U.S. Government Redistributes Wealth…to the Rich

Monday, December 24, 2012

For about thirty years now, the federal government has been implementing policies that take tax dollars from middle class Americans and give them to the rich, supposedly as a way to spur economic growth. Although Americans actually want greater economic equality, the net effect has been to redistribute wealth to the rich and create the most unequal developed society on earth.

 

According to a series of reports by Reuters, since 1989 inequality has risen all across the U.S. to levels not seen since before the Great Depression:

 

• Inequality has increased in every state except Mississippi, which is the poorest state in the Union;

 

• The poverty rate increased in 43 states;

 

• In 28 states inequality and poverty rose while median income fell;

 

• In every state, the richest 20% of households far outpaced the income gains of any other quintile;

 

• Income for the median household fell in 28 states.

 

Three specific aspects of federal policy—low taxes for the rich, outsourcing government functions to private companies, and the financial clout of Washington lobbyists—have been the major drivers of growing inequality.

 

Low taxes for the rich

 

Tax cuts enacted during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush cut taxes sharply on the wealthy, redistributing nearly $2 trillion to high income families—just in the past ten years. In 2011, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service each studied income inequality and concluded that the cuts made the tax system less progressive and were the second biggest contributor to growing inequality.

 

Outsourcing

 

Starting under President Bill Clinton’s “reinventing government” initiative, the federal government has directed trillions of tax dollars to private-sector contractors by outsourcing government operations that would previously have been performed by government employees. Federal money flowing to business rose 7% during Clinton’s second term and 72% percent under Bush, before leveling off in 2010. This has contributed to inequality because private employers typically offer lower skilled workers less job security, lower wages and fewer benefits than the federal government does.

 

Lobbying

 

Nearly 13,000 registered lobbyists reported $3.3 billion in fees last year. There are 22% more lobbyists than in 1998, and their inflation-adjusted revenue is 37% higher than in 1998. Because re-election to Congress is so expensive, the campaign contributions that lobbyists influence or control are critical to political survival on Capitol Hill. But lobbyists work overwhelmingly for groups representing social elites. According to a study led by Prof. Kay Schlozman, the majority of lobbying groups exist to advance the interests of business, while groups advocating for union workers and the poor came in last and second to last on the list.

-Matt Bewig

 

To Learn More:

Redistributing Up (by Deborah Nelson and Himanshu Ojha, Reuters)

Average U.S. Household Has Lost 5% in Annual Income Since Economic “Recovery” Began (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)

Comments

Alberet 11 years ago
They used to call it FEUDALISM ..... cutting taxes for the NOBLES so they could create jobs (building castles and working the fields) for the SERFS. If lower taxes create prosperity and happiness, why are the 1% not living in the lowest property tax areas? Why do the Well-to-do chose to live in Beverly Hills, or Ann Arbor, when Watts and Ypsilanti have so many vacancies? Taxes are the price of CIVILIZATION, and people wonder why America is backsliding into savagry.
goyishe kup 11 years ago
The one thing that i remember the most clearly over the past 40 years of my school days at Brandeis University in 1970's are my student adviser's words that when he was growing up that his grand parents and parents used the term "‘goyishe kup,’" meaning that the "Non-Jews are Stupid" Later in life I learned that the exact translation of "GOYISHE KUP" means that the "Cattle are STUPID".. I remember him recalling whatt his father told him when he was growing up in Eastern Europe. One of them being that when his father was in high school he and a group of friends would skip school early on Fridays and go over to his friend's father's butcher shop. That they would buy at cost any cows , that had not been butchered by the end of the day on Friday before the start of shabat . They would take the cow home and wash it and then the boys would procede to "beat the udders of the cows so that they would swell up and turn pink" so as to sell them to the "GOYISHE KUP" as milk producing cows. The part that I remember him asking me if the East Europeans are so naive, so gullible and so stupid to buy old "non milk producing cows" from a bunch of young Jewish Boys. So thinking of it now I agree with the Jewish saying that the "GOYISHE KUP" are indeed" Stupid" as they believe that a Bunch of Arab Moslem Kids who were not able to Fly a Cessna Airplane took it upon themselves to FLY a Jumbo 747 and outwitted the US Militaryand Civilian authorities. The "Jewish Lightning Insurance Scam" of the 1960's is still alive and well has been put to good use by Larry Silverstein in putting 15 million down and comming out with 7 billion dollars for buidings that no one wanted to buy because it would have cost a billion dollars to remove the asbestos from. Then on top of that the people in America actually believe that they actually decide who is elected President or for that that actual VOTE is really counted and makes a difference in deciding who represents them in the White House and congress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfc5F2pQeg http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=911+missing+links+watch+movie&view=detail&mid=51A7141F33FBB715D84C51A7141F33FBB715D84C&first=0&qpvt=911+missing+links+watch+movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVTXbARGXso http://www.911missinglinks.com/ bollyn.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rzlb4Zwl74&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YaFGSPErKU&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAR-AaEroA&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxnpujfanUM http://www.dailypaul.com/253111/new-9-11-truth-documentary-among-most-watched-on-pbs-this-week http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltP2t9nq9fI&feature=youtu.be whatreallyhappened.com rense.com http://www.brasschecktv.com http://www.youtube.com/user/ae911truth Yeh I agree that the AmericanNon-Jews are indeed American "GOYISHE KUP" or "STUPID CATTLE"!
Michael J. Ryan 12 years ago
Okay... getting rid of tax loop holes, or even requiring corporations to pay dividends which are taxable to investors is one thing... stating that having a lower tax rate one year than the years before is redistribution of wealth is a bit disingenuous. I personally don't think that anyone should have more than half their income taken in combined taxes, I don't care how much you make. That said, I'm nowhere near the top 1% (more around the 12% mark), just the same between various taxes (income, ssi) before I see my pay check, and those after, taxes attached to rent (property taxes for the owner), renter taxes, utility taxes, sales taxes, and misc. other taxes that are hidden, gasoline, etc... nearly 2/3 of my income goes to various taxes... It's too much already. Get rid of the loopholes first. I've seen first hand the vastness of mismanaged funds in government hands... You can't convince me that any tax rates need raising, and bearing in mind, the base rates for the top tier of income earners is pretty high already. Lower taxes is not redistributing wealth... Especially when your tax rates are already higher, and stay higher. Now, giving returns larger than the taxes paid in, that is redistribution of wealth. It's akin to saying you cut someone's salary, because they only got a 1.5% raise instead of 4% that they wanted. It's also why I have very little faith in editorial content disguised as journalism in this day and age.

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