By now everyone has heard the Left’s call to raise taxes on the top 1% of income earners in the country. It’s a desperate attempt to rally their base by engaging in class warfare.
What follows is a view of the 1% that you won’t get from President Obama, the Occupiers or the mainstream media. This analysis is based on public 2010 income data, readily available at this link. Data for 2011 won’t be available until October of this year, but this information should suffice.
There are a little over 150M wage earners in the U.S., so 1% is represented by 1.5M workers. That means a person gets into the top 1% after earning $237K/year, not $250K/year. It’s also a fact that these workers pay about 37% of the federal tax revenue from wages. So let’s look at the various parts of government revenue ($2.162 Trillion collected in 2010) to see how much the 1% actually paid and how much MORE they can pay if it was forcibly taken as the President and Occupiers propose.
Here’s a graph taken from this link that will support the comments that follow the graph:
We can calculate the contribution of the 1% by taking 37% of the $899B representing individual income taxes (the large blue slice of the pie on the right). This works out to be $333B. We can also calculate the total taxable income of the top 1% by clicking the link above pointing to the 2010 income data and adding the income for all categories above $237K/year. I’ve already done this (but please check for yourself) and it amounts to $760B of income by the wealthiest Americans. So what does that tell us?
It says that the average combined tax rate on the 1% is just about 44% ( calculated as $333B/$760B ). However it says something much more. The federal deficit for 2010 was 1.29 TRILLION dollars! In other words, the federal government spent $1.29 trillion, or 60% more than the $2.162 trillion they collected in revenue. If President Obama and the Occupy movement hit the jackpot and took ALL the income of the top 1%, taxing them at 100% and leaving them with ZERO income for that year, the federal deficit for 2010 would still be 863 BILLION DOLLARS! (calculated as $1.29T minus the remaining $427B of income of the top 1% that wasn’t confiscated)
It’s also important to note from the graph that since it’s reasonable to assume the top 1% owns a large part of the corporations in the U.S., these individuals, through corporate profits, are paying roughly half of the Socials Security revenue (the large green slice of the pie on the left) and nearly all of the Corporate income tax revenue (the smaller red slice of the pie near the top). This amounts to another 600 BILLION dollars! In addition, one would also have to consider that directly or indirectly, the 1% contribute a hefty portion to the roughly $200B represented by the “Excise Tax” and “Other” categories (the remaining small slices of the pie at the top).
The bottom line is, if the President puts the 1% in the Socialist fantasy bracket of 100%, for which some may have the audacity to hope, the government would still run an $863B yearly deficit or 40% more than would be collected.
This demonstrates the fallacy and deception of President Obama’s class warfare strategy to gain re-election.
Please consider calling or writing your local Congressional Representative asking him or her to Co-Sponsor Congressman Rohrabacher’s “Superiority of Capitalism” resolution, H.RES.422. Details about the resolution and Congressional contact information can be found at this link
Michael Malgeri is the author of the “Johnny Profit” series of books that teach young people about the morality of Capitalism through simple fun fiction. By day he’s an Account Executive for Morphlabs.com, an exciting startup in the cloud computing industry. In his spare time he blogs and tweets about about political and family issues. Michael lives in Redondo Beach with his wife and their two children, whom he writes about in his weekly blog titled, “On Dad’s Watch.” His books can be found at www.kids4biz.com and he can be followed on Twitter @kids4biz
At the annual Sundance Film Festival, actor Robert Redford said these words:
“For years and years and years, you’ve all experienced what we had to live with, the fact that other countries are far more supportive of their artists than we are…”
Redford is wrong. A quick check of boxofficemojo.com reveals that total domestic gross for 598 movies on the charts was over 9.8 BILLION DOLLARS!
Redford goes on to say the following:
“…I think it’s just tragic that we don’t support our artists more than we do. And as long as we’re going to have that kind of thinking in Congress, we’re going to have to fight it.”
I believe what Robert Redford is getting at is that he wants our tax dollars to support artists whom movie directors, producers and movie goers have already rejected. He makes his point by dissing the film “Transformers” and taking a political swipe at Mitt Romney.
What Robert Redford doesn’t understand is that we’d all like to have someone support and nurture us while we discover and cultivate that special skill within us that might change the world for the better. But the time for that is during the school years. For every artist and musician incubating a masterpiece there’s a iPhone programming formulating the next killer app and a stay at home mom raising the next great business genius. Artists need to make the transition to adulthood just like everyone else.
Your profession does great work. There’s brilliance among your members. But no free rides Mr. Redford…no free rides.
When it comes to blowing past Liberals, Sean Hannity is first string. However, every now and then a star player turns in a stinker and recently Sean Hannity dropped the 5 yard end zone lob not once but THREE TIMES!
In the span of about 10 minutes Sean let Jerry Springer get away with the outrageous statement, to his multi-million member audience, that Capitalism could never achieve full employment because a Capitalist only wants to reduce employment and make profit. Not only were Sean’s responses anemic but on the last time he actually said, “I get it!”
Without even going into a theoretical retort to Springer’s lunacy, all Sean had to do was let reality speak for him. The countries and states, which historically practice the greatest degree of free market Capitalism kick the ever lovin’ economic **** out of those that practice Keynesianism and Socialism. If Sean also took into account a country’s level of freedom for its citizens and its record of human rights they would have carried Jerry out on a stretcher.
High profits, in a free market attract investment capital, spawn innovation and the net effect is to CREATE JOBS, while inevitably lowering prices and improving quality in any industry under consideration. Sean would only have to point to endless number of Internet companies popping up every day or to any of the great companies that built America during our industrial age to back up this theory with reality. What would Spring point to? Cuba?
Sean, I love ya man! I know you’ll get ‘em next time.
Oh, and by the way, if you really want to help promote the superiority of Capitalism, please take a look at Congressman Rohrabacher’s courageous and visionary bill, H.RES.422 which does just that. It’s in the official Congressional record and could use your help in encouraging Co-Sponsors to join Congressman Rohrabacher so the bill will be brought to the House floor for a vote. Let’s see which Representatives are willing to help create a long term program of positive awareness of Capitalism in our country and worldwide.
In March of 2009 the Dow Jones Average hit a low for the recent recession, having lost 53% of its value from its all time high 15 months earlier. In April 2009, a month following the stock market low, a bill was introduced “Honoring and saluting Hillerich & Bradsby Co. on the 125th anniversary of the Louisville Slugger” and which 102 Congressional Representatives Co-Sponsored. This is perfectly fine since most people love baseball and our national pastime has always been a haven during difficult times.
Fast forward to September 17th of 2011 when the Occupy movement kicked off its national Socialism tour. Ironically, if not sadly, it was Constitution day. The media jumped on the story, giving the Occupiers a semblance of validity they could not achieve by the goals they could not express in any cohesive form worthy of a “movement”.
About two weeks later, on October 5th, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA 46) had the vision and courage to Sponsor Congressional Resolution H.RES.422 titled, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the superiority of capitalism as an economic model“. Please click this link to read the full text of the bill and this link to contact your local Representative to encourage him or her to Co-Sponsor it.
In difficult times, Capitalism has always been this nation’s savior. It will be interesting to see how many Representatives step up to the plate to Co-Sponsor the bill and hit a home run for our country in 2012.
Follow me on Twitter @kids4biz Visit kids4biz.com , where Capitalism is cool and fiction teaches fact!
If the phrase “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were captured in a single word, that word would be Capitalism. Capitalism’s achievements so overwhelm its antithesis, Socialism, in both theory and practice, it’s unfathomable that Socialism exists as anything more than one of history’s regrettable flirtations. Yet today the fundamentally Socialist Occupy movement not only exists but maintains widespread support. Why?
Before responding, one should state the foundation on which a counter movement should be grounded. That foundation is best represented by House Resolution H.RES.422 titled, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the superiority of Capitalism as an economic model.”
The full text of the bill can be read at this link.
This resolution, submitted on October 5th of 2011 by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), lists in no uncertain terms what the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights achieved through Capitalism, and what must be done to preserve and perpetually build upon those achievements.
If this resolution makes it to the House floor and passes, it would be an official Congressional endorsement of Capitalism. It would be a powerful rebuttal to the “Occupy” movement, while not explicitly submitted for this purpose. It would lay the groundwork for debates, which thus far have largely been limited to schoolyard barbs between left and right.
This is a debate in which the left doesn’t want to engage. The mere thought of the right rallying with guilt-free pride around a CLEAR proclamation of the superiority of Capitalism is horrifying to those whose only only weapons are, class warfare, the unearned guilt of the right and gross fallacies of Capitalism.
Some will likely want to bury the existence of this resolution. Others would be wise to trumpet it.
Not long ago, I asked our 11 year old daughter, “When was the last time you had Career Day in school?”
“When I was in 3rd grade and you came to teach us about jobs using computers,” was her reply.
I’ve nothing but praise for our children’s public school and the education it’s provided her and our son. However along with being miffed at myself for not being proactive in promoting Career Day at school, I wondered why it wasn’t part of the regular curriculum. In fact, if one were to get back to basics, Career Day should be the 4th “R”, “Reading, “‘Riting”, “‘Rithmetic” and “ROLE”. It should be taught EVERY DAY! What good is 18 years of education (that’s pre-school, K-12 and four years of College), if a young person graduates and says, “OK, what happens now? How does the world work? What’s my ROLE in society?”
Current events tell us it doesn’t quite happen this way. What happens is that many young minds (not all), which should have been steered towards the pursuit of honest wealth and the admiration of honest achievement are driven towards the “Occupy” movement. Those that don’t occupy were never provided the intellectual ammo to offer up a coherent rebuttal with guilt-free pride. This needs to change.
There are many reasons why the Occupy movement exists. One of them is the missing “R” in our educational system.
Visit kids4biz.com, where Capitalism is Cool and fiction teaches fact.
My inner circle knows that coaxing me off the morning stairmaster can be treacherous. So it was with extreme annoyance that I hopped down in mid-workout when my wife sent the “child with volcanic strength” (our daughter) to say, “Mom says you have to come upstairs!”
I was a bit miffed when she said, “You got a text message” in response to my thunderous, “WHY!?”
So I marched up two flights thinking, “well, at least I’m still climbing stairs” and scooped up my iPhone to read, “He’s clean as a whistle!”
To my readers, this is obviously cryptic, but to me it meant my 81 year old Dad, who recently completed several months of intense chemotherapy in his battle against cancer, just got a clean bill of health from his recent PET scan!
I dropped the phone and said to my wife, “You stopped my workout for THAT!!!”
A fact more certain than my crassness, is that I’ll never stop being inspired by my parents. I remember the soft but indomitable voice of my mother this past summer saying, “Michael, your father has a lump on his chest.” Her strength kept me from collapsing, even from 3000 miles away. My Dad jumped on the phone, excited to talk about my family’s pending trip to Hawaii… and like he’s done for his soon to be 82 years, his unshakeable optimism went with him to the battlefield…and what a soldier he was.
To say “it was no contest” might sound like hyperbole, but the good doctors at Sloan Kettering, who were thrilled at his response to the treatment, asked my Dad for a few tubes of his blood for cancer research. They’re sure to discover the cells of stubbornness built from the DNA of determination.
I know I speak for my siblings, who lovingly and enthusiastically marshaled him through the appointments, treatments, and every scary moment, when I say to Dad and Mom, “You’ll always be our heroes. We love you!”
Please visit kids4biz.com, where “Capitalism is Cool” and fiction teaches fact.
Attempts to blame Capitalism for global economic disintegration in the face of massive debt and burdensome regulations by governments the world over has transcended injustice. Reality has rendered the assault intellectually untenable.
Things may change, however, by the vision and courage of Congressman Rohrabacher. On October 5th he submitted Congressional Resolution H.RES.422.IH
“Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the superiority of capitalism as an economic model.”
The strength of this resolution is not just in the list of facts, which it contains. It also lies in the unshakable conclusion one should make after reading it, which is that capitalism is the most MORAL economic model that civilization has ever known.
Humans, by their nature, are GOOD! They’re motivated by being good in the deepest moral sense of the word. They want to do what’s right for themselves and for others. In modern times, humans practice and achieve goodness through a productive and sustainable economy.
It should therefore come as no surprise that our economic frustrations can be tied to the last clause in the list of the resolution’s “senses”:
“Whereas capitalism has historically been and continues to be misunderstood:”
Public awareness of capitalism will provide the conceptual and moral foundation by which those who support capitalism can do so with righteous conviction.
Awareness will also help convince others who don’t support capitalism, due to their misconceptions, to reevaluate it as an economic model. They’ll discover that if they advocate individual freedom and the honest production of wealth, capitalism DOES indeed support their economic goals and moral foundations.
When awareness becomes widespread, free individuals who support the tenets of capitalism will RAPIDLY restore and preserve our country’s greatness and the world will be a better place.
Note: If you would like to help bring this resolution to the House floor for a vote, please contact the offices of Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor using the following contact information:
Speaker Boehner’s Washington D.C. office #: 202-225-6205 Speaker Boehner’s Legislative Director is Maura Kantakevich email: maura.kantakevich@mail.house.gov
Leader Cantor’s Washington D.C. office #: 202-225-2815 Leader Cantor’s Legislative Director is Michael Lowry email: michael.lowry@mail.house.gov
Also, whether Republican or Democrat, please contact your local Congressional representative and ask that he or she consider co-sponsoring the resolution with Congressman Rohrabacher.
You can find your Representatives phone # at this link.
“Cui Bono?” translated as “Who Benefits?”
I came across this phrase in a movie titled “A More Perfect Union”, which presents an historically accurate reenactment of the Constitutional Convention and its surrounding events.
During an early scene, John Adams argues for free trade between England and the U.S. with his British counterpart. The smug British politician replies, “Cui Bono”, which in a similar context in today’s times would be translated as, “go pound sand, it’s not in our interest and you guys are falling apart, so why should we?” He learns why at the end of the movie when John Adams returns and nearly womps him upside his head with the newly signed U.S. Constitution.
Recently, several copies of “A More Perfect Union”, along with other material, were donated to the Redondo Beach Unified School District (RBUSD) by the South Bay Tea Party to help the District teach Constitutional Concepts on September 17th, as required by law. The ranking members of the RBUSD already had the curriculum well under control, however they enthusiastically accepted, vetted and incorporated some of the material in their programs. They were also genuinely appreciative.
It was in this context that I contacted the Daily Breeze and recommended a story centered around the fact that the RBUSD was doing a wonderful job of spreading U.S. Constitutional concepts to the children of the school district.
The reporter chose to write this article.
I was saddened by his choice, but it may surprise you to know my concern was for him. He missed a wonderful opportunity to write a unifying, interesting and uplifting story. One of the RBUSD directors said that even though she was a Liberal Democrat, she was enthusiastic to work with the Tea Party to spread sound ideas, particularly those of the Constitution.
In addition, had the reporter watched just 15 minutes of the movie, he’d have learned an amazing historical fact. Had George Washington not attended the Convention, which he was stubbornly reluctant to attend, the United States would probably have been TOAST! No Google, no iPads, no “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
This was just one of the many epiphanies that could have been introduced to the community at large by a reporter with a positive sense of life and a pen that dances instead of bites. Unfortunately, the reporter chose to inject controversy to which I ask, “Cui Bono?”
The upside is, the children of the RBUSD, along with countless other kids in schools across the country, are learning Constitutional concepts thanks to dedicated school districts and patriotic citizens groups. To this I say, “we all benefit”.
Please visit Kids4biz where “Capitalism is Cool and Fiction Teaches Fact”.
Congressman Rob Andrews was a guest on Greta Van Susteren’s show this evening following the President’s latest jobs speech. He made a comment that our government’s decision making process is VERY SLOW. This is more profound than the Congressman knew or intended. If he understood the implications of his statement, he’d join the Tea Party.
Citizens world wide live in economic systems that require billions of PRECISE decisions to be made on a daily basis in real time and in most cases by experts. “Experts” vary depending on the context of the decision being made. Decisions range from CEOs deciding how to best allocate corporate research dollars to parents deciding on how best to allocate the family income. EACH decision requires special planning and is executed in its own context.
It is fundamentally IMPOSSIBLE that the BROAD, SLOWLY DECIDED economic policies invented by lawmakers worldwide (who are not experts in the billions of contexts affected by their policies) can do anything but lead an economy down the path toward destruction. The proof is evident with embarrassing clarity in the world’s economies. If voters come to understand this simple fact, they’ll elect lawmakers dedicated to free enterprise and all will be well again.
Please visit kids4biz.com for “Bedtime Stories about Capitalism”
