richardhutnik said:
In Citizens United, it was determined that money is free speech and that corporate entities couldn't be restricted on what they spend to impact a political campaign. That is what the main issue was about. Today any form of bribery now takes place in the form of campaign contributions. |
Lets also not forget that corporations soul purpose is to turn profits and it's greed has been shown to surpase it's ability to turn away from quick profits that hurt everyone down the line, even them. However the CEO of companies do this for there bonuses for bending to the shareholders and not the workers needs or rights. For this reason there used to be a law against CEO's making these bonuses.
We can also go back and point at the deregulation of Glass Steagal as the reason the banks got to greedy and had to borrow 7,770,000,000,000 Dollars from the federal reserve. A-hum Looks at the sub prime loan mess.
People say regulation hurts competition but regulation protects it's investers and clients from the evils of what, for example,what the banks have done. This is one of the biggest reasons for the crash in 2008.
The 30 years of reagans views has destroyed the middle class and pushed greed to the front of the decision making.
Reaganomics as many called his policies were all about deregulation and what is called 'trickle down economy'.
By leaving business alone and giving tax cuts to business owners, then business will thrive and the effect will trickle down to the average citizens. Trickle down economy relies on Business to care for the workers and the nation in general and putting the welfare of the country in the hand of business rather than in the hand of the people.
Business as an entity is an inmoral beast with only one sole purpose of existence, to make profit and more profit. It's not necessarily evil, but with only one goal of it's existence, welfare of the workers or nation will obviously be on the bottom of the list.
Reagan also the one that conciously didn't want to use the antitrust sherman act. to prevent the forming of giant corporation that are too bigh to fail (which is the main crux of the economic crisis today)
BTW, the one that advocated deregulation of transportation first was Jimmy Carter.
http://economics.about.com/od/government…
That all being said, while Reagan is the one that started this whole trickle down economy that caused this whole mess, the Democrats are not free of blame.
Reagan and Bush Sr. obviously go with the trickle down economy system. But it was Clinton that actually let it happen at a full scale, and it Clinton too that 'kicked' the trade door with China wide open instead of closing the gaps opened by Reagan.
I am an independent that leans progressive, I call it as it is (something that Fox News and Druggie Limbaugh followers seems unable to do)
Trickle down economy started by Reagan
Unenforced antirtrust Sherman Act (passed by Republican John Sherman) by Reagan a move supported by Alan Greenspan
The opening wide of trade door with China (unequal partnership) by Clinton
Clinton push for home ownership for minorities
Another push for trickle down economy again by Bush Jr.
"Ownership society" by Bush Jr. (this one is like the steroid pumped version of Clinton's)
Crazy spending by Bush Jr.
All those above are the main causes of our economy meltdown.
When Reagan came into office, America was the largest exporter of manufactured items and the largest importer of raw materials.
Right now American manufacturing capacity is basically nearly non-existent in most part.
Something similar to new deal has to be passed, a safeguard and a regulated economic playground has to be set.
Unregulated economy does not work, not on this scale. If you notice anyway, whenever they give example of unregulated economy, they can only refer to ages long long time ago and the model only work in a small close knit society.
Just for the record I see Bernie Sanders as one the best Senators of our time and someone the country should be looking at as a example.
Heres a good read
http://www.examiner.com/liberal-in-orlando/rich-tax-cuts-capital-gains-ronald-reagan-and-the-destruction-of-america
The growing gap between the rich and poor in the United States has widened over the last three decades. The once proud and strong middle class has deteriorated over time, and things need to drastically change if America wants to get back to the "good old days". When Ronald Reagan was elected president, he started the United States on a path of economical and social destruction. In his first four years in office, from 1980 to 1984, Reagan lowered the top income tax bracket from 70% to 50%. In the next four years, Reagan took the top bracket from 50% down to a dangerously low 28%. Reagan went on to triple the national debt, borrow from the Social Security trust fund to make up for his loses and went on to raise taxes eleven times primarily on the middle class.
Ronald Reagan isn't the only one who is to blame for the shrinking middle class. One major part that isn't talked about is capital gains. The Capital Gains tax is the tax put on the wealth that an individual has that is not part of their regular income. Stocks, bonds and real estate are prime examples of what is considered capital gains. While Reagan did lower the top capital gains rate from 28% in 1980 down to 20% by 1986, he did feel the pressure of the debt crisis and brought it back up to 28% by the time he left office. The two big cuts that followed were disastrous. In his first term, President Bill Clinton raised the top rate slightly to 29% but in his second term, with a conservative congress at his throat, lowered the rate once again down to 21%. The economy was doing well, mainly because of the Dot Com bubble and Clinton raising the top tax rates for the highest earners, but things did change once he left office. As part of George Bushes major tax cuts, he lowered the top tax rates down to 35% but took the capital gains rate down to its lowest level since the start of the Great Depression, 15%.
At the low rate of only 15%, the wealthiest Americans pay the same tax rate as a greater at Walmart. The Republican reasoning is that if you give the wealthy the tax cuts, they will then create jobs , which in turn, will strengthen the economy. The problem with this logic is that it doesn't work, at least not in the way they say. The wealthy primarily do two things with their tax cuts. They either create jobs outside of the United States and pay for cheap labor or they take advantage of the capital gains rate. The wealthy put their money into the stock market or real estate and pay a very low tax rate which hurts the economy instead of helping it. In President Obama's new American Jobs Act, the President has called for an end of corporate loop holes and an increase in the top tax rates. There are tax cuts in the plan, but they are tax cuts and credits that will be put into the hands of the real people who will invest and create jobs, the middle class and small businesses.
By increasing the tax rates on the highest earners, including the capital gains rate, the United States will have the revenue to truly get back on track. What the Republicans don't understand is that the best way to chop away at the debt is putting people back to work and getting money into the hands of people who will actually spend it instead of stuffing it into a stock or putting it into an off shore bank account. While President Obama's Stimulus package in 2009 put a cork into a sinking boat, it didn't fix the problem. The stimulus bill prevented unemployment from reaching 12 and 13% and did create and save over 3 million jobs that otherwise would have been lost, however it wasn't large enough. The President understands that the country wants investment but also wants to see that it will be paid for and not just put on the country's credit card. By raising the revenue from the people who have cheated the country for decades, the United States could raise its head up once again.
