FUCK THE 1-PERCENTERS!!

[Orwellian_Ghost]

1-Percenters Launch Attack On Health Care

Written by David Sirota

Here's a truism: The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good.

According to government figures, 1-percenters' share of America's total income is the highest it has been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they've faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms.

And, most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations. But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age, is the unprecedented protection the 1-percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues.

To review: With 22,000 Americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, Congress is considering universal health care legislation financed by a surcharge on income above $280,000 — that is, a levy almost exclusively on 1-percenters. This surtax would graze just 5 percent of small businesses and would recoup only part of the $700 billion the 1-percenters received from the Bush tax cuts.

In fact, it is so minuscule, those making $1 million annually would pay just $9,000 more in taxes every year — or nine-tenths of 1 percent of their 12-month haul.

<snip>

http://www.australia.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12880:1-percenters-launch-attack-on-health-care&catid=71:world-news&Itemid=201

[RagAss]

1. It's not like the rest of us ever did anything to make them feel uncomfortable.

[Cresent City Kid]

2. I think the 1%'ers are special

So special, they should have their own tax bracket, say 40-45%?

[rurallib]

6. or maybe @90% like the old days of Eisenhower.

[RoccoR5955]

7. I'll go with that one, I'll even go one step further.

I say that there should be a maximum amount of income from all sources that anyone can make. Anything over that amount is taxed 100%.

[CLANG]

20. I don't think they should go above 50%. So I say 50%!!!

[Cresent City Kid]

22. 50% with a twist

Tax all money received, dividends, capital gains, interest, cash inheritences, or whatever as income at the full rate, no matter what or where it's kept (like Swiss bank accounts).

[CLANG]

24. I thought that was a given. If I'm wrong then thank you for pointing it out!

[Cresent City Kid]

26. That's my understanding

Capital gains are taxed at 15%, I'm not sure about the rest, other than that they're less than the top rate for income.

[CLANG]

27. Capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as income, which

is graduated by the ability to pay (the amount of money you make).

[FrenchieCat]

3. I agree with that! FUCK THE 1 PERCENTERS IS RIGHT!

[jdlh8894]

4. Is this a bitch about

the US or AU ?

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Fuck them. They've been fucking us for decades.

Three step solution...

1) Eliminate all tax loopholes, and offshore money hiding.

2) Roll back tax rates to the Eisenhower Era.

3) 100% estate tax on any unearned wealth. Put an end to legacy billionaires now.

The money raised from these three things would fund health care for the entire fucking planet, let alone the US. But maybe we can use the left overs (especially that reclaimed from oil criminals) for building a national high speed rail system.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Absolutely right! nt

[opihimoimoi]

8. YUP...their job is to stay at 1 %...by any n all means

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. I agree with you - f*** the 1 percenters

They're a drain on the U.S.

[CLANG]

28. And it's virtually guaranteed that the fatcat wall street robberbarons

are in that 1%. So I say FUCK EM ALL!!

[Big_Mike]

11. Uh, agree with the sentiment, but in fairness, disagree with the math

I agree that those who earn more, pay more.

But the facts are 1% for those at $280,000 - $499,999

1.5% for $500,000 to $999,999.

And 5% for $1M or greater.

5% of $1,000,000 is $50,000.

for a yearly tax bite of $540,000

[bridgit]

12. $9,000? That's like a blood diamond tennis bracelet and a bottle of cognac in Cortina for a week...

That's really going to piss them off but yeah fuck them

[maryf]

13. K&R

there's something about taking .01 percent off every dollar transaction on the stock exchange to help the nys budget. I think that's the amount of a dime off every hundred dollars, but it sure would add up, be good for health care cost too. I may be totally off with the amount, could be .1, but you get the idea...

[glinda]

14. The wealthiest 1% has all our money.

[midnight]

15. Those making a million dollars a year live an expensive life.

[PA Democrat]

16. Flipping through channels, I came across My Super Sweet 16.

Any parent who buys their daughter a $100,000 watch, a $125,00 customized 6 door Hummer, and then throws a huge party complete with an $85,000 appearance by Yung Joc is not paying enough in taxes.

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/sweet_16/episode/episode.jhtml?episodeId=115442#bio

People expect Katie to have a big performer, so she goes to the studio to meet with Yung Joc. At his studio, she asks Yung Joc to perform, but his performances run $85,000 a show. Yung Joc challenges Katie to rap about her party. She not only raps well, but breaks down the 'walk it out' hip-hop dance. Yung Joc's impressed and agrees to perform at Katie's party.


Katie's parents buy her a 6-door customized Hummer because it's really safe. She wants it bullet-proof because "We live in Memphis, Tennessee," she laughs. Katie's in love with the car but wants to customize it with pink washer fluid, a customized horn and chandeliers so that when her friends see it, it's pimped out. Stacked with two televisions and a mini-bar, it's the only 6-door Hummer, and it costs $125,000.


Katie makes her boyfriend Josh compete in a bowling game to be her escort against a cute guy she likes, Michael. Although Michael loses in a series of contests against Josh, Katie selects him "because he's goofy and hilarious." After Katie picks Michael, Josh feels like a fool for coming out to the bowling alley. Katie says he'll have to get over it.


On the day of her birthday, Katie's parents surprise her with a $100K watch from Jacob the Jeweler. She asks, "Is this water-proof? So take it off before I get in the shower?"

[conspirator]

21. That show actually makes me throw up nt

[progressoid]

23. I watched about 5 minutes and was depressed for weeks.

Ok, that's a slight bit of exageration. But only slightly.

[HamdenRice]

17. "$23 trillion in bailout" -- huh? That number has been debunked over and over

Throwing it out detracts from the credibility of the rest of the argument. Even the guy who threw out that number in congressional testimony told the NY Times the next day that it was a bogus number.

[invictus]

18. K&R

[erasmia]

19. Strict law will improve the whole situation

[robertpaulsen]

25. Fuck that evil One Percent and fuck the other evil One Percent: Cheney's Doctrine.

Summary

The One Percent doctrine (also called the Cheney doctrine) was created in November 2001 (no exact date is given) during a briefing given by then-CIA Director George Tenet and an un-named briefer to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in response to worries that a Pakistani scientist was offering nuclear weapons expertise to Al Qaeda after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack. Responding to the thought that Al Qaeda might want to acquire a nuclear weapon, Cheney observed that the U.S. had to confront a new type of threat, a "low-probability, high-impact event" as he described it.

Suskind makes a distinction between two groups engaged in the fight against terrorism: "the notables", those who talk to us about the threat of terrorism (Bush, Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, et al.), and "the invisibles", those who are fighting terrorists (the CIA analysts, the FBI agents and all the other foot soldiers).<3><4>

The book advances the theory that Abu Zubaydah, a "top operative plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States" as Bush described him, was an insignificant figure.<5>

According to the book, Osama bin Laden apparently wanted Bush reelected in 2004, and therefore issued a video message which, in the U.S. media, was described as “Osama’s endorsement of John Kerry.” Why he wanted Bush in office remains unknown. In the book, unnamed CIA analysts speculate that this can be attributed to the view that the controversial policies Bush advocated would help recruit Jihadists and would cause the image of the United States to decline globally due to aggressive foreign policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_One_Percent_Doctrine


Whatever happened to clear and present danger?

Whatever happened to the notion that we are all created equal?

This deification of One Percent in our culture will be the death of our country, either through the reckless foreign policy expressed through Cheney's One Percent Doctrine, or through the reckless greed of the One Percent who see health care as a privelege of class rather than a right every living human deserves.