The rich get richer, the middle class gets squeezed

From Modern School

by Michael Dunn

Democracy Now reported yesterday on a new study that found that 25 of the nation’s top 100 corporate executives made more last year than their companies paid in taxes. The study also found the salary difference between corporate executives and workers had grown from a ratio of 263-to-1 in 2009 to 325-to-1 last year.

Meanwhile, Congress recently approved a debt deal that that excluded tax hikes on the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations, thus perpetuating historically low tax rates. The tax rate for the highest bracket is now only 35%, yet from 1982-86 it was 50%, and from 1971-81 it was 70%. From 1936 to 1981 it never dropped below 70%. In fact, the only time prior to 1987 in which this tax rate dipped below 63% was in the roaring 20s, when the wealth gap was also massive.

In California, for example, revenue from corporate taxes has declined by 50% since 1981 and the wealthiest residents now pay a lower tax rate than they did two decades ago. Meanwhile, in two years, Californians will have added more than $100 billion to their personal income, with $20 billion of it going entirely to the richest 1% of Californians, and $60 billion going to the top 20%

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