By: Todd Smekens
BLOG – Very quietly, Congress has set the stage for another upward redistribution from the poor and elderly to the richest 1% and corporations (Donor Class). This is being done by cutting programs which benefit the poor and elderly and then passing along the savings to the richest Americans and corporations in the form of tax cuts. Our politicians are taking monies and programs away from the poorest Americans and giving the money to the world’s largest corporations and wealthiest citizens.
Obviously, the media is complicit in covering the theft under a smoke screen called a “balanced budget” and #RussiaGate. More ridiculous are the ads funded by the billionaires proclaiming this as a “major victory for the working class”. If anybody believes the corporations and billionaires who fund our corrupt two-party political system intend to cause themselves financial harm… ” a sucker is born every second of the day.”
Vox did a great job analyzing the hocus pocus with the budget cuts:
The agenda the resolution outlines is radical. The federal welfare state would be rolled back in just about every dimension, with health care programs particularly affected. All non-Medicare health programs would see a cut of $1.3 trillion, or nearly 30 percent, by 2027, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Medicare would be cut too, to the tune of $473 billion. There is $1 trillion over 10 years in mystery cuts to mandatory programs, cuts that would in practice almost certainly hurt programs for the poor.
Yes, Trump promised, “There will be no cuts in Medicare!”
He lied.
Congratulations to @SpeakerRyan, @GOPLeader, @SteveScalise and to the Republican Party on Budget passage yesterday. Now for biggest Tax Cuts
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017
We clearly see the losers of the budget cuts. Who benefits from the tax cuts? According to Barry Grey:
The plan, which would cost taxpayers some $5.8 trillion over the next ten years, would slash the corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent to 20 percent, eliminate the estate tax for multimillion-dollar inheritances, and slash rates for “repatriating” corporate profits held offshore.
These two measures present the outlook of the financial elite that dominates American society and controls both political parties: unlimited cash for the enrichment of the financial oligarchy and nothing to address the pressing social needs of the working population.
It’s Robin Hood in reverse – take from the poor and give to the rich. Once again, Trump and others, justify the theft under the auspices of “trickle-down economics” because it’s worked so well in the past forty years.
And yes, our “democratic presidents” have participated in the theft. Obama’s “Bank Stimulus” package was one of the worst offenders by giving over $13 trillion to fraudulent banksters. And who allowed the banks to commit fraud destroying the global economy? Bill Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall.
When you make life better for the richest Americans, guess what happens? Pretty much exactly as one might expect. Barry’s analysis is spot on:
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. (transfer of income)
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. (transfer of wealth)
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.
We haven’t experienced this rate of inequality since the early 1900’s Gilded Age. It caused mass upheaval within the working class ranks. Unions started forming to negotiate for and protect workers. In other words, there was opposition politically, socially and economically. Today, most unions are weak and leadership tainted. The existing Democratic Party represents Wall Street – not Main Street. Instead of fighting hard against oppression, the “party of the people” has joined the oppressors.
Yet, the CEO of Goldman Sachs cannot understand this concept:
At IMF in DC. Puzzling that politics everywhere are so difficult when world’s economies are (mostly) good and the world is (mostly) at peace
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) October 13, 2017
When you devise an economy which works great for the top 1% but forces the 99% to do without, you’re going to have political unrest. If you think our politicians in Washington demonstrate a disconnect with the American people, the Financial Oligarchy is clueless.
Andre Damon drove the point home recently:
The inability and unwillingness of the political system to address any of the underlying causes of the social crisis gripping the United States is the direct product of the stranglehold over American society by the financial oligarchy, which ensures that the first and last priority is the protection and expansion of its wealth.
