Thanks for pointing out how America is a burgeoning plutocracy, but I would add that it’s also a corpocracy where the effective tax rates for corporations are also at record lows.

How about this: If you took the $14 trillion that the feds gave to corrupt banks and institutions and instead divided that $14 trillion between the 100 million US households, then each household would be sent a check for $140,000, which would have been used to revive the economy. Of course, the bottom up approach is not one that is considered rich friendly, so it isn’t used as it should be.

The is ample evidence to suggest that even in this financial crises, the rich continue to rake, while the middle class and poor are getting crushed under the weight of job loss, foreclosure, exploding healthcare costs and crushing debt.

Until we can see past partisan politics to see that no matter what party is in power they are beholden to the rich who write their campaign checks, the game will remain the same. It’s no longer that it takes a village, the rich now hum it takes a pillage.

Some of the super rich and rich did make money by offering goods and services that the market deem worthy, including BTW John Paulson’s shorting of the real estate market, who increased supply at the market peak thereby retarding the last stages of the bubble and had to buy back and cover his short positions at the market bottom thereby providing market stabilizing influence. In other words, his did not profit from people’s misery but helped mitigate it while making profit doing it. The misery was the result of all those politicians and banker friends who “helped” people into mortgages that the latter could not afford and bid up houses prices for fellow home buyers in the process.

Not sure why forcibly transferring wealth from people who had a clue about economics and have a track record of creating value to a bunch of losers (read: politicians and bureaucrats) who have a long track record of creating and condoning one bubble after another, one money losing Ponzi scam after another, one war after another, through the tax process, is make things any better.

Contrary to common misconception, taxation is not money taken from the rich and given to God. It’s simply a book keeping entry where by the relatively well-off are restrained from spending and creating new jobs, so as to reduce the inflationary effect of government borrowing-and-spending (the federal government has for decades not waited for money to come in before spending it). Based on the track record of how much money it takes the government to create a job, the society as a whole would be far better off to have the money left in the hands of the entreprenuers who would have to either spend it or save it, thereby promoting job growth either way, and cut back the politicians and bureaucrats instead!

We’re first for having the highest share of income taxes borne by the top 10%.

We’re second if you look at ratio of tax percentage to income percentage.

That’s ahead of Ireland, Italy, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, the Slovak Republic, Luxembouorg, Belgium, Austria, Jorean, Poland, Japan, Norway, France, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Switzerland.

At the bottom end, in 2007 43% of tax return filers had no liability or had a negative tax rate due to refundable credits.

Prior to 1913 America did not have a national income tax. The exemption for single people was $3000 ($64,302 in 2009 dollars) and married couples $4000 ($85,736). Up to $20,000 in earnings ($428,684) were taxed at 1%. People earning over $500,000 ($10,717,121) paid the astronomical top tax rate of 7%. Only 1 in 271 Americans were subject to any tax under this scheme.

Social Security was introduced in 1935 with a rate of 1% on the first $3000 ($64,302 in 2006 dollars) and no employer match.