Tax "cuts" and the redistribution of wealth
Over the past half century the trend has been to transfer wealth from
lower and middle socio-economic layer to those in the upper strata.
Here are a couple of stories about the redistributive effects of the Bush
tax "cuts," one from Newsday on property tax hikes in New York,
another from The Seattle Times on the child tax credit that excludes
poor families.
"Tax Hikes All Over Map"
"Republicans forced to defend tax cut that skips some poor families"
For general information on how the U.S. increasingly resembles
a banana republic with vast disparities of wealth,
the data is here
at www.inequality.org
The interesting question, of course, is how the great mass of people
who are hurt by such policies remain passive as their standard of
living declines and the quality of life in their communities hits the skids.
Is the corporate/state propaganda machine that strong? Yes, for now.
Is the drug of war and flag waving patriotism enough to deflect people
from consulting their self-interest? Evidently.
Will any political leaders step forward who are brave enough to call
attention to this vast, ongoing swindle? We’ll see.
