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Thom Hartmann: Secrets the Rich don't Want You to Know

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thomhartmann Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 10:09 AM
Original message
Thom Hartmann: Secrets the Rich don't Want You to Know
 
Run time: 10:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71DYM20WRM
 
Posted on YouTube: April 15, 2011
By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT
Views on YouTube: 101
 
Posted on DU: April 15, 2011
By DU Member: thomhartmann
Views on DU: 2455
 
The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings
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TatonkaJames Donating Member (502 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 10:36 AM
Response to Original message
1. The Exclusive Club
The wealthy have this thing about who made how much and they'll continue their pursuit
of wealth until the day they die. And that's what I don't get. If I made over $300 Million in one year,
I'd retire to a nice small house with some acreage around me for privacy and enjoy my family and life.
Why would I want to work anymore ? Because money is their heroine, they're addicted to it and the
power that goes along. Nothing feels better to them than knowing they control peoples fate.
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tridim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 11:10 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. If money was like drug addiction shouldn't these people be in prison?
Seriously, they might need help. I don't even know if there help available for wealth addiction.

I wouldn't even mind if some of my tax dollars went to fund this type of program, because unlike drug addiction these wealth addicts are destroying the country.
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izquierdista Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 03:41 PM
Response to Reply #4
12. Drug addicts and wealth addicts
Oh, believe me, drug addicts cause plenty of damage. Meth addicts have labs that blow up, and they can create a superfund site in a hotel room cooking their soup. A meth addict can cause tens of thousands of dollars of damage to a house stripping the copper out of it so he can sell it at the recycle center for his next fix. But it takes the wealth addict to foreclose on a home, kicking the family out of it, before the meth addict can find a vacant house to vandalize.

I say we give each meth addict that is arrested the identity information of a wealth addict and let him have at it. Some tweakers I have known could clean out the Walton family and still be looking to support their habit!
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proReality Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 05:01 PM
Response to Reply #1
15. I've heard some of the filthy rich say
"The boy with the most toys is the winner." Guess that's why they don't enjoy family and a peaceful existence, they're too busy competing with each other. It's really a very sad existence, it's certainly not a real life. I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
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johnnyrocket Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 10:51 AM
Response to Original message
2. Fantastic, concise explaination of the scam...
...we've been victim to.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 11:01 AM
Response to Original message
3. All of these video reports -- and Thom Hartmann, of course --
Edited on Fri Apr-15-11 11:02 AM by defendandprotect
offer valuable information, but compared with other news don't get as much viewing --

Try to add TEXT -- not everone has 10 minutes to give to a video -

and/or it isn't always convenience to watch a video.

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Moostache Donating Member (905 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. ^^THAT is why the thugs win and the people suffer.
Can't be bothered to spend 10 fucking minutes to learn about who is holding the red hot poker that is being shoved up your ass and making you work 2 jobs for peanuts to live worse than your parents?

THAT is what the oligarchs and their henchmen WANT....they want you to remain ignorant and obedient.
Don't you dare take that time away from making THEM money you miserable serf...get back on that shovel you shiftless no-good....bale that cotton boy!

Put down the cell phone, stop sending text messages, skip a coffee or cigarette break or just ignore those "super-urgent-the-world-will-end-if-you-don't-reply-now" e-mails....the 10 minutes it takes to watch that video - which very succinctly describes the disaster of the last 30 years and its consequences - is probably less than it will take to do just about anything else you do...unless you are one of the Sheeple who have to vote for that all-important American Idol or catch a "very special episode" of whatever serial drama or sitcom is popular this week.

Watch the video.
Absorb the information.
Get the book(s) by David Cay Johnston and join the momentum to end this human tragedy.
We need you on our side and off the sidelines and out of master's fields...

Otherwise admit to yourself what you have become - a slave with a mentality that demands constant degradation and gives no value to your own inherent human dignity. These people at the top of the pyramid do not EARN or DESERVE what they have stolen by deception and graft. This is your money and my money and my kid's college money and your mother's medical care and my son's HS football team and your local fireman's pension. In short, its NOT theirs...its OURS and we need you to help us reach critical mass to take it back.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. Actually, I'm a huge fan of Hartmann and listen as often as possible ...
so you're jumping to a conclusion that only hurts your own cause --

People cannot always watch videos -- sometimes it's too late at night --

sometimes they simply don't have the time -- TEXT is easier and faster --

If the OP has TEXT, people get the message -- and presume that's what we all want -- right?

Want more people on your side? Then make sure there is an accompanying TEXT message people

can read quickly.


The Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC --

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414


If you knew this, why didn't you tell us?

If you didn't know -- pass it along -- !!

:)
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JDPriestly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 02:19 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. Thom Hartmann discussed the following chart:
Charts used by Thom Hartmann in a video on 04/14/11

Effect on economy, incomes and tax rates of “supply side economics”

Population segment in percentages
Income Growth 0-90% top .001% (not sure this is the correct percentage)
1950-1980 75% 80%
$13,222 $ 2,419,070

1980-2008 1% 403%
$ 303 $21,904,288

Taxes paid
Income Average Top 400 (average for them)
Income $26,000 $344,590,000
Taxes including
Income & payroll ($6,084) ($58,176,771)

Share of income
paid in tax 23% 16.9%

Poor people pay taxes other than income taxes – property, gas, FICA

These are facts that Republicans and their rich supporters don't want you to know.

Corporate Taxes
Corp. profits Tax Pd. Tax Rate

2000 $1,638.7 $249.9 15.2%

2008 $1,830.0 $230.1 12.6%
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Thank -- I've pretty much heard him go over that before -- state sales taxes here in NJ
are very high -- and they've moved it onto food products which didn't used to

happen -- not all of them -- but a lot more now!

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me b zola Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 04:14 PM
Response to Reply #6
13. many people don't have access to video
Really, if my BIL weren't living in my basement and giving me wi-fi for free, i wouldn't be able to watch video either. I understand where u are coming from, and you do have a point, but please understand that many people don't have access.
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Citizen Worker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 11:37 AM
Response to Original message
5. I can remember when republicans would vociferously argue that they were not the party of the rich.
Today, they wear it as a badge of honor. I also remember that many of the tax policy changes were made when democrats controlled both houses of congress and at times the white house. Both political parties share the blame for redistributing the nation's wealth from the working class to the oligarchy. Both political parties are hell bent on dismantling the last great working class institution, public education. Will someone please explain the difference between the two political parties?
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 01:40 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. If there are still any differences between the parties .... they are FADING FAST -- !!
The Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC --

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414


If you knew this, why didn't you tell us?

If you didn't know -- pass it along -- !!

:)
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WhoIsNumberNone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 02:28 PM
Response to Original message
10. .
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Grinchie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
14. There are those of us that have known this for a long time,
I am one of them because I actually took the time to learn how to do my own taxes after being taught by having a competent professional do my tax returns for several years. The $425.00 per return over 5 years for a total of $1,100 dollars was a great price for a REAL EDUCATION on how we are getting screwed by the Tax code.

While I do beilieve in taxes, the way it is implemented is designed in such a way that would suit Bernie Madoff due to the built in complexity of the tax code. What better way to pull the wool over the uneducated worker drones than by obfuscation and faux complexity which chases it's tail like a rabid dog.

I challenge anyone to take 1 hour and skim trough the Tax Code and see if you can make any sense of it. You will end up with a very good headache, I guarantee it. You will most likely become enraged when you stumble upon giveaways to major Corporations. It would take a lifetime to fully understand the Gobbledeegook that is presented as Tax Law, but by then, you would probably be looking for a way out of the system that forces you in through fear, subterfuge, and self preservation instead of reality.

For example, the only real reason anyone must file a return is simply to retrieve what was witheld from your wages over the year. If you find that the Governemnt owes you money back, and that sum is considerable enough to motivate you, then of course everyone will run, not walk to file their return. Of course, they don't realize that the return is a Legal document, subject to penalties of perjury and incarceration, and lets the Government see exactly how your money is being spent, how it is invested, grants a picture of your detailed holdings of assets and liabilities, all for a few measly scraps of paper called fiat money, which is printed out of thin air and based on nothing but more debt.

Nobody asks if the money witheld from your wages even exists in the first place! WHen a company generates a paycheck, from where do these supposed witholdings come from, and how are they transferred to the IRS? Most likely, it is packaged and sold as a Collaterallized Debt Obligation (CDO) against the US Goverment and sold to investors! It is also probable that the Corporations themselves are part and parcel of this mechanism, as it appears that they are given favorable terms in order to enforce the withholding feedback loop to condition the masses to file a return.

The trick on us is that when you work for a Company, they have built in a self reinforcing loop that augments the myth that you must file a tax return. It's true that you must file to get a return, but do you really think the Government will come after you to force you to take a refund if you choose not to file? They may, but it's highly unlikely, since the Government has a habit of not telling us where the money goes, and having the balls to announce Billions of dollars in misplaced funds. Whoops..

Years ago, I gave up on working for anyone but myself. I still play plenty of taxes every day. Taxes on fuels, roads, food, seed, tools, equipment, telecommunications, Property Tax. However, I pay myself in good food, clean water, flexible work hours, a comfortable debt free place to live and work, and have no need for the rat race which is designed as nothing more than a wealth transfer mechanism.

With the technology we have today, and the ability for Robots to manufacture just about anything we can desire, the general population should be basking in semi retirement and focusing on the Arts, Hobbies, Invention, Higher Education and things that they love. The economic models of the Industrial age are shifting to automation, yet the Oligarch are clinging to Industrial model for the masses, while at the same they dismantle it here in America and move it abroad. The American people, knowing no other way than praying at the altar of fiat money to provide happiness for them, are dazed and confused when the normal vehicles of obtaining moiney are scrapped, one by one until they realize there is nothing else.

Taxes are a good thing, but they need to be accountable to the wishes of the people that pay them, and not the Oligarchs that wipe their asses with toilet paper made from the skins of baby seals.

I refuse to re-enter the workforce while we spend inordinate amounts of money on the War machine, in order to defend the poisonous oil industry, while education and social services for the elderly and infirm are slashed.

The video just relates what any awakened person already knows, and I'm not surprised that the majority of the citizenry refuses to do a little research into the matter and verify it themselves.

When they do, I believe that we will truly see meaningful passive resistance to the WeSaySo Corporation of America.

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WhoIsNumberNone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-15-11 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. +1
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szatmar666 Donating Member (532 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-16-11 02:22 AM
Response to Original message
17. LOL! Didn't Obama just extend the Bush tax cuts?!
Edited on Sat Apr-16-11 02:22 AM by szatmar666
There is an ASTONISHING disconnect between words and action. Unlike Clinton's first term Obama conceded fiscal and monetary policy to the opposite side, first time in the history of the modern democratic party. This has NEVER happened before! Hartmann is dead wrong about Clinton and Obama: it's exactly the opposite. Clinton's 1st term seems like a progressive bonanza compared to Obama's. I don't have an opinion about the 2nd terms just yet since I believe Obama will not have one.
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