You say you want a revolution!

As it happens, I was trying to discuss this very subject with a very conservative relative. Each complaint of hers about the situation in Wisconsin, income inequality, and taxing the reach was answered in a similar manner to the points in this article. The reply? Stunned silence. Then, "It's a conspiracy," "There's going to be a revolution." My reply - Yes, it's a conspiracy of the rich against the rest us. Yes, there will (I hope) be a revolution - when the remainder of the middle class awakens and stops voting against their own interests. I always tell conservatives I'll do the best I can, but they'll likely be assigned to a re-education camp.

This is like looking at a motor vehicle engine, seeing a spark plug wire hanging loose, and pontificating: "I see the trouble; there's a spark plug wire hanging loose."

But from somewhere a voice calmly says: "Yes, but if you reconnect that wire to the spark plug then I'll kill you."

Democracy has been reduced to the status of Sex Slave of Capitalism. I can think of no other way to express this verity that is not mealy mouthed. We plebes can VOTE for the vulgarly rich to stop jerking the rest of us around until hell freezes over. Their laughter is only going to grow louder.

==The fact remains that, with today's federal income tax rates, the top 1% of incomes pay 38% of the taxes, the top 5% pay 58.7%, the top 25% pay 86.3% and the bottom 50% pay 2.7%. Unfair, you say?==

To me this sounds like a mantra being muttered over and over, by gang rapist number four in line, who -with self doubt- is waiting his turn to get inside some member of the deserving poor.
Trylon

Conservatives don't want to tax the middle class out of existence. kWhich party is the tax-and-spend (I'm sorry, "invest") party? The Democrats. Who supports the Democrats? Their largest campaign contributors are not the corporations or conservatives. Their largest supporters are plaintiffs' lawyers (who always oppose caps on liability for amorphous, unprovable damages such as "pain and suffering") and unions, particularly public workers' unions.

Conservatives want to shrink government, not expand it. They want to end the money flood, which reached epic proportions during Obama's first two years. The money paid to Wall Street in the Troubled Asset Relief Program has largely if not entirely been paid back with a handsome return to the Government. Not so with the "Stimulus" -- which stimulated nothing other than Nancy Pelosi's left-wing constituency and did not reduce unemployment.

The military is a huge financial drain, but many of the people in uniform might well otherwise be unemployed. In that sense, it is a latter-day descendant of the Works Projects Administration of the 1930s. As they say, the Army is like the Boy Scouts, except the Boy Scouts have adult leadership.

You can tinker with the tax code to make the rich pay more, but it is not lower taxes that has created the great inequity and the concentration of wealth at the very top. That concentration of wealth has been a feature of our economy from the start. It is the nature of our monetary system to funnel the money up. Progressive taxation was introduced to counteract this tendency. But Ronald Reagan came along to dismantle the New Deal, and with the cooperation of Democrats, Clinton in particular, that has been done.

Wolfe suggests that we reintroduce progressive taxation. That would help, but it would not change the nature of the Ponzi scheme that is our monetary system. This is the opinion of Bernie Madoff, perhaps our greatest living authority on Ponzi schemes. Through the miracle of compound interest, our system, which is a private monetary system, imposes a tax on the use of money. This tax is paid to the elite since it is they who own the credit machine. Fixing the tax code is not going to change the Ponzi nature of the system which is owned and operated by the wealthy in their own interest.

Eventually, the Ponzi scheme goes bust. This is what happened recently and what has always happened in a downturn. This is a systemic failure, however, not the "business cycle". The power to control the cost of credit and the money supply itself has to be taken out of private hands. Fixing the tax code is a temporary patch that doesn't confront the systemic flaw itself. Money is a public utility, not a con game the elite play in their own interest.

The most backward and reactionary elements now control the AmeriKKKan government. The false choices of budget cuts and tax cuts for the rich that both the Democratic and Republican parties advocate would roll back government regulation of corporation and greedy-rich would have workers living under conditions that existed in the 19th century.

We need to organize nationally--general strikes, boycotts and non-violent resistance.

Both Republicans and Democrats should agree to a few basic principles. Lower taxes and desirable, Basic services essential, and Investment in Infrastructure, in Education, and In Health Care are the building blocks to sustain and grow an economy and must be paid for by whatever low or high tax rate is required. Military expenses are counterproductive to economic growth (except in the military industrial complex where jobs depend on a bloated military) but while counterproductive to growth a strong defense is essential to survival. In addition veterans with their pensions, health care and coordinating agencies are morally imperative expenses which continue to rise dramatically.

If we accept these propositions, we can begin to debate questions about long term goals, building the economy, reducing unemployment, raising our educational achievement and including all in our health care. I suspect that tax rates need to rise, probably not just on the wealthiest -- and tax loopholes and the private "sweet deals made to special interests" closed. This is something a Dem could agree to, but they need also to consider that business needs to invest in this economy, and they must thrive for recovery. Tax credits for investment at home, and tied specifically to job creation or protection are essential at this time. We can't just give the corporation the choice of paying 100 million in tax, or investing 100 million in automated equipment which puts a 1000 workers out of work. But a 100 million which protects or expands the numbers of workers, and upgrades equipment and efficiency stimulates the economy, increases revenue and makes America more productive. Punitive taxes on business which uses foreign plants to replace American workers would be difficult and perhaps counter-productive, but we at least need to remove the incentive to move jobs.

until the rich realize, like some of us already, that life is more fun with little money and that money doesn't bring happiness, this situation won't change.

we are talkin' bout greed here...

It's OK to hate the rich.

Mr. Wolff is about a decade behind the learning curve.

Well, the top earners are pocketing 500 hundred thousand dollars a week. Two out of every three Wisconsin corporations pay ZERO tax - someone must suffer, eh?

BRIBERY is what the Rich are doing with the money they are accumulating. Let us not conceal the elephant in the room by calling it "Campaign Contributions". Our politicians are being Bribed by the Rich and International Corporations. An Australian and a Saudi Prince own News Corp, which Fox "News" is a part of. Fox News is blatantly manipulating American Politics and Bribing America Politicians and no one will speak out against them. Free Speech is invoked to protect Fox. Corporations are people you know. But Free Speech is one thing and blatant lying another. Psychological brain washing is being used on the American people to justify current political actions. A vast majority of Americans don't realize what is happening and those who do are not speaking out.

While the conservatives like to beat their chests saying the wealthy pay their fare share of taxes, I would like to throw in this bit of information. Why is it 55,000 millionaires and billionaires have their money stashed in UBS Warburg in Switzerland, and did not pay any taxes on that money? The US government had to threaten the Swiss government to give names. An agreement was brokered where 4,400 names were released. Now, I certainly am not giving the Obomba Admin any kudos because it clearly has sided against the people and with the corporate plutocrats. This story conveniently disappeared. I want to keep it on the radar screen and for people to ask questions.

People who commit tax fraud should be prosecuted and, apparently, that is happening now in the case of thousands who used fraud and deception courtesy of UBS. No tax system is foolproof, but the existence of Swiss banks as a means of defrauding other governments is an outrage. IMHO, UBS should have been banned permanently from the United States.

Why is it that conservatives believe that the Fat Cats deserve the wealth they have? There are two reasons they have their dough. One is the fact that they stole the labor of the little people. Two is the fact that they stole the money of the little people. If CEO's were forced to give their bonuses to the tax base we would not have states in trouble.

We are so fucked.