THE BANKSTERS DESTROYED A TRILLION IN AMERICAN HOME EQUITY AND WERE REWARDED WITH NO-STRINGS, NO INTEREST LOANS TO BUY THEIR COMPETITORS. THEY’VE BEEN A CRIME WAVE SINCE.
Senate Votes To Nullify Rule Allowing Class Action Suits Against Banks
As the AP notes, the rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “exposed banks to large class-action lawsuits. Supporters say that possibility would help ensure banks, credit card companies and other lenders treat consumers appropriately. The vote comes months after House action and reflects the effort of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to undo regulations that the GOP argues harm the free market.”
"The Trump tax measure, however, will raise to a new level the plundering of society’s resources by the ruling class."
"Its provisions read like a Christmas wish list for the rich: slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, generating additional corporate revenues of $6.7 trillion by 2037; reducing the top personal income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent; abolishing the alternative minimum tax, which applies only to the wealthy; and slashing to 25 percent the rate at which business owners are taxed on money recorded as “pass through” income."
The American oligarchy
prepares a new tax windfall for the rich
25
October 2017
The drive to enact the most massive tax cut for the rich in US
history accelerated Tuesday as Donald Trump met behind closed doors with Senate
Republicans to finalize the plan.
The House of Representatives is set to approve Thursday the Senate
budget resolution passed last week, a parliamentary maneuver that will allow
the Republicans, under expedited rules, to pass the tax plan by a simple
majority in the Senate rather than a filibuster-proof three-fifths vote. The
actual proposal will be released on November 1, setting the stage for the final
push to secure passage by the end of the year.
Wall Street celebrated the stepped-up push for the plan with a
167-point surge in the Dow, bringing the index closer to 24,000. Since Trump
was elected last November, the Dow has risen by more than 25 percent. It has
quadrupled since 2009, thanks to the multitrillion-dollar bank bailout and
other handouts to the corporations and banks under Obama.
The Trump tax measure, however, will raise to a new level the
plundering of society’s resources by the ruling class.
Its provisions read like a Christmas wish list for the rich:
slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, generating additional
corporate revenues of $6.7 trillion by 2037; reducing the top personal income
tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent; abolishing the alternative minimum
tax, which applies only to the wealthy; and slashing to 25 percent the rate at
which business owners are taxed on money recorded as “pass through” income.
It also abolishes the estate tax, which affects those worth over
$5 million, just 0.02 percent of the population. This measure has long been
desired by the corporate oligarchy, allowing its members to pass on to their
children all the wealth accumulated through fraud and speculation, effectively
establishing a form of dynastic rule.
The top 1 percent will see their after-tax income rise by 8.5
percent if all these measures are adopted. The Center for Budget and Policy
Priorities estimates that half of the tax cuts will go to the top 1 percent of
households, those making more than $700,000 per year. Within this group, the
top 0.1 percent will receive 30 percent of the tax cuts, for an average cut of
$800,000 a year.
The bottom 90 percent of the population, the working class and
lower-middle class, will get little or nothing. A married couple with one child
that earns less than $24,850 a year will receive no tax cut, while a similar
family earning $48,700 will see a cut of just $180. At the same time, the
budget deficits produced by the tax cuts will be used by both parties to demand
massive cuts in social programs, including Social Security and Medicare.
As is to be expected, Trump and the Republicans are promoting the
plan with shameless lying, denying that their plan is designed to benefit the
rich and insisting it is aimed at cutting taxes for “hard-working Americans”
and creating jobs.
The Democrats, for their part, support a huge cut in corporate
taxes and are offering only token opposition to the other handouts to the rich.
Following the Republican meeting on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles
Schumer and other Democratic senators held a press conference. Schumer, the
senator from Wall Street, accused Trump of lying about the plan but said
nothing about corporate taxes. Other Democrats attacked the plan for being
fiscally irresponsible.
As always, the Republicans set the reactionary framework for
policy and the Democrats ensure that it is enacted virtually intact. The
Democrats’ main function is to disarm the working class by creating an illusory
smokescreen of democratic debate and opposition.
The Trump tax plan is the outcome of a decades-long social
counterrevolution that has produced a colossal transfer of wealth from the
working class to the rich and the super-rich, creating levels of social
inequality unseen since the 1920s and transforming the United States into an
oligarchy.
The Sixteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, granting Congress
the power to tax people’s income, was passed in 1913, as part of the
progressive movement’s efforts to rein in the robber barons. The estate tax was
enacted at the same time.
During the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration raised
the top rate from 25 percent to 63 percent as part of the New Deal reforms
aimed at heading off a socialist revolution. During World War II, the top rate
peaked at 94 percent. Over the next three decades, the top rate never fell
below 70 percent.
The first postwar reduction was carried out by John F. Kennedy,
but this was only a foretaste of what was to come, as the ruling class adopted
a policy of social counterrevolution under Ronald Reagan. The Democrats, who
controlled Congress, capitulated to Reagan in 1981 and slashed the top rate
from 70 percent first to 50 percent and then to 28 percent. This gradually rose
back to the current rate of 39.6 percent.
At the same time, taxes on capital gains from stock and bond
speculation were slashed to 25 percent as part of the inflation of the stock
market that has proceeded since the 1980s. Tax cuts for the wealthy have been
an essential part of the mechanism by which the stock market and other forms of
financial speculation have been used as the primary mechanism for wealth accumulation
by the financial aristocracy.
The consequences are clear. Since the 1980s, the share of national
income going to the top 1 percent has risen from 12 percent to 20 percent,
while that of the bottom 50 percent has fallen from 20 percent to 12 percent.
The most recent Survey of Consumer Finances from the US Federal
Reserve shows that the top 10 percent of Americans now own 77 percent of all
wealth. The top 1 percent owns 38.5 percent, an increase even since 2013. The
share of the bottom 90 percent has declined by more than two percentage points
to 22.9 percent.
The impact of these shifts in wealth and income on the conditions
of life of millions of people can be seen in myriad forms: declining life
expectancy, rising infant and maternal mortality, rampant drug addiction and a
rising suicide rate.
This growth of parasitism has coincided with the destruction of
large swathes of industry, the devastation of former industrial centers all
over the country, and the impoverishment of broad sections of the working
class. Now, with the Trump tax cut—authored by the Goldman Sachs alumni
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (net worth $500 million) and economic adviser
Gary Cohn (net worth $610 million)—a new level of enrichment of the oligarchy
is being launched that will make current levels of inequality seem quaint by
comparison.
The conditions are being created for a social upheaval. The
emerging working-class opposition must take up the demand for a massive
revision of tax policy to break the stranglehold of the financial oligarchy and
radically redistribute the wealth in favor of the working people. The top rate
for both personal income and corporate wealth must be raised once again to what
it was in the 1940s and 1950s, to end the theft of social resources and provide
for the social needs of the broad masses of people.
These are in themselves democratic demands. They cannot be
achieved, however, without a frontal assault on the source of the power of the
corporate and financial elite: its control of economic life, and with that, the
entire political system. The redistribution of wealth to the working class must
be connected to the fight for workers’ power, the transformation of the giant
corporations and banks into publicly owned utilities, and the socialist reorganization
of economic life.
Barry Grey
THE GOAL OF ALL BILLIONAIRES IS OPEN BORDERS, AMNESTY, NO WALL, NO E-VERIFY AND NO LEGAL NEED APPLY.... It's all about keeping wages depressed!
For the last few decades, regardless of the political party in control of American governance, mainstream America remained frustrated by a lack of representation. The more things changed, the more they remained the same. A year after the ...
October 25, 2017
An American Oligarchy vs. We the People
For the last few decades, regardless of the political party in control of American governance, mainstream America remained frustrated by a lack of representation. The more things changed, the more they remained the same. A year after the election of President Trump, we have yet to see a Republican Congress make good on its promise to repeal Obamacare and institute tax reform. The election of Donald Trump held hope for millions of Americans who believed they now had a voice in our halls of governance, but that voice is continuously trampled on as the puppet-masters behind the scenes succeed at stifling the will of the American people.
The greatness of America was a government for the people and by the people, but that ideal has been eroded in favor of a new American oligarchy led by billionaires such as George Soros, Tom Steyer, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg, to name a few. They are men of the left and unlike prior rich men in American history, they can now control our election process, both halls of Congress, our courts, our schools, the press, and media outlets. Yes, there are conservative billionaires, but they are not nearly as influential as today's globalists. It has been reported that 39% of the wealthiest donors back Democrats and that number will only increase with the new young card-carrying liberal titans from the Silicon Valley. After all, Google, Facebook and most Internet titans are fueled by government projects; thus, their interest lies with big government favored by Democrats.
Frustrated by the presidential election of Donald Trump, George Soros has doubled down and recently pledged to contribute $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations for an overall total of $32 billion. Contrary to its mission claim, "to built vibrant and tolerant democracies," Soros seeks to subvert and suppress the will of the people by using his billions to control America's agenda towards a One World Government without borders, and with him at the helm.
Beginning in 1994 with the defeat of Hillary Clinton's nationalized health care bill, Soros' groups and a few other leftist organizations began to bankroll front groups whose aim was to persuade Congress that Americans were clamoring for "campaign finance reform." In a ten year period, they spent $140 million dollars to promote it, and the result was the McCain-Feingold Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. The new law placed restrictions on political donations. It prevented citizen-activist groups and corporations from advertising on T.V. for 60 days prior to elections and 30 days prior to primaries while exempting media networks; thus, giving Democrats an automatic advantage since they enjoy the near universal support of America's leading media outlets.
As a result, a network of "527 Committees," named after code 527 of the IRS code, were set up, and unlike PACS, were not required to register with the FEC; nor were they bound by any legal limits to raise soft money. While steering clear of "express advocacy" as prohibited under the McCain-Feingold bill, they were permitted to steer their funds to issue-oriented ads, voter education initiatives, and get-out-the-vote drives to favor one party or candidate over another. By giving directly to independent groups rather than to the party itself, big ticket donors could influence campaign strategy and tactics more directly than they had previously. Thus, Soros gained control of an alternative network of soft money supply and power.....all absent prior to the passage of McCain-Feingold . In 2010, the Supreme Court overturned much of the McCain-Feingold Act, but kept in place the ban on soft money donations to political parties. This ban has permitted Soros to continue to use his billions to influence our election process and thwart the will of the people.
Another billionaire with a globalist agenda is Bill Gates who has used his millions to fund Planned Parenthood and U.N. agencies. He is responsible for the creation, implementation, and promotion of Common Core state standards, and he was pivotal in advancing Barack Obama's educational agenda. Aside from rewriting history with a biased curriculum in disfavor of Western Civilization, Common Core eliminated local school governance and placed it under the control of an ever-growing federal bureaucracy. As Karl Marx noted in his Communist Manifesto, "government-controlled schooling is essential to achieving the goals of Socialism." In that effort, texts and analysis are used to guide students thinking towards a predetermined outcome.
A free press is essential to a free society, but with the development of the Internet and the handful of leftist billionaires who now control it, conservatives are finding it difficult to get their message out without being threatened with sanctions and exclusion under the guise of "hate speech." Google and Apple control 98% of the market share in mobile phone operating systems; thus, they are erasing the First Amendment rights of conservatives on the information highway. Although they are private companies, the information highway is a public utility and as such all are entitled to equal access. Facebook is an important distributor of news and Mark Zuckerberg, its founder and a globalist, is notorious for muting conservatives while amplifying progressives. Along with Saudi Arabia, a state known for silencing free press and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has invested $300 million in Twitter, conservative Americans are at a loss as we watch our First Amendment rights guaranteed by our Constitution being eroded by American and foreign billionaires.
While the oligarchs have used their billions to influence both sides of the aisle within our halls of Congress, George Soros in particular has financed a $45 million scheme to reshape state supreme courts. His mission with the aid of state trial lawyers associations is to replace conservative rule of law judges with leftist men in black robes who will apply foreign law (Sharia) and theories into their decision making process. In effect, Soros is creating a judicial oligarchy as well as a judicial supremacy. The left now controls more than half the district courts and more then half the circuits. By placing nationwide injunctions against President Trump's executive orders, a handful of district lower court judges are illegally dictating our immigration policies reserved for Congress and the Executive Branch.
Then there is Tom Steyer, an environmentalist hedge fund billionaire from California who has spent $90 million to back Democratic candidates. Currently he has spent $10 million on a campaign to impeach our current president by running fraudulent television informercials calling for President Trump's impeachment. With an utter disregard and disrespect for the 64 million Americans who voted to elect President Trump, Steyer, the self-righteous globalist, knows better then working class Americans what is in their best interest; thus, he too uses his millions to erase our voice and right to self-governance.
Many Americans are waking up to the reality that American politics is no longer about Republicans and Democrats. Now more than ever, it is a war between the elite established American oligarchy and the American people. If Americans seek to regain control of self- governance, then the oligarchy whose allegiance is not to America, but to a global community governed by globalist billionaires, must have their power removed. We have fought for our self- preservation for over 200 years, and we are not about to quietly yield it over to a handful of globalists without a fight. It will take Americans from all walks of life to come together to oppose this un-American oligarchy and nothing will facilitate that more than the removal of a duly elected president.
Shari Goodman is an educator, activist, public speaker, and journalist.
|
|
|
Nearly 1.5 Million Fewer Americans on Food Stamps Under Trump
Nearly 1.5 million Americans dropped off the food stamp rolls since President Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics on food stamp enrollment.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation dropped to 41,203,721 as of July 2017, the most recent data available from the USDA, from 42,691,363 in January 2017 when Trump took office.
According to the latest data, SNAP enrollment decreased by 3.48 percent, or 1,487,642, since Donald Trump began his presidency.
From May to July alone, nearly 400,000 Americans got off of food stamps, and the trend shows that enrollment has been consistently falling every month of Trump’s presidency.
Here is the breakdown of how many people dropped off the food stamp rolls each month of 2017:
- January to February – 408,956
- February to March – 95,152
- March to April – 521,295
- April to May- 176,527
- May to June – 178,648
- June to July – 236,417
Enrollment continues to be at its lowest level in seven years, thanks to policies Trump implemented at the federal level and ongoing efforts from state legislatures to get people off welfare and back to work.
Trump’s 2018 budget proposal proposed cuts to SNAP and suggested that states match up to 20 percent of federal money allotted for the food stamp program.
The president also called for states to expand work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving food stamps if they have not already done so. Some federal lawmakers are crafting legislation to implement this policy nationwide, along with time limits on how long food stamp recipients can receive benefits.
Efforts by state lawmakers had also contributed to the decline in enrollment months before Trump took office, and the numbers show at the federal and state levels.
The number of people participating in the food stamp program declined by 4.9 percent from July 2016 to July 2017, and the amount of federal money the USDA spends on providing benefits to food stamp recipients also went down by five percent over the same period.
At the state level, food stamp enrollment is down in 42 out of 50 states, according to the USDA data showing the change in enrollment by state.
The nationwide decline can be attributed to efforts by individual states beginning in 2014, a year after the Obama administration made slight cuts to the food stamp program as House Republicans urged the administration to push for cuts to the program after enrollment swelled to record highs in 2013.
Maine led efforts to implement or reinstate work requirements to participate in the food stamp program that many states delayed putting in place because of the recession in 2014.
The one thing this continuing trend does not fully take into account is the effect the recent natural disasters in Florida and Texas had on enrollment. The USDA eased restrictions on what items victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could purchase, allowing those who received food stamps to purchase hot food items, which cannot usually be purchased with benefits.
The agency also allowed Texans who may have been affected by the storm to receive temporary benefits, which may cause an increase in food stamp enrollment in the state.
Although the USDA has not released their August or September data yet, the agency included a disclaimer at the bottom of their most recent data saying that it “may include disaster assistance” as a way to forecast a potential spike in enrollment.
WALL STREET TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: DIE YOUNG… your company pension dies with you!
OPIOID AND ALCOHOL ADDICTION KILLS OF MIDDLE AMERICA
SOARING POVERTY AND DRUG ADDICTION UNDER OBAMA
"These figures present a scathing indictment of the social order that prevails in America, the world’s wealthiest country, whose government proclaims itself to be the globe’s leading democracy. They are just one manifestation of the human toll taken by the vast and all-pervasive inequality and mass poverty.
AMERICA UNRAVELS:
Millions of children go hungry as the super- rich gorge themselves and ILLEGALS SUCK IN BILLIONS IN WELFARE!
"The top 10 percent of Americans now own roughly three-quarters of all household wealth."
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/08/america-unravels-millions-of-children.html
"While telling workers there is “not enough money” for wage increases, or to fund social programs, both parties hailed the recent construction of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford, a massive aircraft carrier that cost $13 billion to build, stuffing the pockets of numerous contractors and war profiteers."
TWITTER TRUMPER’S PROMISE TO DEMS & MEXICO: NO (real) WALL, NO E-VERIFY and NO ENFORCEMENT of DACA
WHILE THE SWAMP KEEPER TWITTER TRUMPER SERVES THE SUPER RICH…. The wall remains a joke on Legals and HUNDREDS OF STORES across America’s OPEN BORDERS are being shuttered by the hundreds!
No comments:
Post a Comment