This is why it was so important to put profit over safety, which resulted in the deaths of 29 miners at a Massey coal mine and hundreds and hundreds of safety code violations before that.
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was paid $17.8 million last year, "a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also has a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million at the end of last year."
thinkprogress.org
The graph below proves that "Trickle Down" supply side economics ala President Reagan is pure bullsh*t. When the rich get richer everyone else gets poorer, and since the super rich are now richer than ever we should tax the hell out of them.
More below the fold.
During the Bush/GOP years of 2000-2006 the richest 1-5% in America made ALL THE MONEY while the other 99-95% saw their jobs disappear and their wages stagnate in the face of an ever rising cost of living. The decade lasting from 2000-2009 should NOT be called the lost decade, it should be called the stolen decade.
statistics from 2005
Under a Progressive Tax System we could lower taxes for EVERYONE making below a million a year if only we would tax the rich according to their wealth.
Some rough ideas on numbers.
1,000,000 + = 43%
2,000,000 + = 45%
5,000,000 + = 45%
10,000,000 + = 47%
20,000,000 + = 49%
50,000,000 + = 53%
100,000,000 + = 60%
1,000,000,000 + = 75%
Admittedly, I am no tax expert, and if millionaire Neil Cavuto wants to debate me on the matter, I will, and I will win. Do you know why? Because the facts are on MY side. America had it's strongest, largest middle class back in the late 1950's when the top tax bracket was at 90%. At 75%, my top tax bracket seems more than fair.
And I wonder what side of the debate millionaire pundits like Neil Cavuto and Larry Kudlow will take?
Now, I know what you are thinking, which is "How will billionaires ever survive on a mere quarter billion a year after taxes?"
.
My thoughts to those billionaires, "Let them eat cake!"
At $250,000+ per year an individual who faces a 3% tax hike is by no means oppressed. The fact that millionaires and billionaires are supposed to pay the same rate is the thing that should drive the $250k-$999,999 crowd up the wall!
But make no mistake, the $250k-$999,999 crowd are NOT the problem. These people are NOT the private jet and butler crowd. They earn around 5 times the average income, They are NOT the problem.
The problem is the CEO class that makes 500 times the average income. It is the greed that demands bigger and bigger dividends no matter what. These people WILL NOT SUFFER if higher taxes drop their income from 500x the average to 499x or 400x the average income after taxes. Don Blankenship will NOT suffer if he makes 12 million a year after taxes instead of 13 million.
And maybe, just maybe, the economy would do better if lots of coal miners made a little more and Don Blankenship made a little less. Maybe coal billionaire David Koch can afford a bigger tax cut so Main St America doesn't shrivel up and starve to death in the winter. It's hard to buy coal energy when you are being kicked out of your home.
In my honest opinion, we need new tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, and we need them starting YESTERDAY. We need to take away the incentive for the CEO/shareholder class to rob the hell out of the working class for profit. Until we do that, the exploitation of the working class will continue unabated and the death spiral of what used to be the middle class will get worse and worse.
Taxed Enough Already? Though Fox News viewers don't know it, 95% of us got income tax CUTS. I think that is great, but I don't think that is enough. If you REALLY want to take the incentive to rob investors or skirt safety regulations away from the CEO class of the super rich tax them until their freakin eyes bleed. If they are going to scream socialist at you no matter what you do you might as well. It's not like the super rich could freak out any more than they already are. It seems to me that the super rich have WAY too much money to lobby Congress with when they aren't outsourcing your job and pulling down HUGE salaries while crashing the economy into the ground.
I say we give the millionaires something to really cry about, and, knowing how whiny and over-privileged they are, a tax increase of a few percentage points should do just the trick.
And remember, when rich people tell you about Free Trade and Economic Freedom, they mean the better to eat you with
You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca
Peace
Crossposted at ProgressiveElectorate.com