Insights and information about taxes, with a few links

Taxes are opposed by conservatives who want to keep their riches instead of sharing their money with governmental efforts to help people with education, health, etc.

But liberals and progressives also criticize our tax system because it is unfair.  Rich people and big corporations get so many loopholes and breaks that they pay less than their fair share.  Poor, working class and middle class people pay more than their share.

Actually, we should see taxes as the dues we pay for living in a civilized society.  That is the ideal.  We need to fully fund the governmental services that help people and protect the environment.  We need to vigorously reform the tax systems (federal, state, local) so they will be adequate to meet the needs, and so they will be fair in apportioning those costs according to people’s ability to pay.  Rich people and big corporations should pay much more, since they have gotten rich from the political system that taxes pay for.  Poor and working class people should pay much less, since the political system has not been serving them well.

A great organization that advocates for a fair tax system is Americans for Tax Fairness, www.americansfortaxfairness.org

 

Here are some resources to help us think fresh insights about taxes:

 

 

Although conservatives pay “lip service” to a “free market,” they want Big Government – and TAXPAYERS – to interfere in order to boost corporate profits. Here is just one more example:  https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-nuclear-bailout-trump-2574242069.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=35f8880a30-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-35f8880a30-85369701

 

 

Many people strongly oppose the December 2017 Trump/Republican tax scam that is enriching people and corporations who are already too rich.  This budget-busting tax scam will sharply increase federal deficits, so Republicans are demanding cuts in Social Security and various other federal programs that help people.  You can sign a petition to REPEAL the December 2017 Trump/Republican tax scam.  Here is the link:  https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stand-with-keith-ellison-repeal-the-trump-republican-tax-scam-for-the-rich-and-corporations?source=PFAW&referrer=group-people-for-the-american-way&action=taxDay2018

 

 

One of the most knowledgeable and respected progressive sources of information about a variety of public policy issues is the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips-dc.org).  In April 2018 they produced information about federal taxes.  Read it at this link:  https://ips-dc.org/seven-surprising-tax-facts-2018/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4-17-18

 

 

In March 2018 Antonia Juhasz published a report about how the Trump/Republican tax scam provided a gigantic windfall for oil companies.  Read her article Inside the Tax Bill’s $25 Billion Oil Company Bonanza” at https://psmag.com/economics/tax-bill-oil-company-bonanza

 

 

During this time when the federal government is deliberately making so many problems worse, state and local governments can pass progressive reforms.  Income inequality is a serious problem. This article proposes remedies that state and local governments can adopt. Let’s urge our state and local governments to take progressive actions to reduce poverty and inequality.  I hope you will appreciate this smart, informative article as much as I do:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43800-how-to-reduce-poverty-and-inequality-through-state-government-taxes

 

 

Finally, here is this:

Americans for Tax Fairness www.americansfortaxfairness.org publicized this: In mid-April 2018 John Oliver’s comedy program “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” on HBO highlighted the serious problem of offshore corporate tax dodging that Americans for Tax Fairness has fought long and hard to stop. ATF staff provided a lot of advice and background materials to assist the show’s producers in telling the story, as did some of our allies.
Oliver explained how corporations, especially high-tech and pharmaceutical firms, shift their patents invented here in America to subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes here at home.

He also explained how the Trump-GOP tax law enabled these corporations to pay only a fraction of the taxes they owe on their $2.6 trillion in offshore profits. Instead of paying at the 35% tax rate, they will pay as little as 8.5%. This will save giant multinational corporations hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars — money we desperately need to improve schools, rebuild roads and bridges, and make healthcare more affordable.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE: Click here to watch John Oliver’s message: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/johnoliver?link_id=0&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-watch-comedian-john-oliver-dissects-rampant-offshore-corporate-tax-dodging&email_referrer=email_339683&email_subject=watch-comedian-john-oliver-dissects-rampant-offshore-corporate-tax-dodging

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org