3 to 4 decades ago the nominal tax rate for business was around 70%, mighty high you might say. But it was realized by the capitalist class that if they wanted social harmony between the classes then certain concessions had be provided for the working classes such as free universal health care, education and a good welfare system to ensure them a reasonable standard of living. The capitalist class were still very wealthy as they extracted surplus value (profits) from each and every waged labourer.
The advent Globalization and the subsequent deregulation of business created an environment that pitched one country against the other to provide the best possible conditions to attract the vast sums of capital controlled by the world's multinationals. This meant providing huge tax incentives while attacking the wages and conditions of the working-class. A recent study by the US government found that even though the tax rate is now 35% for business that because of further tax concessions made by the Bush administration, 66% of business pays little or no tax! This has now resulted in the US being the wealthiest but the most polarized nation in the world. The richest 1% of the population owns as much as the bottom 90%. It's not a simple matter of the rich taking care of everyone else. The working-class, the vast majority of humanity and the producers of ALL value, are entitled to a decent standard of living. If the rich want to hoard their obscene wealth the consequences will be civil unrest unseen since Vietnam. You can't impoverish the workers, send them to die in imperialist wars of conquest and then reward Wall St Bankers for swindling the American workers by then rewarding them with hundreds of billions of tax payer’s money and then put the burden of their malfeasance on the back of the workers and expect them to eat it. They won't. And I am counting on just that, with much optimism for real change, not Obama’s small change On Oct 12, 6:01 pm, rigsy03 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This writer forgot about welfare, food stamps, free meals at schools > and hundreds of other programs. > > On Oct 11, 11:10 pm, "M.A. Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > We're all socialists nowby Paul Mulshine > > October 11, 2008 1:43PM > > I've noticed lately that a lot of people seem to have discovered that > > Barack Obama is a socialist. > > There's a lot of that going around. > > Socialism, I mean. > > The only politician that I know of on the national scene who is definitely > > not a socialist is Texas congressman Ron Paul. And look where that got him. > > During the presidential primary campaign Paul was treated as a > > laughingstock by his fellow Republicans for such stances as his call for > > young people to be permitted to opt out of Social Security. > > Paul's having the last laugh these days. As you can see inthis clip, the > > entire U.S. economy is now socialist thanks to the big corporate bailout, > > says Dr. Paul. > > And then there is the unpleasant fact that every senior citizen in America > > is what my Aussie friends used to call "a dole bludger," someone who takes > > welfare without working. > > One such apparent dole bludgerheld forthat a recent McCain rally in > > Wisconsin. The old codger worked himself up into a frenzy that even the > > hot-tempered McCain might envy, screaming "I'm mad, I'm really mad!" and > > then shouting, "And what's going to surprise ya, is it's not the economy, > > it's the socialists taking over our country." > > The old coot made it clear that the hated socialists are the Democrats. But > > assuming he was over 65, which he certainly appeared to be, the guy is > > receiving the benefit of at least two socialist programs. One, of course, > > is Social Security. There's a reason they called it "social" security and > > not Capitalist Security. It's a welfare program and the current codgers are > > getting a free ride paid for by working Americans. True, they paid into it, > > but anyone who lives a normal life span will get out a lot more than he or > > she put in. > > And then there's Medicare. The current crop of seniors paid a pittance into > > it during their working years, but they now have the benefit of a system of > > socialized medicine till the day they die. > > Does this guy really want McCain to fight socialism in America? > > Imagine McCain told this guy he was absolutely right and as of January > > President McCain would end Social Security and Medicare and pay back to > > senior citizens the amount they paid in, with interest. By February, this > > geezer would be at a rally demanding to have his Medicare coverage restored. > > The truth is, Americans love socialism. They'd better. This is a socialist > > country. Here's an interestingarticlethat compares our government-funded > > health care systems, primarily Medicare and Medicaid, with other countries: > > "The average rich-country government spends 6.7 percent of GDP on health; > > America's 6.8 percent is very slightly higher. The national health systems > > of Canada and Britain cost about 6.9 percent of GDP, and that of Australia > > 6.4 percent. Germany's government spends the most on health care at 8.9 > > percent of GDP, followed by Norway, Sweden, France, and Denmark." > > The big difference, of course, is that in most of those countries the > > socialized system covers everyone, while our socialized system covers just > > the poor and the elderly. Oh yeah, don't let me forget government workers. > > They have a system of guaranteed benefits and early retirement that the > > typical Brit or Swede would envy. > > So our system is socialism. It's just an inept form of socialism. And it's > > also an unsupportable form. The baby-boomer retirement was going to > > bankrupt us even before the recent market meltdown. Now we could be on the > > verge of a slide into Third-World status. I've been to countries where you > > need to carry a backpack just for the bills needed to buy a beer. It's not > > a pretty sight. > > The only way to prevent that would be to take the harsh medicine that Dr. > > Paul offered us during the primary season. But not a lot of Americans want > > that prescription, and I suspect the old crank in this video would be among > > the last to down a dose of it. > > NOTE: Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute just sent me a link tothis > > paperin which he argues that Obama's plan is socialized medicine, as is > > Medicare. He doesn't deal with McCain's plan, but it is slightly less > > socialist than > > Obama's.http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2008/10/were_all_socialists_now....- > > Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
