tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post8048330341071946421..comments2024-03-26T07:07:14.304-07:00Comments on Teacher Tom: We Are The 99%Teacher Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-20087522784506830542011-10-04T12:41:48.028-07:002011-10-04T12:41:48.028-07:00Thank you, Teacher Tom!! So incredibly well-said ...Thank you, Teacher Tom!! So incredibly well-said and well-written - I've re-posted this all over facebook and my own blog today - everyone should know this.Mary Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00590474691547424202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-43679322060500715962011-10-03T19:46:59.800-07:002011-10-03T19:46:59.800-07:00Tom,
I had just become aware of the Wall Street pr...Tom,<br />I had just become aware of the Wall Street protests, today when reading our national paper, The Globe and Mail. My sense was that this is a grassroots protest, and that is a good thing. I do feel this is a way for the ordinary person to express the frustrations most ordinary people are feeling with the large gap between the wealthy and the poor.<br /><br />I live in Saskatchewan, Canada, and we have the same concerns here. We have a strong tradition of social democracy in Saskatchewan, and Tommy Douglas, our premier in the early 1960's brought in the first medicare program in the country.Premier Douglas did this under considerable duress and personal harrassment, but he believed in this, and he persevered.<br /><br />In Saskatchewan, we presently have a conservative government, and with this it seems a widening gap between the rich and poor has developed. <br /><br />Good post here.Thank you.<br />BrendaMullin Avenue Workshophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489785153205822301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-56087114454653455912011-10-03T19:15:59.174-07:002011-10-03T19:15:59.174-07:00Actually Rebekah, the top marginal tax rate is at ...Actually Rebekah, the top marginal tax rate is at historically low levels with those making in the lower six figures paying the same as those making billions. The argument is that low tax rates on the wealthy encourages them to "create jobs." So where are the job? There are none because it's just a theory that has never been proven in reality. But more importantly, as Warren Buffet points out, the wealthier you are the more likely it is that your income is derived from interest, which is taxed at the ridiculously low rate of 15%, less than half of what my family pays on our income. <br /><br />The proposal on the table is to create a new higher tax rate for those making over $1 million per year. Since they seem to be the only ones benefiting from our current economic policies, it only seems fair that they should pay more. But the REAL tax reform will be to raise the capital gains tax so that they are paying their fair share on ALL of their income. <br /><br />Listen, during the time that we grew the largest, most prosperous middle class in the history of the world (1940-1980) the top marginal tax rate was MUCH higher than it is today. Under Eisenhower, you paid 90% in taxes for everything you made over $3 million. Kennedy was the radical who cut that to 75%. The idea was to compel companies to keep their profits in their companies, thus creating jobs, rather than take it out in the form of dividends and executive salaries. Reagan came in and slashed the top marginal rate and since then the middle class has been in decline because there is no incentive to create jobs, only an incentive to wallow in abject greed. This is not an accident. And this is why I will not remain silent.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-67257792040430202182011-10-03T13:13:22.276-07:002011-10-03T13:13:22.276-07:00Well, isn't there already a higher rate of tax...Well, isn't there already a higher rate of taxes as your income increases? I don't agree with raising taxes on the rich, but I do agree on cutting out the loopholes that reduce their taxes. What happens by raising the rates is that those in the lower six figures are treated the same as those making millions a year which hardly seems comparable.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18074723385090544014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-55979765607918415782011-10-03T12:28:11.833-07:002011-10-03T12:28:11.833-07:00I just started reading your blog, but I am so behi...I just started reading your blog, but I am so behind most everything you say. Including this. As a former teacher. As a stay-at-home mom. As a secular humanist. Rock on, Teacher Tom.CARRIEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13137602199313584768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-4672543163199601262011-10-03T10:22:10.292-07:002011-10-03T10:22:10.292-07:00I don't know if I feel like we are all being &...I don't know if I feel like we are all being "willfully ignorant" or if we all know how much misinformation there is out there and how often what we have believed to be true turns out to be false. No one likes to feel duped and if you feel that you have been duped too many times, you just stop believing anything. We can't believe the media, we can't believe the politicians, we can't believe the economists... it can be so overwhelming to try to develop a strong opinion based on FACTS and hard science when so many people are distorting the facts and the science to serve their purpose. But, whether you ultimately agree with the protestors or not, its protests like these that, at the very least, make you want to make a choice about what your opinion is and that leads to investigation - and that is where real truth begins. Thanks for your courage - and for empowering that small child.Marynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-20014200134610563442011-10-03T08:41:45.386-07:002011-10-03T08:41:45.386-07:00Thank you so much for posting this, for standing u...Thank you so much for posting this, for standing up and saying that what is happening is wrong. Like you, I am a capitalist - I run my own small business - but these protests are not about capitalism or socialism, they are about justice and equity.<br /><br />I deplore the excesses of the so-called "free market", where ever-increasing deregulation has allowed a tiny minority to gorge themselves on the blood of the people. Here in Australia the very same forces are at work, as giant corporations and billionaires manipulate the political system and the media to get an ever-increasing share of the wealth, while paying less and less in taxes.<br /><br />I am horrified by what I saw in those videos; I saw nothing that could have justified arrest, let alone arrest with that level of violence. Peaceful citizens were exercising their right to protest in the most restrained manner, given the circumstances. I felt sick.<br /><br />I hope that justice will prevail. Good luck, and keep protesting.Alec Duncan of Child's Play Musichttp://www.facebook.com/ChildsPlayMusicPerthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-58257439274926683152011-10-03T07:36:41.607-07:002011-10-03T07:36:41.607-07:00Thank you for posting this, Tom. I am scared of wh...Thank you for posting this, Tom. I am scared of what's happening in this country—the lack of knowledge and foresight; lack of empathy for the poor; the blatant disregard for our nation's children. People are running around oblivious to how this affects them. The bottom line is that if something isn't done, the middle class will disappear, and I—we, all of us—will either be poor, or absurdly rich. I know which way most of us are going in a down economy. It's frightening.Candi B.noreply@blogger.com