Jan. 24, 2014:
Are US taxpayers are paying for more than we suspect?
($861 Billion a year in Corporate Welfare & Welfare for the Wealthy)
Direct federal subsidies to corporations: ($100 Billion/yr)
The Libertarian/Tea Party Cato Institute reports that corporations cost taxpayers almost $100 billion every year in direct federal subsidies.
“Corporate Welfare in the Federal Budget” http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/corporate-welfare-federal-budget
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Federal tax breaks for wealthy investment bankers and hedge fund managers: ($83 Billion/yr)
Special tax breaks (aka welfare ) for hedge fund managers have them paying just 15-percent rates, while the people they service usually pay a 35-percent rate. Multimillionaire managers pay lower tax rates than their secretaries or their plumber. This welfare hand-out costs taxpayers $83 billion annually.
68% of those who receive this special welfare (tax break) earn more than $462,500 per year (the top 1% of earners).
**http://nationalpriorities.org/blog/2013/11/04/tax-break-hedge-fund-managers/ “The Tax Break for Hedge Fund Managers”
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State and local subsidies to corporations: ($80 Billion/yr)
State and local government provide at least $80 billion in subsidies to corporations.* Over 48 big corporations received over $100 million each. Rankings: GM weighed in at a total of $1.7 billion of taxpayer subsidies/welfare from 16 different states, followed by Shell, Ford and Chrysler all receiving over $1 billion each. Amazon, Microsoft, Prudential, Boeing and casino companies in Colorado and New Jersey came in at over $200 million in handouts of state and local taxpayer monies.
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Federal tax breaks for corporations: ($200 Billion/yr)
IRS tax code gives corporations special tax breaks that reduce the theoretical 35-percent tax rate to an actual tax rate of 13 percent, which totals to an additional $200 billion annually of yet more corporate welfare not included in the corporate welfare items listed above.
“CORPORATE INCOME TAX: Effective Tax Rates: GAO May 2013″ http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654957.pdf
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Agricultural Tax & NAFTA Subsidies and other “smaller” tax breaks for corporations: (~$30 Billion/yr)
Consider the special subsidies / welfare for corporate jets and big parties. The corporate jet scam costs taxpayers a cool $3 billion a year. The second home tax deduction costs the rest of us $8 billion a year. Fifty billionaires alone have sucked in millions in farm subsidies over the past 20 years.
Do we really need to subsidize billionaire “farmers” ?
Hint: The US has spent $4 billion a year in NAFTA mandated US taxpayer subsidies to dump artificially-cheap corn onto Mexican markets, ruining over 1.5 million small Mexican farmers, financially wrecking the communities of 7 million rural Mexicans – The price of Mexican corn has fallen more than 70 percent since Nafta took effect.
Why have millions of rural Mexicans illegally migrated to the USA – put out of business by 20 years of US taxpayer subsidies to US big agribusiness – totaling over $80 billion of US taxpayer monies for just corn export subsidies – forcibly dumped on Mexico?
“Industry Set for Fight to Keep Corporate Jet Tax Breaks” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/politics/08lobby.html?_r=0,
“Billionaires Received U.S. Farm Subsidies” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/us/billionaires-received-us-farm-subsidies-report-finds.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/business/us-corn-subsidies-said-to-damage-mexico.html and http://prospectjournal.org/2010/04/19/nafta-and-u-s-corn-subsidies-explaining-the-displacement-of-mexicos-corn-farmers-2/
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Fast food industry government subsidies: The KFC/McDo/BK/Taco Bell Welfare Plan: ($243 Billion/yr)
Taxpayers pay about $243 billion each year in indirect subsidies to the fast food industry because they pay wages so low that taxpayers must put up $243 billion to pay for public benefits for their workers.
“Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public cost of low-wage Jobs in the fast-food industry” Univ. of Illinois & UC http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/publiccosts/fast_food_poverty_wages.pdf
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Recent New Tax Breaks Passed by the Republican House: ($67 Billion/yr)
Every major piece of tax legislation in 2013 – approved by our “Champions of Smaller Government” in the House – ( Boehner and the Tea Partiers) – contains yet more new welfare for the top 2%’ers and big corporations. Consider the emergency tax legislation passed by Congress in early 2013 with 43 business and energy tax breaks, worth $67 billion in new welfare handouts.
“Tax lobbyists help businesses reap windfalls ” http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2013/03/16/corporations-record-huge-returns-from-tax-lobbying-gridlock-congress-stalls-reform/omgZvDPa37DNlSqi0G95YK/story.html
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Mortgage deduction: ($54 Billion/yr to Affluent Folks)
The home mortgage deduction costs taxpayers $70 billion per year as a huge subsidy to the real estate, banking and construction industries. Before complaining that the mortgage deductions “help the little guy”, know that 77% of the benefit goes to homeowners with incomes over $100,000 per year => yet another hand-out to higher-income affluent people.
“Conversion to Tax Credit Could Raise Revenue and Make Subsidy More Effective and Fairer” http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3948
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Payoffs to Stop Prosecutions of Business “Leaders” for criminal and other wrongful activities: ($4 – $7 Billion/yr in special Tax Deductions)
Corporations protect their executives and keep on “doing business as usual” by paying off the government. While this item is not exactly corporate welfare, it points out yet another area of abuse of American taxpayers by payoffs that stop real change and stop reforms – by allowing the guilty to continue in power – un-punished. Corporations engaging in criminal and other wrongful activities protect their leaders from prosecution by paying huge fees and fines to the government for actions that cause the govt. to prosecute ordinary people, like you and I. JPMorgan Chase made a preliminary $13-billion mortgage settlement with the US government, and then writes-off the majority of the deal as tax deductible, saving the corporation $4 billion.
So, even when the Govt. makes settlements over corporate crimes, the big corporations wangle billions in yet more welfare as tax deductions from the settlements.
“JPMorgan settlement could cost bank closer to $9 billion” http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/22/us-jpmorgan-penalties-idUSBRE99L19720131022
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Wall Street Investment Bank Handout / Bailouts:
The $800 billion of welfare a year listed in #1 – #8 does not count the government bailout of Wall Street. As Wall Street “Bankers” told us how much they DID NOT need it, and that “they paid it back” and that “it was a great investment”, know that $7.6 trillion was made available by the Federal Reserve to banks, financial firms and investors. US govt. figures show the final net costs at $32 to $68 billion, not including the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which alone cost more than $180 billion to taxpayers. We must stop the revolving door between Wall Street businessmen and their advisors and the Fed and Treasury => too much collusion.
End crony capitalism.
The people who caused the $7 trillion in total losses should not be calling-the-shots or deciding our policies. Their records prove their incompetence and greed.
Cato Institute: “Corporate Welfare in the Federal Budget” http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/corporate-welfare-federal-budget and http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/coma/images/issues/200905/fed-map.gif
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~ ANNUAL COSTS to US Taxpayers for Corporate Welfare:
$100 B + $83 B + $80 B + $200 B + $30 B + $243 B + $67 B + $54 B + $4 B = $861 Billion a year in Corporate Welfare & Welfare for the Wealthy.
Is it time for “Capitalists” and “Free Marketeer” to stand on their own two feet?
Is Obamacare the real problem ???
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© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
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