Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Full Report: The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America

This makes a real interesting read. It is closely related to the economic protests happening right now.  It is worded with the same tone as The Communist Manifesto.  There are a few valid points...  I also have concerns about the Federal Reserve System, as did J.F. Kennedy. 

I think that the article plays very loose with the facts.   It blames the top 1% of income earners, who by the way make 24% of the national income and pay 40% of all federal income taxes.  The article claims that if we tax these people more, the other 99% of the population can triple their income and can get free houses and free medical care.   There is no way mathematically that this could be true, by a factor of 10 to 1, assuming you took most of the income of the top 1%.   These lies make the article seem like snake oil.   Many of its other claims seem exaggerated as well. 

The main problem with the logic is that there are indeed people who do extraordinarily well, but they are few and far in-between.  I have often heard that if you tax everyone who makes a million dollars per year at 100% of their income, you wouldn't make much of a dent in the federal budget deficit.  

Not all the top 1% are CEO's as the article implies.  Many are small business owners and farmers.  In terms of accumulated wealth, and not income, the majority are retirees or near retirees who spent a lifetime saving for their retirement. 

Individual income and standard of living have improved dramatically in my lifetime.  Obviously the long term economic trends have been very favorable for most Americans.   One bad recession does not justify demolishing the entire economic system.  

The article does not go into the real cause of the economic collapse, which was major government intervention in the housing credit market. 

"Redistribution of Wealth: Due to the rigging of our economic and political system, vast sums of wealth have been hoarded by the Economic Elite over the past 40 years. This money must be redistributed to the 99% of Americans who have been robbed and exploited. There will be much heated debate over how this money should be distributed, but we all need to agree that we must first hold the Economic Elite accountable and *our* wealth must be seized from them."




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