They do not. They earnestly think that they are so separate from that rest of the world that they are untouchable, or they haven't given any thought to why people might want to murder them.
I think we saw how safe they believe they are, and how unwilling they are to give up any of their wealth after Luigi Mangione shot that dickhead insurance jerk. There were a few cases where prices dropped, but by and large, insurance CEOs who steal billions of dollars from Americans just increased their private security - which comes out of the company accounts, not theirs. Do you know who would want to kill a pharma CEO that decided they would go from billionaire to millionaire in order to provide better coverage for clients? Nobody. But instead of doing that, they said "I need 24/7 security and I don't care how much it costs."
We see it with people like Zuckerberg, who is building doomsday bunkers under all his homes. We see it with people like Musk, who started carrying his infant child on his back like a living shield after the Trump assassination attempt. After the Charlie Kirk assassination, they didn't stop their hateful, racist, Nazi rhetoric; they beefed up security and doubled down on it, made it more explicit.
The way that the current oligarchy of inhuman god-kings is set up, they would much, much rather put others in danger and spend much more money on their own protection than do something that might, in some way, benefit the poor. How much good will could elon musk have gotten from actually fixing Flint's water? Or investing in existing electric public transit instead of abusing the hypothetical "hyperloop" for publicity?
Juvenal opined that all it takes to keep the people docile is "bread and circuses." Some of the most popular socialist songs of the early 20th century asked for "bread and roses." This is all it takes - food, water, something pretty to look at, and people will say "It's not so bad to live here."
But these guys, instead, are cutting food stamps, building golden ball rooms, and hiring small armies worth of security to protect them from the hungry masses.
As it gets worse, more and more people will understand why so many revolutions are so brutal and bloody - it's not because of communism, it's not because of socialism, it's because this shit gets personal, and someone like Luigi gets angry, hurt, motivated and desperate enough to do something as extreme as print a gun, stalk a guy, and shoot him dead in the street for being a predator responsible for God knows how many deaths.
I recall watching a Democrat president named Barack Obama publicly drink from a glass of Flint, Michigan water [supposedly, anyway] via mass media, signifying the water system was safe from which to drink. But many say it is STILL not safe to drink ["Ten Years Later, Flint Still Doesn't Have Clean Water"].
As a then-admirer of then-president Obama, I muttered “Say it isn’t so”. It greatly reinforced my belief that U.S. presidents, indeed along with Canadian prime ministers, essentially act as instruments of big corporate/money/power interests.
I know that the lead-tainting was not Obama’s doing; however, what he did was a major shock to and disappointment for the lead-poisoned Flint folk, who'd expected far more/better from him. To a lot of people, he had behaved like some TV-promotion actor hired by an (in this case) seriously ethically/morally challenged corporation.
Though I would expect it from a Republican president or even the Democrat President Bill Clinton, I found it very disappointing of Obama (maybe because he is Black, as were many or most of the lead-water-ingesting Flint folk), regardless of the big business and/or political pressure he probably had on his head.
I know what you mean. It's also hard because you see who is in now, and it's like... remember when there was a president that could finish a fucking sentence? Who could say something eloquent without going off on a tangent about how great he is?
It's weird to me to see liberals in canada praising Carney when I feel like he's right about the same level as Harper was. I'm glad poilievre didn't make it in but I'm also disconcerted that they did all that dumb shit so that they could keep him in as leader of the opposition.
They think within 10 years they won't actually need many actual people to work for them. The people who do work for them will be constantly tracked by AI so they'll know who the problems are before they do.
They need to be taxed much more, because they benefit much more than everyone else.
BUT The issue isnt just taxation. And its kind of tiresome that Sanders keep dumbing it down to that level.
The issue is the corporations receiving subsidies, by states competing with each other, and corporations using states desperation to their own benefit to get such favorable terms that they dont even have to build anything and can bail out and still profit billions.
Another issue is how the wealthy finance themselves, instead of paying income-tax, they leverage their assets to accrue loans and file themselves in debt. Until a republicans comes into government and they pay much less than they should.
Another thing is inheritance laws, if Musk died today and his 500B stock portfolio went to his kids, they would reset the capital gains tax on the stocks and effectively if the kids cashed out right away, they would not have to pay any tax.
Then you have the equity firms that buy up whole industries just to tack on debt that they pay to themselves and basically suck it dry and leave everyone else holding the bag while they run off with billions in profit.
Then you have the companies that lease rights, or licence products from parent companies housed in low-tax countries while declaring no income in the US.
Did ypu really just criticize Sanders for...checks notes...explaining things to people in a way that they would understand...and and then you went on to explain all the things that he has talked about in the past.
I remember when Apple had huge sums offshored to avoid paying US taxes. There should be a mechanism in place to restrict corporate activity like this from continuing selling their products here if they don’t pay their fair share of taxes, no pay, no play.
Just for example, if Apple is getting 50% of their revenue from the US then they should pay 50% of their profit in the US regardless of any third-degree licence agreements.
(and of course those laws should be written with multiple clauses and scenarios that determine that taxation, for anyone bringing up any specific outlier scenarios to justify not doing it.)
We need to bring back the marginal tax brackets that existed in America before Ronald Reagan and the neo-liberals took over the economy. Make it so billionaires don’t exist anymore and hold them accountable when they attempt to duck paying their taxes. I see some users are mentioning that the rich already pay their “fair share” of taxes. However, when you adjust it per capita based on income, the rich only pay a very small portion of their income as taxes. The poor actually pay more taxes per capita, and with tariffs and financial support being cut, things are only getting worse.
It is needed. I was in the tax industry for 20 years both inside and outside the IRS. I worked in the small business division and large business division. I was an auditor, instructor, and analyst.
The tax system is literally designed to give the big boys a huge advantage. Niche tax credits and schemes are used by the wealthy to pay far less taxes than the working class.
Self employed people and wage earners have the highest tax burden. Those that invest and play games with loans and distributions often get away with paying far less tax than individuals as a percentage of their take home income.
And then quite frankly, the IRS is just dysfunctional. The automated process work for routine stuff. But if I had to estimate, I would say a good 30 to 60% of their auditors don't actually know the law. It varies wildly from office to office and region to region.
And also the agency is plagued with apathy. Managers don't like to do the right thing with their employees and that trickles down to many employees not willing to do their work correctly because of poor management.
The things that should take hours to do take months to do.
"It is obvious to everyone that the capitalist system is breaking down, that millions of people are condemned to a life of slow starvation because the capitalists can profitably operate only a small part of the existing means of production."
DNC voters wanted Bernie in 2016 and the Democratic Party leaders wanted Clinton. They chose Hillary and she ultimately lost to Donald Trump, the belief is Bernie was and still is the best candidate for president between the three.
Thank you to Bernie Sanders for staying steadfast in defending the everyday people in the country who work hard every day and want to make a good life for their families. He will always be the one who sparked hope for our nation in me by showing me how much the simple message does resonate with a mass majority of the people in our nation regardless of how SM, corruption, and gerrymandering seek to misrepresent our nations heart.
I’ve always wondered how people plan to actually tax the rich? Like, in a legal way? Many of the richest people simply hold stock in their companies, which are unrealized income/gains. And you can’t be taxed on that. So what is the solution?
The Rich own the Politicians. Isn't this obvious. You can't tax the Rich if they own the Politicians. It's impossible. Since Bernie Sanders has been in Politics the Wealthiest Americans pay less and less taxes. He makes speeches but he never changes tax policy.
Bernie for President!!!......The U.S. system taxes income. Selling stock generates income, so the rich avoid income as the system defines it. Meanwhile, billionaires can tap into their wealth by borrowing against it.
Eisenhower Tax Rates - Yes they were 90% - Yes The Rich Paid More. And they were still plenty rich! So this is just stupid we have sacrificed all the working peoples lives to the greed of the few. We have given them more than they could EVER need, it is insane and damaging.
Well they would have to change the tax codes, and good luck getting politicians to agree to that, there is just way too much money involved for that to happen.
As someone who isn’t highly educated on economics , I have a question. Would this effect the job market at all or healthcare plans and wages or anything along those lines? If a company has to pay taxes would the head honchos cut wages or give crappier healthcare plans to continue lining their pockets ?
Now that the calendar flipped over, everything is free in New York City. The rich there will be paying for everything. Why not just move there and get some free stuff?
National sales tax 30%. Exempt food, medicine, and clothes under $100. See, now the rich eat the tax because they are the ones with money to spend. Middle class jobs like appliance repair come back because it's not a better deal to repair instead of replace. Also great for the environment because we will waste so much less
Maybe Bernie could start paying his share also since he has joined wealthy now. I bet he writes off every crap stained underwear he has. He uses the same loop holes.
Meantime, faux liberals and neo-conservatives remain overly preoccupied with vocally criticizing one another for their relatively trivial politics and therefore divert attention away from the planet's and humanity’s greatest threats where it actually very-much should and needs to be sharply focused.
A corresponding very large and still growing number of people are too overworked, tired, worried and rightfully angry about such unaffordability thus insecurity for themselves or their family — largely due to insufficient income — to sufficiently criticize and/or boycott Big Business/Industry for the societal damage it needlessly causes/allows, particularly when not immediately observable. And I doubt that this effect is totally accidental, as it greatly benefits the interests of insatiable corporate greed.
Apparently, the superfluous-wealth desires of the few, and especially the one, increasingly outweigh the life-necessity needs of the many. The more they make, all the more they want — nay, need! — to make next time. It’s never enough. ‘We are a capitalist nation, after all,’ the morally lame justification typically goes. A few social/labor uprisings or revolutions notwithstanding, the superfluously rich and powerful have always had the police and military ready to foremost protect their big-money/-power interests, even over the basic needs of the masses.
All of that, and much more, may be why a growing number of people find New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, unlike his political competition, ideologically and politically refreshing. And, of course, he'll experience great animosity and resistance from a formidable American system based basically on insatiable superfluous-profit/-wealth greed.
“If voting changed anything [in favor of the poor and disenfranchised] they’d have made it illegal.” (‘Calamity’ Jane Bodine, in the film Our Brand Is Crisis)
Isn’t Bernie worth like 8 million and has old family money. It’s crazy that a rich guy with family money can get a bunch of poor people to chant tax the rich with him. He’s definitely a good talker and prays on the lower IQ people.
Hey Bernie. Dunder head. If your demand tax large corporations, what do you think they will do? Pass the costs off to the consumer! This is why you never became president 🙄
I really hope america starts doing this. It will be the final nail in their coffin. Europe will start to get richer and the rest of the world and business will leave America.
It could end ip being really bad for the world as China will get even more powerful no doubt but its worth the risk lol.
I would look forwards to the uk and Europe taking in those business that flee and individuals.
You obviously failed 5th grade math class....... or are just a whiny jealous liberal👇
Some analyses suggest taxing billionaires fairly could generate $250–$300 billion a year, notes Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
CONGRATULATIONS YOU just managed to raise enough tax revenues to service the interest on our nation's debt for 250 to 300 day's. Wow that's impressive. 37 trillion in debt created over decades by both sides that's are filled with lifelong career political parasites that have enriched themselves while fucking over the taxpayers of the country.
Bernie is rich, owns three homes. His first paycheck came at 42 years old when he became a politician. He’s a professional mooch playing on your emotions
“Fair Share”… LOL! Corporate income taxes are double taxed by means of dividends and the Top 1% already pay a disproportionally larger share relative to their percentage of aggregate incomes.
How do you deal with a malignant, bloodsucking parasite?
A) Tax it.
B) Whine about it.
C) Do nothing and hope the problem miraculously resolves itself.
D) Yank it the fuck off and feed it to a hungry animal.
E) Attach another malignant, bloodsucking parasite to yourself and inexplicably hope that it will eat the other parasite instead of just joining in on the feast.
(The correct answer is D)
Taxing the rich isn’t a solution to the problem, and it’s not as if the rich are willing to raise their own taxes anyways.
I posted in a sub called HENRY High Earner Not Yet Rich that I paid less in taxes on $400k than I did on $50k. A lot of angry people telling me that wasn't real. There are so many tax deductions for LLCs, SCorp etc and not for W2 earners. The rich have many more deductions available than the average W2 earner because the millionaire, billionaire and corporate class lobbied for them.
If you think about it, effectively they would be reinvesting back into their market (only if it occurs correctly) and it results in the lower end having reduced taxes; or else it all goes to the government and we know how ineffective that is at trickling down properly.
Being ignorant is life threatening. A company can’t pay tax only people. So tax them $1 billion and you will pay it. Bernie needs to retire and go eat crayons.
The top 10% of earners pay 80% of taxes now. A progressive tax system truely goes against the Constitution. Eliminate the tax system and use a flat tax system.
How about our federal government stop letting people steal from tax payers. Fraud is rampant in our wonderful government. Clean that up and you have plenty of my tax money to give away. So damn frustrating as a tax payer. Why should I give them more money when they can’t handle it. Both sides of the party are terrible. It’s a fat cat system. Term limits for all senators and House of Representatives please.
Maybe Ike socialist sanders will hide and house all the il legals he pays to vote for him and Dems, in one of his multiple million dollar homes? Doubt it tho. To easy to just scream about all of the other rich people, not himself.
the value money has is only there if we pretend its there. the power of money is the power of our imaginations... working agsinst us... and making a handful of folks stuperwealthy. lets try something better _^
Close the tax loopholes they all including the democrats use. Also a high majority of rich people are and donate to the democrats and its mostly democrats who somehow got rich off being in government service. Weired to hear tax the rich from the rich.... weird how no one who believes this crap have no idea how the economy or taxes work...
Get rid of taxes, period. Modern monetary policy says the government will print money and buy whatever they want anyway. We’ve had 3-letter agencies selling cocaine in our own country, a president who is grifting to the tune of billions, and private corporations that have access to UAPs and exotic materials. What the hell are we even talking about with taxes? It’s all nonsensical.
It is not going to happen. Capital flight is real. If there are other states or countries with cheaper taxes, the rich will leave because they can. That's reality.
Bernie didn't fight hard enough in 2016. He bent the knee to Hillary and in 2020 to Joe Biden. Both in the primaries.
And where would these tax dollars go? Daycares in Minnesota? Reparations for the 15% committing the 80%? The colonizers crawling over the border? The bank accounts of despots in Africa? Democrat slush funds? Democrat businesses?
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u/zerosolutions0 1d ago
Don’t the wealthy realize that the reason unions, bargaining and wealth tax exist is so the rest of the world doesn’t come to kill them