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Writer's pictureJacob Kravetz

Taxes Must Should Can Be Fair(er)

Unrepresentative Policy - Paying Fair Share of Taxes Benjamin Franklin once said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." While that may be true for most of us, Franklin had clearly never met the modern day global elite and corporations, who have, through relentless advocacy, trickery and bribery, managed to by-and-large avoid the latter of these damnable certitudes. To place an exclamation on this point, the NYT recently published an article highlighting the mind-boggling reality that the richest 0.1% of Americans now pay a smaller effective tax rate than every other income group in the country! Much of this regressive taxation is entirely legal in our captured political system, granted through repeated tax breaks and accounting loopholes. It should surprise no one, that recent revelations pertaining to Trump's tax returns, which he has ferociously fought to keep hidden, have revealed major inconsistencies in his filings, further bolstering the claims that Trump is a tax cheat who has never paid not just his fair share in taxes, but not even the paltry sums required under federal law. As political pundits breathlessly discuss the "political savvy" of advocating for increasing taxes on the uber-wealthy, it is good to take a step back and check with the American people on who they think is "paying their fair share" in taxes.

"As I read off some different groups, please tell me if you think they are paying their fair share in federal taxes, paying too much, or paying too little. How about ______?"

           Fair       Too Much     Too Little Lower income people:    33%        48%             17% Middle Income people:   48%        43%              7% Upper income people:    27%        9%                62% Corporations:                   23%        6%               69%

It's clear that the American people, have overwhelming figured out that the fix is in when it comes to paying taxes, and they are fed up with the situation! A full 62% of individuals thought that raising taxes on those making over a million dollars a year was "a good idea." Taxation is not the boogie man that many Republicans and corporate Democrats make it out to be, but it's no surprise that many in the country are angry at paying so much when the wealthy and corporate elite game the system, and pay so little. To restore faith in, and the function of, representative government, the wealthy to pay their fair share, and become contributing members of our society!

Unfortunately, politicians are overall either incapable or unwilling to stand up to these powerful forces without prodding from the people. If we are to bring democratic representation back to America, it will take a broad and enduring movement of people, demanding change and putting pressure on the powerful. Only through enduring socio-political-economic movements like DSOT can we hope to achieve our goals. Join us every Tuesday, in growing solidarity and power until we take back our democracy from amoral special interests, and greedy politicians: Don't Shop on Tuesdays!  ________________________________________________ Let friends and families, let them know about this growing movement, and how they can help us take back our democracy if they Don't Shop on Tuesdays!  Send their email address to boycottforourdemocracy@gmail.com

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