Is the US system rigged for the rich???

[iamwhatiseem]

Yes and no.
Yes that almost anything goes now in mergers and acquisitions, to the point that in nearly every field of industry it is impossible to compete against the handful of giants at the top.

Yes in that government overwhelmingly favors the investor and the investment/financial sector over every other industry. This and above has concentrated wealth more than anything else.

No in that production it is punished in many ways. It is punished by removing the benefit of production to hand it to the non-productive. It is punished by heavy environmental and safety legislations while not imposing the same rules to imported goods. It is punished at the get-go by a nation that rewards vice while punishing virtue...thereby snuffing out innovation and hard work.
No in that it is VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY hard to get from middle class to wealthy except in the investment/real estate industry. Upper middle class are taxed to the hilt, and enjoy no benefits of taxation that the non-productive do.

 

[rightwinger]

Of course, many government programs aim to alleviate poverty. Those with low incomes get Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc., adding up to about $365 billion. But Uncle Sam's subsidies for building wealth – of little use to the poor – were even larger: $384 billion last year.

This money helps the more prosperous buy homes, save money, start businesses, pay for college, and retire comfortably. More than half of that sum went to the wealthiest 5 percent of tax-payers. The top 1 percent got an average $95,000 in federal help. Upper-middle-income families making $100,000 got $1,600. The poor got less than $5.

If you want to get more out, put more in. Otherwise, quit your whining and get a (better) job.

Notice who is left off that list of Government largesse? The middle class

Government programs ensure the rich get richer and the poor keep a roof over their heads...meanwhile, the middle class has a lower standard of living

 

[rightwinger]

Of course, many government programs aim to alleviate poverty. Those with low incomes get Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc., adding up to about $365 billion. But Uncle Sam's subsidies for building wealth – of little use to the poor – were even larger: $384 billion last year.

This money helps the more prosperous buy homes, save money, start businesses, pay for college, and retire comfortably. More than half of that sum went to the wealthiest 5 percent of tax-payers. The top 1 percent got an average $95,000 in federal help. Upper-middle-income families making $100,000 got $1,600. The poor got less than $5.

If you want to get more out, put more in. Otherwise, quit your whining and get a (better) job.

So, when should I begin to look for some of those subsidies from Uncle Sam? I'll keep my eye on the mail box. According to you, I should have gotten at least $5.00. Where is it? Whine about what you don't have in one hand and shit in the other. See which one gets full first.

Does your kid go to college? Other than that, there are not many programs targeted at the middle class

 

[Meister]

Of course, many government programs aim to alleviate poverty. Those with low incomes get Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc., adding up to about $365 billion. But Uncle Sam's subsidies for building wealth – of little use to the poor – were even larger: $384 billion last year.

This money helps the more prosperous buy homes, save money, start businesses, pay for college, and retire comfortably. More than half of that sum went to the wealthiest 5 percent of tax-payers. The top 1 percent got an average $95,000 in federal help. Upper-middle-income families making $100,000 got $1,600. The poor got less than $5.

If you want to get more out, put more in. Otherwise, quit your whining and get a (better) job.

Notice who is left off that list of Government largesse? The middle class

Government programs ensure the rich get richer and the poor keep a roof over their heads...meanwhile, the middle class has a lower standard of living

You keep missing the point that it's "someone elses money" and not yours, nor the governments.

 

[shintao]

Is the US system rigged for the rich? - CSMonitor.com
Is the US system rigged for the rich???


Thirty years ago, the richest 1 percent of Americans got 9 percent of total national income. By 2007, they had 23 percent. Last year, new census data show, the rich-poor income gap was the widest on record.

Wealth is more unevenly distributed. The top 20 percent of wealth-holders own 84 percent of America's wealth. What's causing it?

One factor is federal policy, says a study by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It finds that most federal subsidies aimed at building wealth, such as certain tax deductions (officially called "expenditures"), credits, and preferential rates, go to the richest taxpayers.

Yes, no doubt about it............

 

[shintao]

No, it's rigged AGAINST the rich. First there is a progressive tax system that punishes increasing productivity.

It punishes AGAINST everyone, so cry the blues.

Then there is capital gains tax that punishes success.

Yes, almost everyone who invest in various ways is punished by success.

Then there is double taxation of dividends.

Yes, and double taxation on gasoline, and cigarettes, and.......................nothing new there dude.....

Then there is payroll tax that increases the cost of labor dramatically.

And payroll taxes on income and cry me a river dude. You are acting like no one pays taxes or shouldn't.

Then there is regulation that increases the cost of having more than 5 employees. And finally death taxes.

Same thing happens when I have two airplanes, six cars, three houses. No body is supposed to ride for free, yet I already noted these rich bastards pay no taxes.

Please notice that on any list of the wealthiest 400 or so people it is never the same people decade to decade. The list changes quite a bit. And very few of the richest are children of wealthy people. Even fewer are grandchildren of wealthy people.

That anyone gets wealthy in this society is testament to the American spirit of capitalism rather than the legal and taxation system here.

Yes, so anybody who gets rich or poor it is from the Americn spirt of capitalism. It is all the little games you learn and learn to avoid and the people you know that make you successful, or sheer luck and beating the odds. How long has Hilton, Ford, etc. been on Forbes list ~ You are talking nonsense.

 

[B. Kidd]

If you want to get more out, put more in. Otherwise, quit your whining and get a (better) job.

So, when should I begin to look for some of those subsidies from Uncle Sam? I'll keep my eye on the mail box. According to you, I should have gotten at least $5.00. Where is it? Whine about what you don't have in one hand and shit in the other. See which one gets full first.

Does your kid go to college? Other than that, there are not many programs targeted at the middle class

The erosion of the middle class has begun in earnest in this economic downturn. As the years go by and and the middle class continues to dwindle......ask this question again in about 5 years as the middle class will be less in denial.

 

[CMike]

As Rabbi said the system is rigged against those who would take risk.

 

[Charles_Main]

Wealth isn't distributed except in the mind's of the socialists/communists.

Wealth is created by entrepreneuers and people who take risk.

You are never going to get Liberals to understand this

 

[uscitizen]

One thing; you get as much "justice" in our legal system as you can afford.

 

[topspin]

The middle class is fat dumb and happy as usual.

 

[CMike]

Wealth isn't distributed except in the mind's of the socialists/communists.

Wealth is created by entrepreneuers and people who take risk.

You are never going to get Liberals to understand this

I know, it's like debating with the retarded.

 

[uscitizen]

The middle class is fat dumb and happy as usual.

Well correct on the first two items anyway.

We are not supposed to be happy right now. Don't you watch or listen to any media?

It is downright unamerican to be happy right now.

 

[shintao]

As Rabbi said the system is rigged against those who would take risk.

And the average worker finds the system is rigged against him when he/she takes a risk as well. His employment risk is so high he must have multiple insurance policies for commuting, working, retiring, injury, health. Living in a capitalist system is all about risk taking and gambling.

 

[uscitizen]

Umm why do you think they call it risk?

 

[kiwiman127]

Since the recession of 2001, wages for the middle class have been flat despite the the fact there has been basically high productivty and good profits. During that same time period, the wealth gap grew to levels not seen since just prior to the Great Depression. Now putting one and one togther, there seems to be a glaring picture of who is benefitting from a system and who is losing ground thanks to that same system.
Plutocracy in action.

 

[loosecannon]

Is the US system rigged for the rich?

Is the Pope a pedo?

Is water wet?

Are the folks who caused the financial crisis getting bailouts? Vs going straight to jail?

Are the two parties both parties of liars and crooks?

Are illegal aliens criminals?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Of course, many government programs aim to alleviate poverty. Those with low incomes get Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc., adding up to about $365 billion. But Uncle Sam's subsidies for building wealth – of little use to the poor – were even larger: $384 billion last year.

This money helps the more prosperous buy homes, save money, start businesses, pay for college, and retire comfortably. More than half of that sum went to the wealthiest 5 percent of tax-payers. The top 1 percent got an average $95,000 in federal help. Upper-middle-income families making $100,000 got $1,600. The poor got less than $5.

If you want to get more out, put more in. Otherwise, quit your whining and get a (better) job.

I agree, everyone can see that the reason the gap is widening is because rich people have been working harder and better than the lazy middle class. The richer you are the better you are and the harder you work. If you're poor, its obvious that you dont work hard.

 

[shintao]

Umm why do you think they call it risk?

It is the capitalist system that you find this risk. A socialist economy doesn't have it.

 

[Sallow]

Wealth isn't distributed except in the mind's of the socialists/communists.

Wealth is created by entrepreneuers and people who take risk.

Really..what risk did Paris Hilton take to become fabulously wealthy?