I haven’t been writing much lately, but I’m still reading book after book – and, the results are pretty much always the same.  The American political system is corrupted to the core with the republican party being the worst offenders, but the democrats – over the course of time – having their share of culpability.  I think that was a big part of the message initiated by the “Occupy” movement, that those of us in the “99%” aren’t happy with either party.  As I’ve said many times on this site, I’m personally tired of voting for the best of two poor options (I’ve been voting since 1968) – but, I have to add that presently the republican choice is so unpalatable to me that I will either vote democratic in 2012, or – in the case of an election with an unacceptable democratic candidate (like, for example, a “blue dog” democrat) I’ll write someone in.  Locally, I have good senators to support (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell) and I’m praying that our “tea party” republican representative gets a viable opponent so she can be voted out of office.  My local state representative is a republican and he is the only politician who ever responds in writing to my queries (which I admire), but I just will not be able to vote for anyone who can’t publicly repudiate the despicable position of the present day republican party.

The latest book I’ve finished is titled “Perfectly Legal” written by David Cay Johnston and it does a great job of educating the reader on how America’s tax system has been tilted HEAVILY in favor of the “1%” the Occupy protestors are railing against at the expense of the “99%” they are supporting.  Honestly, that’s what makes it so hard for me to watch television accounts of the movement as police officers (clearly members of the “99%” the protestors are supporting) initiate violence against young PATRIOTS who remind me of myself and others back in the sixties when we got fed up with government lies regarding Viet Nam along with the realities of racism, sexism, etc. which led to the Civil Rights movement.  I’ve become old and “wobbly” so joining the “movement” hasn’t seemed appropriate to me (aside from a spiritual bond with the protestors) but I believe the “occupy” movement will be a turning point in the history books years from now as people look back on this era where the “robber barons” are attempting to be resurrected.  As I’m writing this I’m reminded of the great people of Wisconsin who will actually be considered the catalyst to the backlash which hopefully will result in the elimination – FOR GOOD – of this republican assault on our society and the NEW DEAL which they’ve been attempting to dismantle since the days FDR was getting the original legislation passed. (as an aside, if you agree with my thoughts, I encourage you to participate – at least financially – in the effort to remove Scott Walker as the governor of Wisconsin.  That will be a substantial victory for those who believe in the “99% – when I have extra cash, that’s where I’m sending it)

Make no mistake, the republican strategy is to take control of ALL aspects of this government they profess to HATE (but, curiously are willing to spend BILLIONS to control) with the intent to complete their assault on the “social safety net” originated with FDR’s New Deal in the 1030’s and accentuated with the “Great Society” of the 1960’s.  You don’t have to look very hard to see the evidence which makes that claim seem obvious.  Ronald Reagan (the deity to these republican right wing thugs) started the assault on America’s union workforce when he publicly broke the Air Traffic Controllers shortly after taking office.  Since then, Americans working in union jobs have dwindled down to something like 10% of the workforce from around 35% when Reagan was elected.  And, Reagan wasn’t elected to defeat unions – that was a side benefit for the “donor class” who supported him financially – he simply showed all republicans who’ve followed him how to get Americans to vote against their own self interest.  Read “Crazy for God” by Frank Schaeffer and you’ll be able to see how Reagan and the republicans tricked MILLIONS of Christians into believing voting republican was the way to overturn Roe v Wade.

They’ve (republicans) been using “wedge issues” ever since that time to take the minds of voters off of what is really important to them – and, as pointed out in “Perfectly Legal” using the political power they’ve gained in the last 30+ years to STEAL TRILLIONS of dollars from the American taxpayers in the guise of “trickle down” economics.  The truth is, the trickle down “theory” should be called “trickle up” because since Reagan was in office the tax burden in America has shifted dramatically away from the “rich” and toward the “middle class,” and the wealth of this nation has “trickled” dramatically UP!  I’m not going to go into great detail about what’s in Johnston’s book (I would recommend you read it if you haven’t – it was published in 2005) but the middle class taxpayers have “taken it in the shorts” in almost every facet of the tax system.  The end result is the HUGE budget shortfalls that these same republicans are always complaining about (at least, now that Bush is out of office they’re complaining about it – it didn’t seem too important to them when he was president), less ability for America’s consumer class (the middle class) to consume – that puts a downward force on the economy, more cash in the hands of the “rich” and large corporate interests, and – probably most disgusting to me – a HUGE number of “American” corporations who have “relocated” into tax havens – you guessed it, created by and supported by our republican congress (and, not blocked by democrats) – many of them not only not paying ANY taxes, but actually receiving TAX REFUNDS!  These are the same corporations whose CEO’s were at the forefront of complaining about our “welfare state” when Reagan first came into office.

“Perfectly Legal” isn’t the only book I’ve read which makes it clear that the “welfare” problem in America isn’t with the poor ripping off the system (yes, that happens, but on a small scale) – it’s America’s corporate THIEVES taking tax dollars by the BILLIONS out of the system – dollars which have to be replaced by middle class workers or dollars which become more of the national debt that the republicans have somehow FINALLY become worried about.  (You’re right, you didn’t hear a whimper from them as Reagan and the two Bush’s were ramping up the federal budget deficit exponentially!)  What the book does is give a long list of specific details on how the tax system has become rigged in favor of the rich and more and more of the “burden” being put on the “poor.”  I’ll give a couple of examples.

First, I’m sure you’re aware of the FACT that republicans have been trying to undermine the American bureaucracy since the days of Reagan (and before).  George W Bush was the epitome of this strategy – putting people in charge of various government bureaus with the express wish to close them down or reduce their effectiveness.  And, in many instances, the congress has been willing to go along with the scheme (republicans have been in control of congress for much of the time since the early 90’s).  One area they’ve succeeded in is reducing the effectiveness of the IRS.  The reality is that most middle class and poorer taxpayers do their best to pay whatever the tax that is due – yes, that’s not always the case, but in a vast majority of cases it’s true.  The statistics of IRS audits for taxpayers who make less than $50,000 is that many errors made are inadvertent.  Also, it’s true that there are many taxpayers who make well into the six and seven digits for their income who don’t even file tax returns or pay NO TAXES as the result of being able to afford hiring a lawyer or accounting firm who specialize in tax loophole schemes – many of which are total frauds.  Yet, the lower income taxpayers are 8 times as likely to be audited as the higher income taxpayers due to congress’ protection of what they consider their “donor class.”  That is people who are able to “buy” their congress people’s “attention” rarely ever get audited.  Johnston points out several instances where people earning in excess of one million dollars per year actually taking out full page adds in major newspapers BRAGGING about not paying ANY taxes and STILL not being audited by the IRS.  Some of the explanation for that is reduced funding for the agency along with legislation written to protect politician’s “friends” from IRS scrutiny.  I could explain that better, but if it gets your interest to know about this, get the book and read it.

Another example is the result of a former Oregon Senator, Bob Packwood, who was the head of the Senate Finance Committee in the 1980’s (of course, now he’s a prominent tax LOBBYIST) proposing – and getting passed – a bill that essentially allows corporate executives to RIP OFF America’s taxpayers EVERY time they fly in the PRIVATE JETS!  Johnston uses the example of the CEO of GE flying with his wife to Paris for a vacation.  The CEO is required by this law to report the cost of a first class ticket on his/her taxes which amounts to something around $2000.  At the same time, the CEO’s corporation is allowed to deduct the actual cost of flying the plane from their taxes – in this case, the cost being around $70,000.  Therefore, the taxpayers are subsidizing the CEO’s trip to the tune of around $22,500 ($70,000 divided by the 35% corporate tax rate less the $2,000 reported).  This is just one of a HUGE number of ways the “1%” are entitled to rip of America’s middle class – who must make up the difference for the $22,500.  The other day I started looking at this in a way that hadn’t crossed my mind before.

If you’ve read Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine” (If you haven’t, you should!) and John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” (another “must read” in my view) you would understand America’s history of “lending money” to “third world countries” knowing they would be unable to repay and subsequently going in and establishing their own “rules” after default which all American corporations to rip off the natural resources of that country.  Much of this happened in the 70’s and 80’s in South American countries, which have since “wised up.”  Huge amounts of wealth were extracted from places like Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, etc.  Crises were created and led to a “solution” which greatly benefited the moneyed interests of the United States.  America’s corporations caused these countries to create HUGE amounts of debt, and then put the “squeeze” on them when they couldn’t pay their bills.  Well, look what’s going on in America right now.  We are frantically borrowing from who knows where and if we follow the path of the republican party it’s just a matter of time until we can’t conceivably “repay.”  I believe the “squeeze” is already “on” from the republican point of view.  When you look closely at how the tax system is set up and you look at what are now the overt interests of republicans (I mean, they don’t hide their allegiance to the “1%” at all anymore) you can see how they are participating in a plan to “squeeze” as much wealth out of America as they can before they simply leave the scraps for those of us in the “99%.”  The reports of the amounts of CASH that America’s corporate “heads” and the top earners in America are “sitting” on is staggering – it’s in the TRILLIONS.  And, due to their control of the “liberal media” most Americans haven’t a clue what’s happening to them.  They are frustrated, but they don’t know where to turn – AND they don’t know who’s behind the thievery that’s taking place.

More and more people are discovering that Fox “news” is nothing more than a front for the republican party and this ripping off of America’s middle class, but it’s even hard to figure out how to get information to get beyond the B___Sh___.  The other day when I was in Barnes and Nobel looking for books, it finally dawned on me that all these right wing pundits who’ve established their names on Fox are working with “ghost writers” who are part of the propaganda scheme to flood the market with books that are designed to further the republican “talking points.”  So, you have to be careful of what you read, and you have to accept the premise that the republicans are operating on the theory of Joseph Goebbels who was the Nazi chief of propaganda that “if you tell a lie over and over enough, people will start to believe it’s true.”  What makes the challenge of overcoming these people more daunting is the effect of the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision which not only thrust unlimited amounts of corporate cash into our election process, but shows the importance of getting the right wing judges who’ve been appointed to the court since the days of Reagan off the court.  Should President Obama lose in 2012, the thought of a couple more “conservatives” on the bench makes me feel very uneasy for my children and grandchildren’s future.

So, the bottom line here is that corporate America has turned it’s greedy head right back on the American people which made it (the corporations)  powerful in the first place.  It was the working class of America which turned this country into the envy of the rest of the world, and it was the ideals America stood for which led to her status as the “leader of the free world.” (for example, the idea of torture is repugnant to the values I grew up with)  However, it has been the greed of corporations “run amok” that stands to take America back into second class status – although, I believe the actions of the good people of Wisconsin and all the young people at the forefront of the “Occupy” movement will ultimately prevent that from happening.  All this being said, I feel the 2012 election is the most significant election of my lifetime and if those of us in the “99%” band together, there’s a chance we can overcome the BILLIONS which are likely to be spent as the result of the Citizens United fiasco. (and trust me, despite the ugly face of Justice Sam Alito at Barrack Obama’s suggestion that foreign money will be infused into our electoral process because of that decision, there’s going to be substantial foreign money in this next election).  2012 basically boils down to US (the “99%”) vs. Corporations (republicans) and America’s future hangs in the balance!