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Only
the little people pay taxes
by Political Irony
It has been over three years since
Warren Buffett pointed out that he pays a smaller percentage
of his income in taxes than his employees. His receptionist payed
almost twice the percentage
he pays, even though he doesn’t even take advantage of tax shelters
that are available to the rich.
It isn’t like the rich don’t appreciate this. Some of you may remember
Leona Helmsley, who was
prosecuted for fraud and tax evasion by then District Attorney Rudy
Giuliani. During her trial,
one of her maids famously quoted Helmsley as saying “We don’t pay
taxes. The little people do.”
So it is somewhat fitting that a study of the Helmsley Building shows
that the rich residents of
that building also pay a far smaller percentage of their income than
“the little people”. The residents
averaged over a million dollars in income in 2007, and yet they paid
less than 15% in federal taxes.
On the other hand, the workers in that building — janitors and security
guards — who earned on
average a paltry $30,000 dollars a year, paid as much as a quarter of
that in federal taxes. Can you
even survive in New York City on $23,000 a year?
And it isn’t just rich individuals that are making out like bandits.
Corporations are using tax loopholes to avoid paying any taxes at all.
For example, in 2009 Bank of America didn’t pay a single dollar in
federal income taxes,
while at the same time paying their top executives salaries as high as
$30 million. Another bank,
Citigroup, recently reported zero taxes owed for the third quarter of
2010.
And it isn’t just banks. Boeing hasn’t paid any federal taxes since
2008. Exxon-Mobil does pay
taxes but somehow manages using offshore subsidiaries in the Caribbean
to not pay any of them
in the US. That’s right, no US taxes, even though in 2009 they passed
Wal-mart in the Fortune 500
and paid their CEO over $29 million in salary. Likewise, General
Electric paid no federal taxes
in 2009, and neither did Wells Fargo.
So, given this situation, why was it so absolutely important to extend
Bush’s tax cuts for the rich?
We had those tax cuts for 10 years — did they help the economy? Did
they trickle down and
create new jobs? Is our economy booming like they promised us?
And now, we are being asked to believe that in order to balance our
budget, we have to
cut salaries for teachers and firefighters? Seriously? How stupid do
they think we are?
This is the direction our Democratic president is taking us.
Obama agreed with Bitch & Boner that the super-rich didn't have enough, and he's asking
the poor and the middle class to co-sign the loan with China so the rich can buy another
house and another yacht and another Lexus instead of paying their fair share of taxes.
The next time the Democratic National Committee calls for a donation, tell them to call the
super-rich, instead. After all, THEY are the ones being represented in Washington, not us.