should be hearing.
Doing 'all of the above' there's still absolutely no guarantees... but not doing anything..
...well.. like said... WE REALLY DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE !!
It's assuredly not been good so far... but we've yet to see the real bad, bad time in America. The greater majority of Americans still do not understand what it truly means to have a government so poorly run for decades now.. Where political parties are so corrupted by the power of money, they are not any longer functioning properly or even rationally.
Not enough money is being taken in because the very wealthy and the corporations have lobbied and been successful in getting their taxes reduced to the point the government is now broke, and looking to further cut services a majority can ill afford to loose, while the well off enjoy lifestyles beyond belief.
Tens of millions of Americans have been laid off, as a result profits are now some of the highest they have ever been. And all the while the MICC 'war machine' now controls such might and power and spends so much on itself and all the numerous wars it has established to continue on its worldwide quest for empire and profit. It too is crippling the economy, yet too few realize and understand how serious the problem actually is. And in addition, our world environment continues to be uncomprehendingly laid to waste by 'for profit' motives and policies.
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men, they create for themselves in the course of time
a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that glorifies it."
America has the distinct potential to collapse into anarchy and violent civil unrest.
We are at the very edge of full-scale meltdown.. and there soon will come time when all must implode. As all ponzi schemes reach their inevitable conclusions, this ENORMOUS 'house of cards' will be no different. Unbridled avarice can lead and take us only so far... history has proven this time and again.
The very poor will suffer first, and the most.. they already are. Tens of millions up to the hundreds of millions are at serious risk from every part of the equation. The environment, economy, wars, overpopulation... as bad as it might be now, all will increasingly continue to impact them in ways inconceivable to most.
Some are starting to ask... What Can Now Be Done?...
Learn and Understand What Is Happening...
Not having enough time leads us all down a path which we do not want to go.
It all starts with spending more time learning from independent researchers and thinkers... agenda driven main stream media is part of the problem, not any kind of solution.
There are hundreds of exceptional INS sources, find your own 'best ones'.. and subscribe to their feeds. Seek out those voices you learn over time to respect and trust, and pay real attention to what they have to say. There are huge numbers of absolutely brilliant and dedicated individuals out there, doing some great and most necessary work. Support them financially if and when you can.. for as their voices dim, so do our hopes.
And make use of applications such as 'Read It Later' when you can't find the immediate time. They work very well, and are exceptionally useful keeping track of crucial information you do not want to miss out on viewing.
Know The Critical Issues... The Ones That MUST Get Changed NOW!!...
Get Involved In Dialogue With Others...
We cannot act alone in this.. talk up the issues with friends, family, and neighbors.. this discussion is critical. Solutions only come about from dialogue. And if you know and have any contact with young people... they especially must become involved, for they are the ones that will truly have to make change happen long term.
These are difficult long term problems, only to be solved with even more difficult longer-term solutions.
Force The Issues With Representatives In Government...
Don't let them so easily 'off-the-hook.'
This is not as difficult as many would make it out to be... and it is REALLY important!!
Learn and keep handy the contact numbers for offices locally and in Washington... and call and leave your 'message' about what you believe they should be hearing.
Doing 'all of the above' there's still absolutely no guarantees... but not doing anything..
...well.. like said... WE REALLY DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE !!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
How much longer do we have... our present path is not sustainable...
Friday, October 7, 2011
Military Assault on Global Climate
The Military Assault on Global Climate | Truthout
The Pentagon is the largest institutional user of petroleum products and energy. In 1940, the US military consumed one percent of the country's total energy usage; by the end of World War II, the military's share rose to 29 percent... oil is indispensable for war.
At the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, exceeding the total quantity used by all Allied forces in the four years of World War 1. Among the Army's armamentarium were 2,000 staunch M-1 Abrams tanks fired up for the war and burning 250 gallons of fuel per hour.
The US Air Force is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds.
The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 500 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving!
A quarter of the world's jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as US planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) - an astounding 2.6 billion gallons!
Yet, the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements. While many of us assiduously reduce our carbon footprint through simpler living, eating locally, recycling and reusing, energy conservation, taking public transportation, installing solar panels, and so on, the single largest institutional polluter and contributor to global warming - the US military - is immune to climate change concerns. The military reports no climate change emissions to any national or international body.
And oil security comprises both military protection against sabotage to pipelines and tankers and also US-led wars in oil-rich regions to assure long-term access. Nearly 1,000+ U.S. military bases trace an arc from the Andes to North Africa across the Middle East to Indonesia, the Philippines and North Korea, sweeping over all major oil resources - all related, in part, to projecting force for the sake of energy security. Is is estimated that about 20% of the conventional DoD budget is attributable to the objective of oil security.
Just how much petroleum the Pentagon consumes is one of the best-kept secrets in government. More likely, no one in DoD knows precisely. By best expert estimates, the US military consumes as much as one million barrels of oil per day and contributes 5 percent of current global warming emissions... (that's 1.4 million active duty military personnel, or .0002 percent of the world's population, generating 5 percent of climate pollution... and military fuel is more polluting because of the fuel type used for aviation). The United States contributes more than 30 percent of global warming gases to the atmosphere, generated by five percent of the world's population and U.S. militarism.
But the United States has the wealth (currently larding the defense budget) and the technical capacity to revolutionize our energy economy and turn it within a few decades into an economy based on efficiency and renewable energy sources, thus removing a critical demand factor of our Goliath military.
Projected full costs of the Iraq war (estimated $3 trillion) would cover "all of the global investments in renewable power generation" needed between now and 2030 to reverse global warming trends.
Between 2003-2007, the war generated at least 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, more each year of the war than 139 of the world's countries release annually. Rebuilding Iraqi schools, homes, businesses, bridges, roads and hospitals pulverized by the war, and new security walls and barriers will require millions of tons of cement, one of the largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2006, the US spent more on the war in Iraq than the entire world spent on renewable energy investment. By 2008, the Bush administration had spent 97 times more on military than on climate change. As a presidential candidate, President Obama pledged to spend $150 billion over ten years on green energy technology and infrastructure - less than the United States was spending in one year of the Iraq war.
Martin Luther King once said.. "Any nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Our cultural competence for high-tech war may be our society's nemesis unless we do critical soul searching about our cultural and personal values and actively engage in transforming them.
The Pentagon is the largest institutional user of petroleum products and energy. In 1940, the US military consumed one percent of the country's total energy usage; by the end of World War II, the military's share rose to 29 percent... oil is indispensable for war.
At the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, exceeding the total quantity used by all Allied forces in the four years of World War 1. Among the Army's armamentarium were 2,000 staunch M-1 Abrams tanks fired up for the war and burning 250 gallons of fuel per hour.
The US Air Force is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds.
The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 500 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving!
A quarter of the world's jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as US planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) - an astounding 2.6 billion gallons!
Yet, the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements. While many of us assiduously reduce our carbon footprint through simpler living, eating locally, recycling and reusing, energy conservation, taking public transportation, installing solar panels, and so on, the single largest institutional polluter and contributor to global warming - the US military - is immune to climate change concerns. The military reports no climate change emissions to any national or international body.
And oil security comprises both military protection against sabotage to pipelines and tankers and also US-led wars in oil-rich regions to assure long-term access. Nearly 1,000+ U.S. military bases trace an arc from the Andes to North Africa across the Middle East to Indonesia, the Philippines and North Korea, sweeping over all major oil resources - all related, in part, to projecting force for the sake of energy security. Is is estimated that about 20% of the conventional DoD budget is attributable to the objective of oil security.
Just how much petroleum the Pentagon consumes is one of the best-kept secrets in government. More likely, no one in DoD knows precisely. By best expert estimates, the US military consumes as much as one million barrels of oil per day and contributes 5 percent of current global warming emissions... (that's 1.4 million active duty military personnel, or .0002 percent of the world's population, generating 5 percent of climate pollution... and military fuel is more polluting because of the fuel type used for aviation). The United States contributes more than 30 percent of global warming gases to the atmosphere, generated by five percent of the world's population and U.S. militarism.
But the United States has the wealth (currently larding the defense budget) and the technical capacity to revolutionize our energy economy and turn it within a few decades into an economy based on efficiency and renewable energy sources, thus removing a critical demand factor of our Goliath military.
Projected full costs of the Iraq war (estimated $3 trillion) would cover "all of the global investments in renewable power generation" needed between now and 2030 to reverse global warming trends.
Between 2003-2007, the war generated at least 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, more each year of the war than 139 of the world's countries release annually. Rebuilding Iraqi schools, homes, businesses, bridges, roads and hospitals pulverized by the war, and new security walls and barriers will require millions of tons of cement, one of the largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2006, the US spent more on the war in Iraq than the entire world spent on renewable energy investment. By 2008, the Bush administration had spent 97 times more on military than on climate change. As a presidential candidate, President Obama pledged to spend $150 billion over ten years on green energy technology and infrastructure - less than the United States was spending in one year of the Iraq war.
Martin Luther King once said.. "Any nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Our cultural competence for high-tech war may be our society's nemesis unless we do critical soul searching about our cultural and personal values and actively engage in transforming them.
Foreign Policy and Torture - SOA's Role
The Military's Role in US Foreign Policy and Torture: Why Is School of the Americas Absent From the National Dialogue? | Truthout
Known as the "School of Dictators," it has instructed and trained hundreds of less than honorable graduates linked to military death squads throughout the world. Since its creation, it has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers, including 10,000 from Colombia. Results in that country are absolutely devastating and shocking. Thirty of the 33 brigade commanders of the Colombian Army were trained at the school and in those regions where they operated, extrajudicial executions almost doubled.
There is a direct relationship between the school's graduates and human rights atrocities through all of Latin America. They include over two-thirds of human rights violators named in a UN Commission report, the head of the central death squads and secret police in Guatemala, the military leader responsible for the disappearance of 20,000-30,000 Argentinians and many of the officers connected to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Costa Rica does not have an Army, but according to a 'watch groups', some 2,600 Costa Rican police officers have been trained at the school.
In Honduras, Gen. Romeo Velásquez had toppled Pres. Manuel Zelaya in a coup. The general who overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras is a two-time graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas.
Honduras remains one of the deadliest places on earth for journalists...(be sure and watch all of this chilling video). Continually attempting to shed light on what is happening in the country, Honduran journalists have watched 15 colleagues assassinated in 19 months under the new, but as equally dictatorial, Lobo regime, a government Barack Obama praises for its "strong commitment to democracy." (Behind the scenes supporting one of the wealthiest, most powerful, businessmen in the country).
In total hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been murdered, tortured, raped, disappeared and forced into exile by graduates of the SOA.
Under intense public pressure, it was coerced to release training manuals advocating torture, extortion, blackmail and the targeting of civilian populations. Used in courses, the manual says that to recruit and control informants, counterintelligence agents could use fear, payment of bounties for enemy dead, beatings, false imprisonment, executions and the use of truth serum, according to secret summaries of the manuals compiled during a 1992 investigation of the instructional material.
Over the past 15 years, popular movements in Latin America have successfully stood up to imperialism and neoliberal economic policies, including free trade agreements. The governments of Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica have all severed ties with this 'School.'
If you are not familiar with this 'school'... it is the infamous United State Army's School of the Americas (SOA) based in Fort Benning, Georgia. Originally established by the U.S. Army in the Panama Canal in 1946, the military training school moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1984.
The SOA has remained a microcosm of US foreign policy. And that's why so many people have dedicated their lives to changing the culture of militarization, exposing the SOA's practices and, ultimately, shutting it down. Taxpayers' money has been used for physical abuse and torture.. and the school of the Americas, a Cold War relic, must be closed forever.
Why continue the public efforts to close it... when you don't have accountability, you have impunity and we've seen a dramatic spread of many of the tactics perfected and used at the School of the Americas. They have been revealed to be central to U.S. foreign policy elsewhere and now must be ended for all time.
Known as the "School of Dictators," it has instructed and trained hundreds of less than honorable graduates linked to military death squads throughout the world. Since its creation, it has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers, including 10,000 from Colombia. Results in that country are absolutely devastating and shocking. Thirty of the 33 brigade commanders of the Colombian Army were trained at the school and in those regions where they operated, extrajudicial executions almost doubled.
There is a direct relationship between the school's graduates and human rights atrocities through all of Latin America. They include over two-thirds of human rights violators named in a UN Commission report, the head of the central death squads and secret police in Guatemala, the military leader responsible for the disappearance of 20,000-30,000 Argentinians and many of the officers connected to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Costa Rica does not have an Army, but according to a 'watch groups', some 2,600 Costa Rican police officers have been trained at the school.
In Honduras, Gen. Romeo Velásquez had toppled Pres. Manuel Zelaya in a coup. The general who overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras is a two-time graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas.
Honduras remains one of the deadliest places on earth for journalists...(be sure and watch all of this chilling video). Continually attempting to shed light on what is happening in the country, Honduran journalists have watched 15 colleagues assassinated in 19 months under the new, but as equally dictatorial, Lobo regime, a government Barack Obama praises for its "strong commitment to democracy." (Behind the scenes supporting one of the wealthiest, most powerful, businessmen in the country).
In total hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been murdered, tortured, raped, disappeared and forced into exile by graduates of the SOA.
Under intense public pressure, it was coerced to release training manuals advocating torture, extortion, blackmail and the targeting of civilian populations. Used in courses, the manual says that to recruit and control informants, counterintelligence agents could use fear, payment of bounties for enemy dead, beatings, false imprisonment, executions and the use of truth serum, according to secret summaries of the manuals compiled during a 1992 investigation of the instructional material.
Over the past 15 years, popular movements in Latin America have successfully stood up to imperialism and neoliberal economic policies, including free trade agreements. The governments of Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica have all severed ties with this 'School.'
If you are not familiar with this 'school'... it is the infamous United State Army's School of the Americas (SOA) based in Fort Benning, Georgia. Originally established by the U.S. Army in the Panama Canal in 1946, the military training school moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1984.
The SOA has remained a microcosm of US foreign policy. And that's why so many people have dedicated their lives to changing the culture of militarization, exposing the SOA's practices and, ultimately, shutting it down. Taxpayers' money has been used for physical abuse and torture.. and the school of the Americas, a Cold War relic, must be closed forever.
Why continue the public efforts to close it... when you don't have accountability, you have impunity and we've seen a dramatic spread of many of the tactics perfected and used at the School of the Americas. They have been revealed to be central to U.S. foreign policy elsewhere and now must be ended for all time.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
No MoreTax Holidays!!
No Tax Holiday for Corporate Job Destroyers | Common Dreams
The income tax system in this country is another broken function of government. It is so far off from what makes sense.. and it is continually getting worse as money wants more money. Talk to most average folks that you know, and they say they just want the government to leave them alone and and stop taking their tax money and wasting it... (lots of wars... lots of waste).
They really don't make mention of just how unfair the current system has become. When the huge majority of the wealth being generated today is going almost entirely to the very rich and to corporations.. how can it be justified to increase taxes on any other group. And how is it at all sensible most of the very wealthy and a sizable portion of corporations now can avoid paying taxes entirely... and if they do, they pay at rates far lower than the average individual.
For the approximately 1.4 million people who make up the top 1% of taxpayers, the effective federal income tax rate dropped from 29% to 23% in 2008...(it may seem too unreal to be true, but the top 400 ended up paying a lower rate than the next 1.4 million people). Speculators in the financial markets now can individually earn billions of dollars, and at most pay taxes at the capital gains rate of 15%... if they pay anything at all.
Between 1948 and 1979, the richest 10% of families in the U.S. claimed 33% of average income growth.... between 2000 and 2007, the richest 10% claimed the full 100% of average income growth in the U.S.
The very rich have reaped the vast majority of every economic expansion over the last 30 years, including the top 1% gaining two thirds of it in recent years. The top 0.1% have seen a 94% income growth since 2002. The richest of them all (the top 400) have seen an astounding 476% increase since 1992. The richest 74 people made as much as the 19 million lowest-paid people in America.
As for corporations picking up their share.. nearly two-thirds of U.S. corporations currently do not pay any income taxes... (many are America’s most profitable companies -Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Bank of America & Citigroup, all paid $0 in federal income taxes... some adding insult to injury have income credits in addition!!).
Business taxes in the U.S. were cut from 46 to 34% 25 years ago... but today almost 25% of the big 500 companies listed on Standard and Poor’s paid federal and other taxes of less than 20% over the last 5 years. Tax loopholes and lobbying have lowered the top tax rate to its lowest point since the Truman era, and now corporate tax dollars only account for 5-7% of all federal tax receipts.
The change in corporate taxes — not merely rates, but what they actually paid — over the past half century is astounding...
The power of money has never been as great and selfish and shameless as it is now. Corporations now paying for campaigns of elected officials, and who own the mainstream media, are allowed to avoid paying their fair tax share. Also through their Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court has opened the door allowing corporations, now designated 'as people' to spend millions lobbying political leaders to continue avoiding their tax obligations (this was/is a HUGE deal... 'a game changer'). As well intensified lobbying for more and more tax breaks like the 'tax holidays as the Chuck Collins article details... read it and get pissed.. ...you've every right to be!!
At the end of the Second World War, every $1.00 Washington raised in taxes on individuals, it raised $1.50 in taxes on business profits. Today, that ratio is dramatically different:.. every $1.00 Washington gets in taxes on individuals, it takes only $0.25 cents in taxes on business.
In short, the last half-century has seen a massive shift of the burden of federal taxation off business and onto individuals.
The system must be brought back to one that is fair... we had a progressive tax system that although not perfect did work fairly well for decades. Top marginal tax rates have traditionally been very high in the US, averaging 61% since 1917. The average top tax rate was at one time over 81%. Today it stands at 35%, which is 27% below the historical average, and 59% below it’s highest rate.
There are numerous progressive tax proposals for taxing the wealthy... this is but one of many that have been put forth..
A progressive tax code to create new brackets for the wealthy and ultra wealthy. Restore tax rates to 35% for those with an income between $250,000-$1 million per year.
Add new brackets that increases the level to 45% for anyone with an annual income between $1 million to $10 million, 50% for $10-50 million, 60% for $50-100 million, 70% for $100 million to $1 billion, and 80% for anyone over $1,000,000,000 per year...(that's 20 million a WEEK!!!)
The U.S. has seen diminishing progressivity of its tax structure for decades... and the present system only fosters discontent, class separation and alienation... we are in for some serious long term trouble if it does not get fixed soon.
Studies comparing nations found that flattening the tax risks flattening social well-being as well. The more progressive the tax policy is, the happier citizens are. Researchers analyzed the relationship between tax progressivity and personal well-being in nations surveyed by the Gallup Organization in 2007.
On average, residents of the nations with the most progressive taxation evaluated their own lives as closer to “the best possible.” They also reported having more satisfying experiences and fewer discomfiting ones than respondents living in nations with less progressive taxes.
If the goal of societies is to make citizens happier and better off, it must be realized equitable and consistently enforced tax policy truly does matter. Certain policies, like tax progressivity, seem to be more conducive to the well being of the people. It is time we went backwards on this issue.
The income tax system in this country is another broken function of government. It is so far off from what makes sense.. and it is continually getting worse as money wants more money. Talk to most average folks that you know, and they say they just want the government to leave them alone and and stop taking their tax money and wasting it... (lots of wars... lots of waste).
They really don't make mention of just how unfair the current system has become. When the huge majority of the wealth being generated today is going almost entirely to the very rich and to corporations.. how can it be justified to increase taxes on any other group. And how is it at all sensible most of the very wealthy and a sizable portion of corporations now can avoid paying taxes entirely... and if they do, they pay at rates far lower than the average individual.
For the approximately 1.4 million people who make up the top 1% of taxpayers, the effective federal income tax rate dropped from 29% to 23% in 2008...(it may seem too unreal to be true, but the top 400 ended up paying a lower rate than the next 1.4 million people). Speculators in the financial markets now can individually earn billions of dollars, and at most pay taxes at the capital gains rate of 15%... if they pay anything at all.
Between 1948 and 1979, the richest 10% of families in the U.S. claimed 33% of average income growth.... between 2000 and 2007, the richest 10% claimed the full 100% of average income growth in the U.S.
The very rich have reaped the vast majority of every economic expansion over the last 30 years, including the top 1% gaining two thirds of it in recent years. The top 0.1% have seen a 94% income growth since 2002. The richest of them all (the top 400) have seen an astounding 476% increase since 1992. The richest 74 people made as much as the 19 million lowest-paid people in America.
As for corporations picking up their share.. nearly two-thirds of U.S. corporations currently do not pay any income taxes... (many are America’s most profitable companies -Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Bank of America & Citigroup, all paid $0 in federal income taxes... some adding insult to injury have income credits in addition!!).
Business taxes in the U.S. were cut from 46 to 34% 25 years ago... but today almost 25% of the big 500 companies listed on Standard and Poor’s paid federal and other taxes of less than 20% over the last 5 years. Tax loopholes and lobbying have lowered the top tax rate to its lowest point since the Truman era, and now corporate tax dollars only account for 5-7% of all federal tax receipts.
The change in corporate taxes — not merely rates, but what they actually paid — over the past half century is astounding...
- Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of Federal Revenue
1955 . . . 27.3%
2010 . . . 8.9%
- Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of GDP
1955 . . . 4.3%
2010 . . . 1.3%
- Individual Income/Payrolls as a Percentage of Federal Revenue
1955 . . . 58.0%
2010 . . . 81.5%
The power of money has never been as great and selfish and shameless as it is now. Corporations now paying for campaigns of elected officials, and who own the mainstream media, are allowed to avoid paying their fair tax share. Also through their Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court has opened the door allowing corporations, now designated 'as people' to spend millions lobbying political leaders to continue avoiding their tax obligations (this was/is a HUGE deal... 'a game changer'). As well intensified lobbying for more and more tax breaks like the 'tax holidays as the Chuck Collins article details... read it and get pissed.. ...you've every right to be!!
Corporations are now lobbying HARD for another tax holiday (spending tens of millions, employing dozens of lobbyists)..
to bring an additional 1.5 trillion dollars back into the country... at ridiculous low rates similar (or less) than what
GW permitted them to do back in 2004...
to bring an additional 1.5 trillion dollars back into the country... at ridiculous low rates similar (or less) than what
GW permitted them to do back in 2004...
..subsequently corporations laid off hundreds of thousands of workers the next couple years in 2005-2006...
... most all that 'holiday' money went towards executive compensation and share buyback.
At the end of the Second World War, every $1.00 Washington raised in taxes on individuals, it raised $1.50 in taxes on business profits. Today, that ratio is dramatically different:.. every $1.00 Washington gets in taxes on individuals, it takes only $0.25 cents in taxes on business.
In short, the last half-century has seen a massive shift of the burden of federal taxation off business and onto individuals.
The system must be brought back to one that is fair... we had a progressive tax system that although not perfect did work fairly well for decades. Top marginal tax rates have traditionally been very high in the US, averaging 61% since 1917. The average top tax rate was at one time over 81%. Today it stands at 35%, which is 27% below the historical average, and 59% below it’s highest rate.
There are numerous progressive tax proposals for taxing the wealthy... this is but one of many that have been put forth..
A progressive tax code to create new brackets for the wealthy and ultra wealthy. Restore tax rates to 35% for those with an income between $250,000-$1 million per year.
Add new brackets that increases the level to 45% for anyone with an annual income between $1 million to $10 million, 50% for $10-50 million, 60% for $50-100 million, 70% for $100 million to $1 billion, and 80% for anyone over $1,000,000,000 per year...(that's 20 million a WEEK!!!)
Tax Rate - Income Bracket
35% $250,000-$1 million
45% $1 million-$10 million
50% $10 million-50 million
60% $50 million-100 million
70% $100 million-1 billion
80% $1 billion and above
The U.S. has seen diminishing progressivity of its tax structure for decades... and the present system only fosters discontent, class separation and alienation... we are in for some serious long term trouble if it does not get fixed soon.
Studies comparing nations found that flattening the tax risks flattening social well-being as well. The more progressive the tax policy is, the happier citizens are. Researchers analyzed the relationship between tax progressivity and personal well-being in nations surveyed by the Gallup Organization in 2007.
On average, residents of the nations with the most progressive taxation evaluated their own lives as closer to “the best possible.” They also reported having more satisfying experiences and fewer discomfiting ones than respondents living in nations with less progressive taxes.
If the goal of societies is to make citizens happier and better off, it must be realized equitable and consistently enforced tax policy truly does matter. Certain policies, like tax progressivity, seem to be more conducive to the well being of the people. It is time we went backwards on this issue.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Bush Ordered 9/11 Investigation Suppressed
Ordered Investigation to Suppress Saudi 9/11 Connection
This is part 2 of an exceptional interview... well worth time spent watching... Swan and Summers are terrific (notably Swan's commentary)...
...and be sure and read carefully the well-detailed investigative report from David Kaplan ...
'The Saudi Connection'... published in U.S. World & News Report a couple years after 9/11 in December of 2003. It details the connection of our 'friends' the Saudis, and their funding of world terrorism.
Simple answer as to why... bribe money for the utterly lavish lifestyle of most of the 7,000 member 'royal' family. Extremist Muslims don't like theirs any more than ours, but the cash they need to fund their deadly activities has to come from somewhere... Saudi 'protection money' is the result.
The world's thirst for oil has caused, and continues to produce, much trouble and pain.
This is part 2 of an exceptional interview... well worth time spent watching... Swan and Summers are terrific (notably Swan's commentary)...
...and be sure and read carefully the well-detailed investigative report from David Kaplan ...
'The Saudi Connection'... published in U.S. World & News Report a couple years after 9/11 in December of 2003. It details the connection of our 'friends' the Saudis, and their funding of world terrorism.
Simple answer as to why... bribe money for the utterly lavish lifestyle of most of the 7,000 member 'royal' family. Extremist Muslims don't like theirs any more than ours, but the cash they need to fund their deadly activities has to come from somewhere... Saudi 'protection money' is the result.
The world's thirst for oil has caused, and continues to produce, much trouble and pain.
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