People Want Democracy, Not Corporatocracy: Jeffrey Sachs

Verticordious

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Not necessarily, but I seriously doubt he has one worth reading after making that kind of mess up. It's a credibility issue.

Kind of like how you wouldn't take a doctor seriously if he pointed to the radius and said, "um, so that's the femur, right?".
If the best counterargument you can come up with is "look, he made a typo", then I rest my case.
 
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dcyates

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These taxes were around 50% before the Bush tax cuts and we were operating with a surplus... America was doing just fine with that. What does capitol gains and inheritance tax have to do with starting a business?

It has to do with short selling stocks and billionaire heirs...
There's a lot more to capital gains than just short-selling stocks. Whenever a home, business, or any other asset increases in value over time, that increase is a "capital gain." Govts tend to especially tax behaviour they wish to discourage (e.g. smoking). Much of a society's economic activity depends on investment. So, if a govt wishes to discourage economic activity, then by all means it should raise taxes on capital gains, thereby making all investments less profitable. A word of warning though; when it comes to creating jobs -- an ostensible demand of many occupods -- doing so is going to have the exact opposite effect.
And "billionaire heirs"?!? You didn't say that the govt should implement a 50% inheritance tax after the first billion, but rather after the first million. Say a farmer dies and leaves his family the farm and farm equipment, so that they can carry on operating their farm. After the first tractor and thresher, they're going reach that million dollar mark pretty darn quick. After that, they're supposed to lose 50% of everything?!? Kiss that family farm goodbye.
The same thing goes for most family businesses. Once the place of business itself is taken into consideration, if after that the inheritors only get half the rest, there won't be much left to keep that business running.
So, you see? Capital gains -- and the taxing thereof -- has a whole lot to do with starting a business.
 
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revelations12_12

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There has always been a farm exception, and I don't care about businesses the market will correct these problems.

Capitol gains tax is only paid when assets are sold, this will balance our budget at the expense of mainly Wall St. and day traders. to heck with them I don't care about the 1% only us the 99%
 
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dcyates

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There has always been a farm exception...
Why? Why should the offspring of a farmer get such preferential treatment and not the children of someone who starts a business?

...and I don't care about businesses the market will correct these problems.
Yes, I know you don't care about businesses. You obviously haven't struggled, and put your heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into starting one, and then worked day and night in order to keep it afloat.
I have. I had to work 13, 14, up to 16+ hour days, often without so much as a 10 min lunch break (or any break at all!), more often than not seven days a week, for over five years before I could cut it back to more reasonable hours (which were still far longer than anybody else I hired, I can assure you). In the first couple years I had my girlfriend (then fiance, then wife) working for me to help out -- which I could do only because she refused my paying her a regular salary. If there was a day when I only worked a straight 10 hrs, that was a slow day that was practically a day off in comparison with my regular work days. But I provided a good service at a good price, and I employed people and paid them a very good wage -- more than my competitors did.
And you honestly think that the govt should have been entitled to half of what I earned? Pardon my French, but screw that!
Capitol gains tax is only paid when assets are sold...
Right, otherwise it's called "unrealized capital."
...this will balance our budget at the expense of mainly Wall St. and day traders. to heck with them I don't care about the 1% only us the 99%
I'm sorry to be this blunt, but you're fooling yourself. At the current state of America's debt, Obama could tax every millionaire in the U.S. 100% and still be unable to balance the budget. He's spending over $8 trillion per year and bringing in $4 trillion in revenue. The problem isn't on the revenue side, it's in the spending.
 
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myj

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[FONT=georgia, serif]The 99 Percent Declaration - 1st part[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]WHEREAS THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROVIDES:[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]BE IT RESOLVED THAT:[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]WE, THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order to form a more perfect Union, by, for and of the PEOPLE, shall elect and convene a NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY beginning on July 4, 2012 in the City Of Philadelphia.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]I. Election of Delegates:[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]The People, consisting of all United States citizens who have reached the age of 18, regardless of party affiliation and voter registration status, shall elect Two Delegates, one male and one female, by direct vote, from each of the existing 435 Congressional Districts to represent the People at the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY in Philadelphia. Said Assembly shall convene on July 4, 2012 in the city of Philadelphia. [/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]The office of Delegate shall be open to all United States citizens who have reached the age of 18. Election Committees, elected by local General Assemblies from all over the United States, shall coordinate with the 99 Percent Declaration Working Group to organize, coordinate and fund this national election by direct democratic voting. The Election Committees shall operate like the original [/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]Committee of Correspondence did before the first American Revolution. [/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]II. Meeting of the National General Assembly and Deliberation:[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]At the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, the 870 Delegates shall set forth, consider and vote upon a PETITION OF GRIEVANCES to be submitted to all members of Congress, The Supreme Court and President and each of the political candidates running in the nationwide Congressional and Presidential election in November 2012. The Delegates of the National General Assembly shall vote upon and implement their own agenda, propagate their own rules and elect or appoint committee members as the Delegates see fit to accomplish their goal of presenting a PETITION OF GRIEVANCES from the 99% of Americans before the 2012 elections.[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]III. Proposed Petition for the Redress of Grievances:[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]The PETITION OF GRIEVANCES shall be non-partisan and address the critical issues now confronting the People of the United States. The Delegates shall deliberate and vote upon proposals for the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES in consultation with the People as the delegates to the first two Continental Congresses [/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif]GRIEVANCES voted upon by the Delegates of the National General Assembly MAY or MAY NOTinclude the following suggested issues: [/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office, from Individuals, Corporations, Political Action Committees, Super Political Action Committees, Lobbyists, Unions and all other private sources of money to be replaced by the fair and equal public financing of all federal political campaigns. We categorically REJECT the concept that money is equal to free speech because if that were so, then only the wealthiest would have a voice. These actions must be taken because it has become clear that politicians in the United States cannot regulate themselves and have become the exclusive representatives of corporations, unions and the very wealthy who spend vast sums of money on political campaigns to influence the candidates’ decisions and ensure their reelection year after year.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]2. The immediate reversal, [/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif]even if it requires a Constitutional Amendment, [/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif]of the outrageous and anti-democratic holding in the "Citizen United" case by the Supreme Court, which equates the payment of money by corporations, wealthy individuals and unions to politicians with free speech. We, the People, demand that institutional bribery and corruption not be deemed protected speech.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]3. Prohibiting all federal public officials and their immediate family members, whether elected or appointed, from EVER being employed by any corporation they regulate while in office and/or holding any stock or shares in any corporation they regulate while in office until a full 5 years after their term is completed. [/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]4. A complete lifetime ban on accepting all gifts, services, money, directly or indirectly, to any elected or appointed federal officials or their immediate family members, from any person, corporation, union or other entity that the public official was charged to regulate while in office.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]5. A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require ALL citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax breaks, exemptions and deductions, subsidies (e.g. oil, gas and farm) and ending all other methods of evading taxes. The current system of taxation favors the wealthiest Americans, many of whom, pay fewer taxes to the United States Treasury than citizens who earn much less and pay a much higher percentage of income in taxes to the United States Treasury. We, like Warren Buffet, find this income tax disparity to be fundamentally unjust.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]6. Medicare for all American citizens or another single payer healthcare system adjusted by a means test (i.e. citizens who can afford it may opt-out and pay their own health insurance or opt-in and pay a means tested premium). The Medicaid program, fraught with corruption and fraud, will be eliminated except for the purpose of providing emergency room care to indigent non-citizens who will not be covered by the single-payer program.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]7. New comprehensive regulations to give the Environmental Protection Agency expanded powers to shut down corporations, businesses or any entities that intentionally or recklessly damage the environment and/or criminally prosecute individuals who intentionally damage the environment. We also demand the immediate adoption of the most recent international protocols, including the "Washington Declaration to cap carbon emissions and implement new and existing programs to transition away from fossil fuels to reusable or [/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]carbon neutral sources of power.[/FONT]


[FONT=georgia, serif]8. Adoption of an immediate plan to reduce the national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020. Reduction of the national debt to be achieved by BOTH a cut in spending to corporations engaged in perpetual war for profit, the "healthcare" industry, the pharmaceutical industry and all other sectors that use the federal budget as their income stream AND a truly progressive income tax code that does not allow the wealthy and corporations to evade taxes through excessive deductions, subsidies and loopholes. We agree that spending cuts are necessary but those cuts must be made to facilitate what is best for the People of the United States of America, not multinational and domestic corporations. [/FONT]
 
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myj

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[FONT=georgia, serif]99 Percent Declaration - Second Part[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif][/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]9. Passage of a comprehensive job and job-training act like the American Jobs Act to employ our citizens in jobs that are available with specialized training and by putting People to work now by repairing America's crumbling infrastructure. We also recommend the establishment of an online international job exchange to match employers with skilled workers or employers willing to train workers in 21st century skills.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]10. Student loan debt relief. Our young People and students are more than $830 billion in debt from education loans alone. Payment and interest on these debts should be deferred for periods of unemployment and the principal on these loans reduced using a corporate tax surcharge.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]11. Immediate passage of the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration and border security reform including offering visas, lawful permanent resident status and citizenship to the world’s brightest People to stay and work in our industries and schools after they obtain their education and training in the United States.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]12. Recalling all military personnel at all non-essential bases and refocusing national defense goals to address threats posed by the geopolitics of the 21st century, including terrorism and limiting the large scale deployment of military forces to instances where Congressional approval has been granted to counter the Military Industrial Complex's goal of perpetual war for profit.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]13. Mandating new educational goals to train the American public to perform jobs in a 21st Century economy, particularly in the areas of technology and green energy, taking into consideration the redundancy caused by technology and the inexpensive cost of labor in China, India and other countries and paying our teachers a competitive salary commensurate with the salaries of employees in the private sector with similar skills. [/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]14. Subject to the elimination of corporate tax loopholes and exploited exemptions and deductions stated above, offering tax incentives to businesses to remain in the United States and hire its citizens rather than outsource jobs and reconstruct the manufacturing capacity of the United States. In conjunction with a new jobs act, reinstitution of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps or a similar emergency governmental agency tasked with creating new public works projects to provide jobs to the 46 million People living in poverty, the 9.1% unemployed and 10% underemployed.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]15. Implementing of immediate legislation to encourage China and our other trading partners to end currency manipulation and reduce the trade deficit.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]16. Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act and increased regulation of Wall Street and the financial industry by the SEC, FINRA and the other financial regulators, and the commencement of a Justice Department criminal investigations into the Securities and Banking industries practices that led to the collapse of markets, $700 billion bail-out, and financial firm failures in 2007-2008.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]17. Adoption of a plan similar to President Clinton’s proposal to end the mortgage crisis and instead of the Federal Reserve continuing to lower interest rates for loans to banks who are refusing to loan to small businesses and consumers, the Federal Reserve shall buy all underwater or foreclosed mortgages and refinance these debts at 1% or less to be managed by the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and foreclosure task force described below) because 1% or less is the interest rate the Federal Reserve loans to the banks directly who hoard the cash rather than loan it to the People and small businesses.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]18. An immediate one year freeze on all foreclosures to be reviewed by an independent foreclosure task force appointed by Congress and the Executive Branch to (in conjunction with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau[/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif] [/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif]) [/FONT][FONT=georgia, serif]determine, on a case by case basis, whether foreclosure proceedings should continue based on the circumstances of each homeowner and propriety of the financial institution's conduct.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]19. Subject to the above ban on all private money and gifts in politics, to enact additional campaign finance reform requiring free air time and public campaign finances to all candidates who obtain sufficient petition signatures and/or votes to participate in the primaries and/or electoral process, to shorten the campaign season and to allow voting on weekends and holidays.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]20. An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a substantial increase in the amount of funding needed for veteran job placement and the treatment of the physical and emotional injuries sustained by veterans in these wars. Our veterans are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate and we must help now.[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia, serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=georgia, serif]BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that IF the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES approved by the 870 Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY in consultation with the PEOPLE, is not acted upon by Congress, the President, and Supreme Court, to the satisfaction of the Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, said Delegates shall organize a THIRD, COMPLETELY NON-PARTISAN, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY to run candidates for every available Congressional seat in the mid-term election of 2014 and again in 2016 until all vestiges of the existing corrupt corporatocracy have been removed by the ballot box.[/FONT]
 
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ARBITER01

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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that IF the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES approved by the 870 Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY in consultation with the PEOPLE, is not acted upon by Congress, the President, and Supreme Court, to the satisfaction of the Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, said Delegates shall organize a THIRD, COMPLETELY NON-PARTISAN, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY to run candidates for every available Congressional seat in the mid-term election of 2014 and again in 2016 until all vestiges of the existing corrupt corporatocracy have been removed by the ballot box.

That's where you are going to fail, and where the tea party was much smarter than you kids.

Go ahead, Ross Perot tried the independent party thing, and only succeeded in splitting a vote.
 
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Aeneas

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No, I wouldn't take a doctor seriously if he was essentially asking ME such a question. But verticordious' point doesn't rely on his properly identifying in which historical document the rights to life, private ownership, and liberty are listed. His argument is merely that such rights as having your student loans forgiven, or a guaranteed job after earning a post-secondary degree are not listed anywhere.

They are listed in a document that isn't part of the legal corpus of the United States... So they aren't really relevant.
 
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Aeneas

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this country is so divided, so sad.

There are many to blame for the economic turmoil this country is in.

Our government....taking our hard earned monies, and using it on nonsense. The most recent, blowing up a bridge, to save endangered fish....FISH!!

How is saving endangered species "nonsense"?
 
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dcyates

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They are listed in a document that isn't part of the legal corpus of the United States... So they aren't really relevant.
I assume you're referring to that so-called 99% Declaration/list of demands. If so, I agree, it's not really relevant -- nor is it realistic.
 
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dcyates

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How is saving endangered species "nonsense"?
Naturally, saving endangered species isn't nonsense; as God's people, his representatives, we're supposed to be good stewards of his creation. But at the same time, we shouldn't allow that concern to become so predominant that it paralyzes us into inaction.
How on earth does a bridge endanger the existence of any species of fish?!?
 
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revelations12_12

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Worse, it's pure, unadulaterated, unvarnished evil.

I feel that raping the American economy and all of its people is what could be called, pure unadulaterated, unvarnished evil...

Why should a few thousand people get to own everything on this planet, when there are almost 8 billion souls on board. I don't think that is what Jesus wanted, especially since those few thousand people are the embodiment of evil.

I think God might want us to stand up for his planet and fight them, just sayin...

The American spring just might be coming to a town near you which side will you be on?
 
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ARBITER01

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I feel that raping the American economy and all of its people is what could be called, pure unadulaterated, unvarnished evil...

Why should a few thousand people get to own everything on this planet, when there are almost 8 billion souls on board. I don't think that is what Jesus wanted, especially since those few thousand people are the embodiment of evil.

I think God might want us to stand up for his planet and fight them, just sayin...

The American spring just might be coming to a town near you which side will you be on?

I'll be on the side of the tea party since they are adults about their approach. Besides, they are organized and already affecting change in our country without having to resort to creating and fostering environments of martyrdom for victim-hood. I mean really, ows wants another kent state so they can coerce support? Yea right, you sure fooled us.

The Robin Hood economic model is nowhere in our bible, stop supporting it.
 
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I'll be on the side of the tea party since they are adults about their approach. Besides, they are organized and already affecting change in our country without having to resort to creating and fostering environments of martyrdom for victim-hood. I mean really, ows wants another kent state so they can coerce support? Yea right, you sure fooled us.

The Robin Hood economic model is nowhere in our bible, stop supporting it.
Good post.

Stealing from the rich to give to the poor seems to appeal to some, but the greed and envy and jealousy on the part of those to whom it appeals, and who seem so totally justified with such lawlessness, is very scary indeed.

It also ignores the roots of the problem, which cannot be ascribed to those they want to blame for having more than they do. The root of the problem is a spiritual one, with those supporting such anarchy and bedlam wholly given over to purely selfish motives.
 
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ARBITER01

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Good post.

Stealing from the rich to give to the poor seems to appeal to some, but the greed and envy and jealousy on the part of those to whom it appeals, and who seem so totally justified with such lawlessness, is very scary indeed.

It also ignores the roots of the problem, which cannot be ascribed to those they want to blame for having more than they do. The root of the problem is a spiritual one, with those supporting such anarchy and bedlam wholly given over to purely selfish motives.

That's a good post from you also!

All one has to do as a Christian is look in their bible to see if Jesus ever said: "steal from the rich and give to the poor."

I mean really, that economic model portrayed by ows is laced with jealousy, envy, hated, and theft,.. none of which has anything to do with Christianity. Jesus never taught it, and none of His followers ever taught it.

As you said, it is all selfish motives, spruced up to look viable to a dumb electorate. It's promoted by secular individuals because that is where it originates from.
 
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