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Tax Donkeys: Rich Enough To Pay Most Of The Taxes, Not Rich Enough To Buy Politicians
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
Real political representation must be bought, just like everything else in a market economy.
Mike Swanson (Wall Street Window) and I were discussing the difference between the 1% who earns $360,000 annually and up and those in the Oligarchy class--the .01% (our podcast: America's Nine Socio-Eco-Political Classes).
The difference is the 1% remain Tax Donkeys: they pay most of the Federal and state income taxes, but are not wealthy enough to buy political influence.
In other words, the 1% (and indeed, the top 10%) have taxation but no representation. The political strings are pulled by a relative handful of super-wealthy individuals who use a thin slice of their wealth to fund political campaigns and lobbying.
Charting American Oligarchy: How The 0.01% Contributes 42% Of All Campaign Cash
Legal Corruption In The US: Meet The 1% Of The 1% Who Drive American Politics
Longtime correspondent B.C. describes this reality as no representation without taxation: those who pay the most taxes are represented via their political contributions and lobbying, and the 90% who pay relatively little income tax have no real representation at all because real political representation must be bought, just like everything else in a market economy.
B.C. explained his no representation without taxation in this way:
The wealthiest 0.01% - 0.001% pay a disproportionately large share of taxes as a kind of fee for service for "the best government money can buy," not unlike what they pay for legal, financial, and tax advice, household staff, private security, and so on.
The net result of "no representation without taxation" is the US has become a kind of militarist-imperialist, rentier-socialist corporate-state with a relatively friendly (mass media-generated, infotainment-constructed), egalitarian face.
While it's obvious the bottom 90% lose out in this system, the top 10% just below the Oligarch class are punished twice: they pay most of the income taxes, but aren't wealthy enough to buy political power. They are the Tax Donkeys that toil to pay for the corporate-state's social welfare programs that keep the bottom 40% passive and the imperial structure that secures the primacy of the Deep State and Oligarchy.
I have covered who pays most of the nation's taxes many times, most recently in Neofeudalism 101: Strip-Mining the Upper Middle Class.
Let's take a quick glance at payroll and income taxes for context. Individual income taxes and Social Security/payroll taxes total $2.4 trillion. Corporate and other taxes add $600 billion, for a total of $3 trillion in Federal tax receipts.
2 out of 3 taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes:
Put together, people making under $40,000 a year get $81.1 billion from the income tax; that is, they get more refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit than they pay in taxes. But that same group pays $121.5 billion in payroll taxes.
So people making under $40,000 a year--63.9% of all taxpayers, according to the Social Security Administration, paid a net of $40 billion out of the $2.4 trillion in payroll and income taxes. This is truly a drop in the bucket.
Meanwhile, the wealth of the top .01% has pulled away from the top 10% and even the top 1%:
The Richest Rich Are in a Class by Themselves: top .01% and top .1%
The corruption and concentration of wealth are self-reinforcing: financialization further enriches the top .01%, who can then buy political power to protect their wealth and restrict competitors, which further concentrates wealth in the top of the apex, and so on.
Pity the Tax Donkeys who pay for everyone below and further enrich the few above. "No representation without taxation" only works for the top .01%; Tax Donkeys pay huge taxes but have no representation in a system that auctions political power to the highest bidders.
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Tax Donkeys & Tax Elephants = SAME
YET - The Rothschild and the Rockeffellers have combined assests in the MULTI-TRILLIONS of dollars...
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~TRILLIONS ~ MULTI!
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They make Bill Gates look poor.
They're all rich in joobux & collections... The longer this goes on, they're probably parlaying that into land holdings & infrastructure. CHEERLEADED all the way by the likes of CH1
The 99-99.5% during taxtime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROO7xSTxfY
The top .01%:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTZ50CL761k
IRS, classic man behind the curtain wiating to happen in this age of Apo-Calypso.
Never sufficiently ratified, only Ratbecame.
Nibbling away at global prosperity since Nimrod got the word.
Word here too:
Sequence 17...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BrvoWEw2J8
Why should anything change, when TPTB enjoy 100% obedience?
Well it's nice to know that the mid-level and low-level .gov employees are all tax donkeys too.
Suckers, plain and simple. All bought into the terrorism meme. "We have to protect israel at all costs".
And when it comes time to collect on their pensions?
America, fuck yeah.
orI, wtf is up with that sequence 17 thing? Looks like you're starting to piss people off with it, is that the point?
haha tax donkey is exactly what I tell my dad he is, he agrees and usually just laughs. I don't make near enough to be in that category, but he has no mortgage, still pays out the ass in property taxes. Still gets a little annoyed when I tell him he doesn't actually own his house, he just rents it from the government. (He is one of those republican hold outs, despite my best efforts, with statements like ' I really like what Ron Paul says about monetary policy and government spending, but his foreign policy ideas are too isolationist', he is almost there, maybe one day)
Well, don't feel alone. After all, the Brits just had their Ron Paul moment.
Coulda woulda shoulda .... just a matter of time till they wakie wakie rise and say "We're fucked, mate. Royally fucked."
A business with 150 employees that makes about a million a year in bottom line profit, would take about 50,000 years to catch up to Warren Buffet, assuming hes worth 50 billion dollars. I think hes probably worth more than that. And thats before taxes are paid. If you factor taxes into the equation at say 50%, it would take said business 100,000 years to make Uncle Warrens net worth.
Just to put things in perspective.
So, a small escort service?
It would be interesting to see how many trust they are listed as the beneficiary of and what those trust total assets are. "Own nothing and control everything"
anyone have a good factual source for this ? I'm researching...
Congress critters are expensive and you have to be rich enough to own a foundation so you can write the bribes off of your taxes....
bullshit. theyre suprisingly cheap....
Depends on how long you want to rent them....
Anyone still remember what the "other" name is for Donkey?
Hint: "Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on an ___".
Note that both clerical and secular Elite have been riding us for millenia. They've also seen and described us as Sheep. IOW, we are but beasts of burden and a means to an end to these Zi'Borgs.
Hedge and plan accordingly.
HEEE-HAWWW!
You beat me to it...
Yeah thats the depressing reality
"Taxation without Representation"; was a slogan in a campaign to capture the natural resources for the 1% of the time in the so-called, "American Revolution"; It's never existed for the last 200 years; get over it.
i still don't understand why progressive tax brackets aren't challenged on equal protection grounds. if person A has to fork over 40% of his hourly compensation, but person B only 5% (or worse, negative 20%), then those persons are being treated differently under the law based upon prior sucess/failure in commerce. that's why i don't think this disparate treatment should be framed in terms of total annual income but rather current, hourly liabilities. because let's say you're a doctor who's already earned $340K by june, and you decide to start delivering pizzas at $10 an hour. for every hour of labor that you're compensated for, the govt takes $4. but yet for every hour your co-worker puts in the govt takes only 50 cents.
"the US has become a kind of militarist-imperialist, rentier-socialist corporate-state with a relatively friendly (mass media-generated, infotainment-constructed), egalitarian face."
Wow. That's a lot of words to describe something as simple as theft.
You got money? Yes. You have the power to protect it? No. All right, then hand it over.
Everything but the gun and mask.
Cops have guns and masks, (face shields); just sayin'.
It's a fair point.
You could just call it the Fourth Reich; but that only works if your audience has actually studied history and knows what the nature of the Third Reich, was; and very, very, few have.
I don't qualify, but I geuss the .1% are enjoying the donkey show.
"While I was in the boat, I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral gave to me. When I had taken her to my cabin she was naked—as was their custom. I was filled with a desire to take my pleasure with her and attempted to satisfy my desire. She was unwilling, and so treated me with her nails that I wished I had never begun. But—to cut a long story short—I then took a piece of rope and whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, that you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores."
- Christopher Columbus, a very detailed account of rape found in a letter to a childhood friend
literotica.com
In order to get your legalized genocide, plunder and rape, you've got to serve the interest of 0.001%. And that's the lesson since the dawn of modernity.
BTW. Columbus' ship's sails carried the Cross of the Order of the Templar Knights of Malta. Ever notice his hand in his portrait, the famous (well, most folks have no idea) "M"? For Mary as in Magdalene? It is a symbol of her motherhood, her bearing of a son of Jesus.
Believe it or Not, Ripley!
Need a diversion form the news of the day.... ISIS claims attacks in Garland TX. Warthouse says lone gunman, no relevance to personal backgrounds or ISIS claims. DoD ups security at bases. U-fuking-kidding-me?
0.001% is always the ruling class, and that included nice folks from the Church then.
foreign relations.
Why can't the Fed just print tax receipts, it's proven that QE doesn't create inflation......they told us so.
......if it did the gold price would show it!
"Should government refrain from regulation (taxation), the worthlessness of the money becomes apparent and the fraud can no longer be concealed." ~ John Maynard Keynes, "Consequences of Peace."
"Tax Donkeys: Rich Enough To Pay Most Of The Taxes, Not Rich Enough To Buy Politicians"
What about small business owners?
You just conveniently forgot to mention that the upper middle class strips mines the middle class and the poor. The solution is- of course- to adapt the agenda of Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity and Peterson Institute taking points, that's, make the poor pay more taxes(make them stake-holders), cut all the social services and foremost cut the taxes for the rich.
"You just conveniently forgot to mention that the upper middle class strips mines the middle class and the poor."
Who are these people and what do they do? Did they build that?
Yep, as a single somewhat high earner, a few years ago I was paying a shitload in Fed and State taxes to pay for the middle (and lower) class, their kids, bailouts, and housing bailouts, etc... Heck, I still am by virtue of QE and low interest rates...
So, I drastically cut back on how much I worked a few years ago and am now paying much, much less.
It's funny because most bitch about the oligarchs and the welfare receipients, but all most need to do to find the true culprit is to look next door, or in their bathroom mirror...
The FSA gets representation without taxation. (even if they pay they didn't earn it to begin with)
This applies to the 50% dependency class as well as the upper 1% (+/- .99%) elite soul and money sucking elite class.
They get their bread(gmo and hfcs, dont need to live too long) and circusobamaphones. For now
It really is true, and it sucks. I'm not one to complain, but I'm a 24-year-old single male living in Manhattan. I have considerable student loan debt, and because my income is above $75,000 I no longer qualify for the student loan interest deduction. I have no deductions since I have no dependents, so I spend most of my income in rent, student loan payments, and taxes. I try to tuck away what I can into a savings account, and luckily the 401(k) is doing decently (until this market collapses of course). My friends always think I'm some cheap-o because they think since I make a decent sum of money that I should be willing to do more fun stuff, but I can't because I pay effectively 37% of every single biweekly paycheck in taxes (city, state, and federal, and once again before even getting to the student loans).
Saving and building some sort of nest egg has proven difficult, but I'm managing. I think there are more people like me out there than the public realizes, and like this post says we literally have no representation. Once again though, I am by no means complaining and I understand I took those loans and am responsible for them (nor do I want any sort of 'bailout' from the government). At the same time though...a tax cut would really be nice
Is it possible to move to an outer boroough, or would you lose too much prestige?
I actually did look at some places in Brooklyn, but it honestly wasn't that much cheaper. In terms of subway fare extrapolated across the entire year, it wasn't significant savings. Besides, I live in Manhattan not for the prestige but for the commuting convenience. I can walk to work, and the subway lines cross-borough are horrendously slow and unpredictable.
You either have ridicously low rent, or the only "outer borough" you looked in was Williamsburg.
Looked in Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Bensonhurst, and a bunch of different rentals along Flatbush Ave. I also looked at some parts of Queens. The added commute time and subway fare just didn't make it worth it. Instead, I have two roommates and live walking distance from work.
Point remains though, even if I found a place in an outer borough and even if I saved on rent as much as you apparently think I'd save - it wouldn't make a meaningful difference. The few hundred dollars of rental savings would simply be used to prepay my student loans, which I try to do already. The entire point of the post is that taxes and student loan payments have been large burdens. I think anyone living in New York kind of understands that rent is going to be an expense.
Pay off your student loan with a credit card, then default on the CC.
I take solace in knowing my student loan prepayments are pissing off some student loan-backed ABS servicer somewhere out there on Wall Street.
If you want a nest egg and if you want to get out of debt, sacrifices may have to be made (just don't kill any live animals).
Most of Brooklyn (and Queens too) that is within 3-4 stops of the city are just as expensive. I live on the edge of Prospect Heights and Park Slope near Barclay's Center and 2 bedroom rents are easily north of $3k/month.
Which is precisely why I am moving out of this godforsaken city once and for all. Gotta get out before martial law kicks in this summer...
you need to get your priorities straight. at your age, locking down some good pussy should be #1. preferrably one of good breeding stock who can cook and comes from money ;)
That is an even lower percent of the population than the people who control the country. Good breeding stock, comes from money and CAN COOK (you can dream, I'll give you that).
Yeah, all he needs is a child-support payment for the next twenty years, to complete the picture.
Dude I was single with no kids until I was 34. I had no loan debt thanks to the GI Bill, but I remember the first time I did taxes after being married and having a kid. Holy crap, single males that make any kind of money get butthole hammered.
I'm with you. $75K is spit in Manhatten. You need to pull that wage down in Baraboo, Wi. Then you'd be OK. Believe me, the pols know about you and others like you. Refer to the "royally fu_cked" comments elsewhere on this blog to see where you fit in. Good luck.
Tax Donkeys , debt slaves and military recruits! Look, our roles may be tough, but someone has to fill them! Our 1% are counting on us to work, pay taxes, go into debt to their banks and always spend our young adulthood in uniform. It's a role we were born to play, the chosen ones in Washington have to have people like us to make up the paying part of the pyramid.
Let CNN fill you in! By the way, here is Wolf Blitzer's MO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rahOWYNM4
The 1% tax donkeys do much more than pay taxes. They are the suckers that keep this thing together. I have said it before here and I will say it again. Be as disruptive and as uncooperative as possible at all levels.
Yep. They are dumber than the voters at the bottom. All they have to do to totally crush the government tax abuse is to walk into the payroll office, and instruct them to pay them minimum wage for the next 8 months. When they are asked why by our heroic mainstream reporter, and they can answer "We totally believe in every one being equal right now. You know, truly equal socialism. We have vountarily put ourselves where the government has always wanted things to be. We are doing our "fair share". Now we are all happily the same." Wouldn't that be a hoot?
But first make their accumulated assets invisible to the system. Because if they cannot tax income then they will back tax income in the form of asset taxes. They should then proceed to reduce their workforce to the bear minimum. Also never at every level possible, zero cooperation. Make the government and any of their representatives at every level sweat for the slightest litle bit of coopereation.
It's like you are reading my mind. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YU-cipsi4ok
Americans Living Abroad Set Record for Giving Up Citizenship
More Americans living outside the U.S. gave up their citizenship in the first quarter of 2015 than ever before, according to data released Thursday by the IRS.
The 1,335 expatriations topped the previous record by 18 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Those Americans are driven to turn in their passports in part because of laws that have expanded bank reporting and tax compliance requirements for expatriates.
The increase in early 2015 follows an annual record in 2014, when 3,415 Americans gave up their citizenship.
An estimated 6 million U.S. citizens are living abroad, and the U.S. is the only country within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside.
I used to be one of the tax donkeys. Got sick of giving it all back to .gov. 20 years and well over $1mln paid in taxes to this shit fucking system.
Now I'm a recipient of the government largesse and have never been happier. I get to spend time with my family and do more reading...
PS - Thank you to all the current tax donkeys for your generous support. My brand new EBT card wouldn't work without you.
If you had gotten an overseas job and put the withholding savings into an interest bearing numbered account in Swiss. Your would be far ahead .
BTW, IRS codes states you can make up to 90k a year TAX FREE if you work overseas. Did it for many years
I was a "Teenage Tax Donkey"
Even on ZH the Helots worship the constitution.
I've been anti-federalist since I was old enough to discern it's ramifications.
A bunch of slave owning lawyers in powdered wigs usurped imperial English power for their new aristocratic patrons and immediately cast more of a tax burden on the commoners.
Shay's rebellion/Whiskey rebellion.
Ok, sure, this is exactly how the society in the US (and pretty much everywhere else) is built. And your solution is...?
What are you talking about? According to OBombMe "The Poor" are those who make 5 mill or less, "The Middle Class" are those who make 20-999, preference given to those who killed a lot of people, because it makes bank to "The Rich" - The 10^9 and up.
Welcome to Fantasy Island. My name, my name heez... Assam Ben Mugabe.