Financial Terrorists Who Destroyed Our Economy Will Pay Zero in Taxes and Get $33 Billion in Refund

[Jefferson23]

April 18, 2010

Journalist David DeGraw has put together a devastating report detailing how Wall Street continues to pillage the economy with the government's help. "The staggering level of theft continues unabated," writes DeGraw. "Our future is going up in flames and our government isn’t even making the slightest effort to put out the fire. In fact, they are purposely pouring gasoline all over it." DeGraw's investigation is a follow up to his previous report The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America -- check that one out to get caught up. AlterNet will run in a series of articles based on DeGraw's investigation. Here is part one.

The first thing people need to understand is that the economic crash wasn’t a crash for the people who caused it. In fact, these financial terrorists are now doing better than ever. In a recent report, titled “Social Inequality in America: Widening Income Disparities,” more evidence of the unprecedented transfer of wealth was revealed:

“As of late 2009, the number of billionaires soared from 793 to 1,011, and their total fortunes from $2.4 trillion to $3.6 trillion…. Despite the crisis, the list of billionaires has grown by 218 people and their aggregate capital has expanded by 50%. This may seem paradoxical, but only at first glance. This result was predictable, if we recall how governments all over the world have dealt with the economic crisis.”

The inequality of wealth in the United States between the economic top 0.5% and the remaining 99.5% of the population is now at an all-time high. The economic top 1% of the population now controls a record 70% of all financial assets. The point here is that while the economic crisis has been devastating for 99% of America, the Wall Street elite are awash in record breaking profits. The most profitable firm in Wall Street history, Goldman Sachs, just had their most profitable quarter in their 140-year history and Wall Street firms issued an all-time record breaking amount in bonuses.


All of this is occurring after giving these firms $14 TRILLION in taxpayer support - that works out to be $46,662 of your hard-earned money. That’s $46,662 for every man, woman and child in this country. If you have a family of four, sorry, your future just got robbed and you and your children just lost $186,648!

remainder in full: http://www.alternet.org/story/146509/the_financial_terrorists_who_destroyed_our_economy_will_pay_zero_in_taxes_--_and_get_%2433_billion_in_refunds?page=entire

[lonestarnot]

1. We are fucked and America as we knew it is dead.

Over.

[Jefferson23]

2. We have to fight back, we don't have much choice..email your elected

reps with a link to this, and ask your local newspaper to print this story in their paper.

[lonestarnot]

3. I'll find the time for that after I find the cures for pneumonia, aging and liver disease.

:evilgrin: Onslaught of problems of late. Nothing we can't handle though us po folk used to dat! :hug: :pals:

[Jefferson23]

4. LOL

[Skittles]

6. those reps are bought and paid for by these financial giants

[Jefferson23]

8. I know, but we have a chance if we can get the press to call them out.

If we don't try, we have even less of a chance at meaningful reform.

[HillbillyBob]

7. The American dream has been dying since runnyraygun

at least for some of us who have struggled for 30 yrs, a little up then a crash down when the sorry low paying jobs that should have paid well. I was a heavy industrial electrician with speciality in controls was paid less than 9$ an hour then got screwed on overtime pay...and I started out as a trained Air Traffic Controller during raygun years. I worked 1 some times 2 part time jobs and did antique and furniture restoration on the side. I was not a poor money manager, just that every time I got some savings set aside there was always something like medical bills that ate it up.
I have been hiv poz since 82, and my health started to go downhill in the late 80s because bcbs took my premiums and did not pay they bills they were supposed to.

We have managed to hang on though. I know and understand what many are going through first hand. I have been homeless 3x. We have a home now because my partner and I found an abandoned house with some land that we bought cheap, made sure we got a fixed rate loan and within our budget 3 yrs ago. The place needs a lot of work, the roof has started to leak, but we are able to heat it. It is in the middle of what used to be a tobacco field and we can grow food. We planned it that way when we were looking for a place to live. We can keep the mortgage, car payments and the lights on. We are doing what we can to keep the bills down. It costs a lot less to live here than in town. It's quiet, with some land that we can hunt if need be. We got our Depression in 2002 so have had time to plan and figure out what we just have to have to get by, getting by is not always enough some times we need things that we just cannot afford. We want to get the house paid off, the taxes here are low and go off grid.

[inna]

5. K&R

Thank you for posting this.

[Bigmack]

9. The part that drives me crazy is the lack...

or apparent lack of interest most people show about this. Oh, the Teabaggers are angry.... lots of people are angry.... but it seems like people feel this is like the volcano eruption. Some kind of act of god. Uncontrollable. Helpless.

The media has done well. We're like the dogs in Seligman's "learned helplessness" experiments.