By Joseph. J. Kusnell

published in Boomeryearbook.com

Types of Discrimination

I guess it’s time we asked ourselves a few questions. Everyone wants something from the federal government whether it be subsidies for agriculture, oil exploration, green fuels, the aged, the poor, the sick. Plus we need services like a military, like national roads, like national parks. And then we need a working government with employees and elected representatives and even, yes even a President who needs a paycheck. So where does the money come from to pay all these bills? Where does the government get the trillions of dollars that it needs to function?

Well, for starters, half of all Americans don’t pay any federal income taxes. None at all. Yes they pay FICA tax but that’s for the continuation of social security (which itself needs more money). We don’t count FICA withdrawals because that money has a specific purpose and is not SUPPOSED to go into the general fund.

So half of all Americans pay no taxes. That means the other half – along with businesses pay all the taxes and I am sure you all think that’s just fine. BUT – and there’s always a but – BUT if those businesses don’t make money, they go out of business and you have no place to work and so then what do you do?

It’s easy to say take the money from the wealthy, which is what Democrats always pretend they are going to do. That’s to fool the silly sap sucker sitting safely on his sofa. (I like that alliteration.)

But sadly, there aren’t enough wealthy to carry the load and besides they are the ones that create the jobs we all need to survive. And any of you who think the government can do that is kidding himself. Mostly when government sticks its hands into something, they screw it up. Why? Too many hands in government spoil the soup, as they say. The Federal government is just too big, too unwieldy, too wrapped in red tape to be efficient at anything it does. Plus there aren’t that many truly smart people in the world and most of them aren’t in Washington, D.C.

So we tax the rich and we tax them pretty good. Maybe we even adopt a ‘confiscatory income tax’ like we had back in the sixties and seventies. Back then, the top rate for income tax was 70% and before that 60%. Now I think it is 38%. So we can raise it. What that does is basically say you can only make so much money. After that, the government is taking most of it.

Now what’s important is the cutoff bar. How much is too much? Well, for sake of argument let’s say 50 million is the cutoff. That means once you make 50 million in a single year, anything over that amount gets taxed at the top rate, whatever it is. Let’s say it’s 70%.

So it would look like this:

Amount Earned Tax Amount Kept

50 M 38% 62% 31 MILLION

60 M 43% 57% 34 MILLION

80 M 50% 50% 40 MILLION

100 M 54% 46% 46 MILLION

200 M 62% 38% 76 MILLION

Now wealthy people will say “why should I earn more if the government is going to take it all?”

But that’s not what’s happening. What is happening is you are getting to keep 76 million dollars A YEAR for yourself and the rest is going back to help the country that is making it possible for you to earn all that money in the first place. The first fifty million is taxed at the normal rate (38%). Income over and above 50 million is taxed at the “confiscatory” rate of 70% but you are still getting to keep 30%of that extra money. So if you earn 500 million in a year (and who is worth that much money), you pay 38% on the first fifty million, and 70% on the remaining 450 million so you get to keep 76 million dollars every year, live with it.

The whole idea behind this confiscatory tax is to convince the people at the very top to use some of their profits to help their businesses. Why take it home if Uncle Sam is waiting there to take if from you. This should encourage a different approach to money on the part of the people that control it.

Okay, so we do that. Is that enough? No, it’s not. Taxing individuals is one thing, but corporations are another. Individuals only need so much money but corporations need all they can get so they can re-invest their money in their business and grow which means more employment. So we need special tax laws relating to corporations which let’s them re-invest profits without taxation as long as the re-investment is in America. We need to do this and we also need to encourage greater participation for labor in the future of the corporations for whom they work. Profit sharing is one way to do that.

Okay, so now we understand. Most working Americans don’t carry the tax load. It is not their tax money that supports our government, it’s is the money from the top earners that does that. Therefore, we don’t want our government to become the enemy of our top people. That would be plainly stupid and self-defeating. We want our government and our top earners to be partners. Partners but within a fair system that works for everyone.

The world belongs to everyone and everyone has the right to at least be sheltered and have food on the table. We only live one life and it shouldn’t be lived in misery if we can avoid it. Notwithstanding that, some of us will walk, some will drive cheap cars and some will drive luxury cars and that’s all fine. But the guy with the luxury car doesn’t need six of them. Nor does he need six houses, or six airplanes. He has no use for that many and if I am President, he isn’t going to have them.

Corporations are the lifeblood of our free Capitalistic society. I happen to think it is the best economic system in the world, far better than Socialism. But it still has to be monitored.

First, let’s talk about taxes. I want taxes on corporations to be cut in accordance with the number of American jobs they create as a part of their worldwide employment. That’s important. Tax rates will be set in accordance with how many Americans you employ as a percentage of your world wide employment. And if most of your money is being earned outside the country or by use of cheap foreign labor, you are going to pay at the top of the tax ladder. But if your money is earned in America or by products build in America and with American labor, then you are going to get a huge tax break to help you pay for that American labor. We all know American labor is more expensive than foreign labor so we are going to help YOU afford US.

But that’s for corporations. Small businesses, or mom-and-pop stores, are different. They may be taxed as individuals; hence, they would be subject to the ordinary tax rates and that includes the confiscatory provisions. We may not want that since we want them too, to expand their businesses and grow.

Therefore, I would delay taxation on profits of a small business (unincorporated) for eighteen months to allow an active owner/operator (active participation in the business) to find ways to re-invest this money tax free in this or another business. As long as the profit is reinvested in any business in America, that money would be tax-free.

I would also tighten up the tax laws as they relate to business expenses to wit: personal expense accounts over a certain amount would be considered income. I would not allow companies or corporations to use their taxable profits to buy luxuries, which are then placed at the disposal of executives. The use of these luxuries would be considered income. I would then place limits on the amount of money that can be used and deducted for things like naming ball parks, buying season boxes to ballparks or other expenditures of this type. If the corporation executives want to do that, let them do it with their own money, not the government’s.

And still, these moves won’t solve the problem. Because at the heart of the problem is excessive government spending. Congress is filled with jackasses that can’t see beyond their nose. They wouldn’t recognize a calamity if it came up and bit them in the butt. They are so confused they really don’t know that “pork” is supposed to be something you eat, not something you steal from taxpayers.

Now before we get too uppity about “pork-barrel legislation”, we need to understand not everything that is labeled “pork” really is “pork”. Some things congressmen and congresswomen slip into their bills are really good ideas. I remember someone brought up a heated tunnel in Alaska which ran from one part of a town to another. Democrats pointed that out as an example of Republican “pork”. Nice try, guys.

Alaska is bitterly cold. In cities like New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Washington D.C., where it also gets pretty cold, there are a lot of underground walkways and shops and all manner of things built to escape the cold weather above. Alaska is that, and more. It is utterly, bitterly cold so much that a heated shopper’s tunnel might be absolutely necessary for economic survival. Heck, they have them in Canada. So would this properly be called “pork”? I don’t think so.

But there are a lot of social programs that are favorites of one group or another and they find their way into otherwise serious legislation and that has to stop. At the very least, they should be brought up separately and included in a general “pork” bill so everyone can see them and take a look at them and then judge them on their merits. Things look better in the light of day so let’s shine a bright light on all of this type legislation and then live with the result.

Subsidies are another area that has to be looked at very carefully and non-politically. Government must find ways to reduce its costs. It must find ways to cut its spending. Not by a little, by a lot. Subsidies are a good place to start.

To begin with, let’s take a look at one of our biggest “sacred cows”, military spending. What happens when you attempt to cut military spending is this, the Pentagon immediately cuts some thing vital so they can say, ’see, we told you so’. They never cut the perks.

That’s because the Pentagon and its Military/Industrial Complex are living high on the hog and they will stop at NOTHING – not even murder – to protect all that money. And I am not exaggerating. We are talking about billions of dollars here and I don’t have to remind you of the number of people murdered for much, much less than a billion dollars.

I would levy the same exact charge at the Pharmaceutical Industry or NASA. They all involve billions of dollars and they aren’t giving that money up without a fight. Both are high on the government’s list of abusers.

Dwight David Eisenhower was a military man. He was Commander of the Army during WW II. He then became our President and served two terms in office. President Eisenhower was very much loved and respected by most Americans.

When President Eisenhower left office, he made a speech. It was one of the most important speeches ever given by an exiting president and it got publicity But not too much publicity and not for too long because certain powerful interests didn’t want it to be heard.

Ike, as he was called, warned the American people of what he called “the Military/Industrial Complex”, an unholy alliance that exists between the users of military equipment and the manufacturers of military equipment. Both of whom benefit richly from taxpayer dollars. “Ike” warned us to be wary of the connection between the two and his warning was honest and accurate. Money is power and a lot of money is a lot of power and the military gets a lot of money to spend. We need to look deeply and carefully into where that money is being spent, on what, and by whom. And then, is it really necessary. It would be my guess that a lot of that money is going down the drain.

Another governmental agency which has become fat, dumb, and happy is NASA. Yes, that’s right, NASA. NASA has become a self-fulfilling prophecy which is playing the greatest video game in the world – space exploration – at taxpayer expense. (See “Space Exploration – A Journey To Nowhere” on this site.)

NASA too should be looked at carefully. There may be a need to expand our knowledge into outer space but there is too much money being spent on projects like manned space travel that very likely, will never happen. My recommendation would be to continue exploring our solar system with unmanned robots, not with people, and I would also limit our explorations into deep space until there is actual scientific evidence to prove we will one day have the capability of exceeding light speed which is necessary for us to get there. Because if we can’t, and right now we certainly can’t, than any money spent on deep space is a waste when there is so much to do here on Earth to save our people and our planet.

Everyone in Washington has an agenda and usually that agenda has to do with money and usually it means money coming TO them FROM us rather than from them TO us. That includes NASA.

Don’t believe everything you hear. Always use this test to evaluate: if what you hear has as its desired result, YOU giving THEM money, be very cautious. If the desired result is them giving you money, run like hell. You are being scammed. Which you do think is more likely to occur?

So, government needs to cut back and not cut back vital services. Government needs to cut back perks, and waste, and graft and political paybacks. That’s what has to be cut back. Find the waste, find the excesses, find the graft and cut that. Find duplications of services and over-staffed departments and cut them. Find all those cozy little perks like the best medical health insurance in the world at taxpayer expense. That’s where to cut spending.

None of this is easy. Old habits are hard to break. Old bureaucrats are hard to dispossess. But it can be done if government puts its mind to it. Of course we are asking the fox to put up safeguards against foxes, so that might not work too well. Maybe what we need is an outside, independent agency to house clean our government. Don’t hold your breath.

Finally, there is this: politics. Right now, the average congressman or congresswoman (it doesn’t make any difference which), and the average Senator spend half of all his or her time raising money for their next election. Now think about that. You have a job and every day you take off at noon for the rest of the day, in order to look for a better job. Think you would get away with it? Me neither.

But that’s what they do. Our elected representatives, while being paid to do their job spend four hours a day, half of their time, raising money for their next political campaign. (See “Your Government Is For Sale To The Highest Bidder” on this site.)

They do it in a lot of different ways, but they do it. If they didn’t, where do you think they would get all that money they need to win re-election to those cushy jobs ”serving the public”?

Then, when they DO get the money, they OWE big time. The more they raise, the more (favors) they owe. It’s called ACCESS. The guy with the deepest pockets buys ACCESS to your congressman or congresswoman. YOU of course don’t have ACCESS because you don’t have lots of money. So, who then do you think your elected representative will listen to, you or him?

But it’s not their fault, it a systemic problem. We need to find another way to elect our representatives. So, let’s look at taxpayer funded national elections with lots of controls. And by the way, you can’t just have integrity and honesty for the other guy. YOUR guy has to have it too. It’s not all right to cheat and steal elections when your guy does it, but not when the other guy does it, it’s either okay or it isn’t. If you want honesty, if you want integrity, it starts with you.

JFK stole the presidential election with those 7:00 AM boxes of Democratic votes found in Chicago. That was a joke. People talk about Bush’s election in Florida but I have never seen any independent confirmation of anything illegal that was done there but if there was, then we condemn that too. We either have it or we don’t.

We need honest government. We also need open and honest elections. Do we have them? I doubt it. So what do we do? Well, a start would be to get the money out of the process. Obama just won the presidential election by spending more than half a billion dollars. Half a BILLION dollars on one election. And if you think that money came to him legally and from ordinary working people, I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska. Obama’s base consisted of college kids, working poor, and African Americans. They were a big part of it. Last I looked, these people weren’t loaded with cash. No, Obama’s money came, like Bill Clintons before him, from illegal sources, to wit: well funded groups, rich individuals, and foreign sources.

Politicians take the money no matter where it comes from – unless they get caught then they give it back. If we want honesty in government, we have to want it from both sides and all the time. Not just for the other guy and not just when we lose.

I believe we start fixing our government by getting the special-interest money out of the process, whether from groups or from individuals. Let the taxpayer pay for it and control who gets how much and how much they can spend and force everyone else out of the process. And that means everyone. No outside money and limited political messaging by anyone on behalf of any candidate. I would ban all such advertising the last 30 days of any national campaign. From that day on , let the candidates speak for the candidate. If politicians don’t have to kiss ass to get the money they need to get re-elected, maybe then they will be able to do the job for which they were elected. It’s not that complicated.

America is hurting and so is the world. But most of this crisis STARTED with democratic politicians putting themselves into a process about which they knew nothing – financing mortgages.

Bill Clinton with the rewriting of the CRA, ACORN with its dirty money, Senators Dodd and Schummer and Representative Barney Frank, all Democrats, along with Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson conspired to give “no-doc” mortgages to minorities that could never hope to replay them. (A “no-doc” loan means no down payments, no credit checks and no employment history check.) When the economy slowed up, when housing prices fell just a little, these millions of “social” mortgages began to fail and since they were the mortgages used to back “mortgage backed securities”, the investment community around the world which had purchased these securities, also began to fail. .

And why did this happen? Because Fannie Mae stood behind these minority sub-prime mortgages without ever telling investors that they had changed the mortgage guidelines making it easier for unqualified people to get mortgages. They never told the investors this and so the investors bought these loans and went down with them. All because of these minority “no docs”. Was greed involved? Certainly, greed is always involved. But the finger points directly at the cause and the people at the center are the people I named. They should all be investigated but they won’t be because they are Democrats in a Democratic Administration that owes its election to them. As I said, if you want honesty and integrity in government, it has to be for both sides, all the time. Where is the outcry over this fiasco? I don’t hear it.

The economies around the world are hurting. Imagine all this because of the uncontrolled actions of just a few Democratic politicians coupled with greed.

How sad is that.

Joey