Is there some new kind of development in the United States in which Non-Profit organizations campaign for specific programs, philosophies or political parties?  It is not news that BIG business and the Republican Party is chomping at the bit to “REFORM” Social Security, and Medicare.  The intrusion of a supposedly NON-biased, NON-PROFIT organization like the United States Chamber of Commerce into the political arena can only further the opinion of most political experts, that BIG BUSINESS intends to play a HEAVY in upcoming elections to try and silence the voices of those who want MAJOR Congressional Reforms!

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The whole idea of TWO Multi-Millionaire Republican Candidates representing the Republican Party as their choice to run for President against President Obama clearly demonstrates their mission.  Newt Gingrich was drummed out of the Republican party when they kicked him out of his position as House Majority Leader.  His lack of recognition that there actually is poverty in the United States, and his philandering became too much for the “grand ole party” to tolerate. Then we get pretty boy Romney, the son of a multi-millionaire former Governor of Michigan, and a multi-millionaire corporate raider, who isn’t really worried about the “poor” in America.  Massachusetts Governor Romney’s record as governor of that state should be enough to make even the most novice of political outsiders shy away from the former governor.  

Both Republican candidates want desperately to end the “free ride” that has saved the lives of so many elderly people who have reached retirement age.  Literally hundreds of millions of dollars will be poured into this presidential campaign and election just so the Republican Party can gain both the presidency and control of Congress, with the intent of ending Social Security and Medicare as we now know it. Who will benefit from such an accomplishment? The RICH, the VERY, VERY RICH! 

Why else would the U.S. Chamber of Commerce abandon their pretense of being unbiased and take an active role in attempting to defeat any Democratic Candidate that is in favor of preserving Social Security and Medicare.  You will see more and more supposedly “Independent” organizations (like the Swift Boat debacle of the Kerry/Bush elections) come out of the woodwork, who are supposedly representing an independent point of view.  This is an old, tired, and worn out mode of operation that the Republicans use every major election since back when Dick Nixon ran for office. 

If you are an elderly person who depends of Social Security or Medicare, you better get out of your recliner and VOTE DEMOCRATIC in the next election, or you may be sitting by your mailbox waiting for a Social Security check that will never arrive. I also believe the designation of NON-Profit or Not-for Profit designation should be immediately removed from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Then today, I am sitting comfortably on my kingsize bed in my master suite watching the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans battle it out in the playoffs, when I see Rush Limbaugh. RUSH LIMBAUGH, the guy who speaks out of every orifice at the same time. The same Rush Limbaugh who lost his hearing or eyesight from doing too many drugs? The same Rush Limbaugh who has diarrhea of the mouth each time he opens it up to lambaste Bill Clinton. That is former President Bill Clinton, who DID balance the budget, and was Paying Off the National Debt, and who left REPUBLICAN George W. Bush a 200 Million SURPLUS, when he left office. 

Now, with a Democratic President in Barack Obama trying to get Congress to provide EVERY AMERICAN with Health Care, and fair taxes, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich re-emerge to business as usual, spewing lies and innuendo from their serpentine orifices in hopes of defeating Obama, and putting a bible toting Republican back in office. DO YOU PEOPLE REMEMBER HOW LOW UNEMPLOYMENT WAS UNDER CLINTON? DO YOU REMEMBER HOW GOOD THE ECONOMY WAS UNDER BILL CLINTON? DO YOU WANT ANOTHER DEBACLE LIKE WE HAD WITH NICE GUY, BUFFOON GW BUSH? Well, if you don’t wake up for once in your lives, and listen to the facts, and see who the Republican spin machines are trying to put back into office as President, it WILL BE WORST!

I personally would not trust either Limbaugh or Gingrich to wash my underwear. In fact, I am not too sure they don’t wash each others. You have a failed politician, who dumps his sick and terminally ill wife, and a drug addicted Disc Jockey, who wants to get back in power (where the money is), so they can put the screws to all of the rest of us! 

THINK AMERICA, THINK AND DO RESEARCH AND DON’T MAKE THE GW BUSH MISTAKE AGAIN. THINGS ARE BAD ENOUGH ALREADY!

BUT THEN I KNOW “YOU CAN’T TAKE THE TRUTH!”

Karl Rove (Former Republican Chair) has amassed Millions of dollars from private corporate donations which he funnels to candidates who are in opposition to Democratic candidates who wish to extend unemployment for out of work Americans; to candidates who wish to abolish Social Security (in favor of keeping lower taxes for Billionaires); to abolish Medicare which is another target for destruction of the Republican Party and the so-called Tea Party.

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Karl Rove is a dangerous menace to democratic elections across the United States.  If the Republican Party and their underling the Tea Party are allowed to have their way, the Very, Very Rich will continue to undercut any form of social programs for ordinary Americans, so they can save on taxes.

The next presidential election will be the ultimate test for YOU average America, to decide if you want to continue to vote for the very people (or party) that is the biggest threat to your future retirement, and the health and welfare of your children and grandchildren. Any vote for a Republican or Tea Party candidate is a vote for the future END of Social Security, Medicare, and any form of Healthcare for all Americans!

But then I know “You Can’t Take the Truth!”

This is yet another indicator of how insensitive, and malfeasance the Republican Party has come when it comes to protecting their RICH benefactors!  Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow even FOREIGN corporations to contribute untold amounts in support of their Republican lackeys, the Republican Party has boldly stated repeatedly that they WILL keep U.S. tax rates as low as possible for their “SUGAR DADDIES”!

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President Obama has vowed to VETO and such bill which would increase expenses for the Elderly, the Disabled or the unemployed, a position which seems irrelevant to the Republican Party who are actually thinking of electing NEWT GINGRICH or MITT ROMNEY as a SOLUTION to the Economic problems in the United States today.  Those are the same Economic Problems that were indisputably caused, originated, began, created by the Republican Party’s staunchest supporters, Wall Street and BIG Business! 

NO KIDDING NEWT GINGRICH who was virtually kicked out of Congress by his own party, and who made his fortune as a key “Adviser” to Haliburton whose former President former Vice President Cheney, also reaped rewards for “No Bid” contracts during the Iraq War!

OR

MITT ROMNEY who is best known for his repeated debate gaffes and being a Mormon.  Mr. Romney is a pretty boy, but do you really want someone with that little amount of experience in government, and NO experience in either the US House or Senate trying to solve massive economic problems.  Remember this is the party of the BUSHES (George senior & GW junior). Both father and son increased the national debt to all time record levels while in office. And don’t forget that it was GW Bush who got us into a war with Iraq and Afghanistan, and screwed up the BALANCED BUDGET OF BILL CLINTON, who also was paying off the national debt!

ONCE AGAIN I BEG OF YOU TO VOTE ALL REPUBLICAN OFFICE HOLDERS OUT OF OFFICE UNTIL THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR DISREGARD FOR AVERAGE AMERICANS IS NOT TOLERABLE!

But THEN I KNOW “YOU CAN’T TAKE THE TRUTH!”

Even after Warren Buffet (one of the richest men in the world) stated “quit coddling my billionaire friends and me,” imploring Republicans in Congress to raise taxes on the richest Americans.  Many of the richest Americans in this country pay little or no taxes.  Mr. Buffet illustrated how his tax rate of 19% of his taxable income, was far less than most of his staff, who paid anywhere from 31% to 45% of their taxable income.  

However, any and all efforts by President Obama and the Democrats in Congress to even out this serious deficiency in the tax code, has been pronounced to be “Class Warfare” by the Republican Party.  In a typical Republican strategy, the new montra of Republican officeholders is to designate any attempt to tax the very richest Americans a fair, comparable rate “CLASS WARFARE”.  Millions of dollars in political donations provided by the richest Americans to the Republican Party and their offspring the Republican Tea Party continue to pour into the Republican re-election coffers. 

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This latest strategy by the “gran ole party” to use scare tactics in associating popular “tag lines” such as “Class Warfare” (usually associated with the poorest Americans), to cast a negative light on taxes for billionaires has reached a new deceptive low.  Republicans in both the Republican Party and the Republican Tea Party, secretly want to tear apart the Social Security entitlement program, and eliminate both Medicare and Medicaid.  This effort, as well as their devotion to NEVER allow a National Health Care program for the poor and elderly, has clearly delineated the battle lines of the two parties.

Virtually all economist in the United States have agreed with elements of President Obama’s National Jobs for American’s stimulus program, such as rebuilding infrastructure in the US.  The Federal Government’s investment in rebuilding roads, bridges, railways in the United States will put Americans to work, and spin off countless new businesses employing more and more of the unemployed.

However, Republicans in Congress are willing to deny even members of their own constituency new jobs,  and much needed financial relief, rather than support any efforts by the Democratic President to pull the U.S. out of its financial crisis.  They believe they only have to tough it out for another 14 months, and they will be able to regain the presidency.  And we all know how good the last Republican president performed, former President George W. Bush Jr., who committed this country to two useless wars, and TRILLIONS of wasted taxpayer dollars.  But then you know “They Can’t Take the Truth!”

05/15/2011

The Rich Get Richer: Legalized Wealthy and Corporate Tax Dodging

            A hybrid sports car costing one hundred thousand dollars or a one hundred foot yacht as a new primary residence is considered a reasonable tax write off in the United States’ current tax system. Need is not differentiated from extravagant luxury purchases when it comes to corporate business expenses. Budget cuts, rising health care costs and the impending collapse of our economy (whose budget is never balanced) sends our country deeper into debt each and every year. According to the article In Oregon, Regional Colleges Struggle to Overcome Shortfalls, author  Karin Fischer explains that “budget cuts, due to Oregon’s unstable tax structure, forced the university to fire twenty-four faculty members and raise tuition in order to keep the university open at all” (2007, p.A16). Our government needs more revenue to support important causes such as Planned Parenthood, education and basic public health care. At the same time, Oregon voters have repeatedly voted down measures such as a sales tax as well as other increased taxes that would boost tax revenues. Are we simply victims of a capitalist system, doomed to let any form of socialism disappear from the face of our country because we don’t want to pay more taxes? I contend that we do not need more taxes but we need to reform our tax structure. This can be achieved shifting the tax burden from the poor to the wealthy, and closing the loopholes that allow wealthy individuals to hide behind their corporations and itemize their tax deductions until they pay little to no taxes at all. Tax advocates and other reformists tend to focus on implementing new taxes, which are resisted in the voting booth, tend to be regressive and are hard to integrate into our current tax system. Tax reform can be slow and complicated and requires active participation by voters, but the results are necessary and worth every bit of effort.

            Closing tax loopholes for wealthy individuals seems to be the quickest, fairest and most effective method of raising tax revenues as opposed to creating new regressive taxes such as a national sales tax. Examination of the IRS’s Schedule A form reveals a very conspicuous loophole. Author Cassandra Ingraham (accountant and tax class instructor in San Francisco) reports, “if a household’s income is over $156,400(couple) or $78,200(individual) there is no limit on the number of exemptions that household can claim on their tax return,” in the article, Understanding the IRS’s Largest Tax Loopholes, Can Lead to Your Own Financial Growth (2010, p.1). Additionally, itemized deductions are limited for households/individuals who earn less than the aforementioned amounts. Is it fair or logical that people who make more money should be allowed to claim more tax relief than those who make less money? Big Oil and national gas companies are recording record profits, wealthy businessmen are showing no profit for an entire year by abusing tax deductions, and landowners can pay no property taxes by exploiting agricultural tax loopholes. Many of these loopholes are unknown to the public and seem to lack common sense that most people use in their daily lives. Germany’s tax structure solved many loophole issues and requires the wealthy to carry an increased tax burden in an equitable manner. Germany should be used as an example for the US tax system, because our current tax system allows the wealthy to claim as many tax refunds they want while forcing the poor and the middle class to carry the heaviest tax burden.

Regressive taxes and the need for reform (focus on a national sales tax)

            Tax reform is a liquid topic and there are many methods and theories on what is the best way to meet our budget demands. An example is the proposed national sales tax that would eliminate income taxes altogether. At surface level, this idea appears to be fair and progressive. Closer examination shows that a single national sales tax is regressive and will weaken our overall tax structure. The concept of a national sales tax is easy to grasp. Proponents of a national sales tax suggest we remove the federal income tax, and raise all government tax revenue through products people buy. The idea that people are only taxed on what they purchase seems fair, but there are several issues that make sales taxes hard to enforce and a less viable alternative. In fact, a national sales tax may actually create new loopholes. Most states do not collect sales taxes for goods purchased on the internet. What a convenient way to circumvent a sales tax… Just buy your next TV, T-shirt or DVD player on the internet. Oversimplifying a tax structure may make revenue streams much less stable. Diversity typically provides stability within a tax structure and lack of stability creates problems that may lead to revenue loss. Oregon and Washington provide excellent examples of the absence of tax diversity. Washington does not have an income tax and compensates by having a higher sales tax. Oregon has no sales tax and compensates with higher income and property taxes. Oregon and Washington are facing almost identical budget shortfalls and every year face the largest budget cuts to education, health care and other social programs due to lack of diversity. These two states provide a profound example why oversimplifying our tax system by changing to a national sales tax is a questionable or bad idea.

            A less apparent issue of a regressive sales tax is the fact that poor and middle class families and individuals must spend larger proportions of their income than the wealthy. According to author David Cay Johnston in the article Eat the Poor, “the average income for the bottom half of taxpayers was $15,300 per year in 2007” (2011, p.9). People making less than $9,350 per year are exempt from any federal income taxes but still pay taxes such as import taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes and many others. While these taxes are necessary to support our economy the poor people of our society spend a much larger portion of their income in order to survive. Increased taxes on food and clothing penalize the poor who must spend more of their money in relation to how much they make. Saving money is often not an option at all as people struggle to put food on the table, and provide the many essentials of life for their families. The disposable income of middle class and poor families has steadily decreased since 1975.  In the past, people used to be able to graduate from high school find a “regular” job purchase a house, buy two cars and support a family. In 2011, it is nearly impossible for a high school graduate to accomplish family goals without some kind formal education outside of high school. Competition for jobs is intense. The increased need for education, not only removes a person from the workforce, but often requires them to go into debt in the form of financial aid. Present circumstances dictate that we must consider how we can fairly increase revenues to support our state and federal governments.

Capital gains/losses and the Job Creation Act of 2004

            Tax deductions called “capital losses” are commonly exploited tax loopholes. Most capital losses benefit the wealthy as they typically apply to landlords and corporations. Real estate write-offs account for some of the most commonly abused tax laws in the US. Landowners such as Donald Trump can literally show no net profit for entire year by itemizing deductions. If a corporation has outstanding loans used to pay for land or buildings, the amount can be deducted from their tax returns. In addition, hazard insurance is another common form of tax evasion. Donald Trump, as an example, can deduct all of the hazard insurance on his many hotels from the overall net profits generated by his empire. Unfortunately, the average citizen is not permitted to deduct home-owner’s insurance (almost identical to hazard insurance) from their overall tax bill. Ironically, our government gives multi-billion dollar corporations tax breaks for the same type of insurance. Real-estate property taxes are deductible as well. While this may help some families it really does not help anyone who does not own their own home and in the case of large corporations, may account for large tax deductions allowing the corporation to avoid contributing to the US economy. There are several other deductions that corporations and wealthy landowner’s take advantage of as well. These include: property management costs, legal costs and lawyer’s fees, as well as settlements and accountant’s fees. All of these deductions benefit the wealthy since many poor and middle class families and individuals are not even aware of their existence.

Property depreciation deduction is currently one of the largest loopholes in the US tax structure concerning corporations. According to tax consultant Mark E. Battersby (financial and tax consultant in Pennsylvania) in the article, Depreciation deduction available for leased property, “property owners are allowed to deduct up to 30% of a building’s overall value in the first year of ownership” (p.43). The IRS assumes that a building will depreciate to a value of $0 over a period of 27.5 years. After the first year the owner can continue claiming tax deductions for depreciation for that building for the next 26 years. Let’s imagine building is owned by a wealthy person, such as Bill Gates, and he leases this building owns to a corporation called Microsoft. Bill Gates the landowner can deduct any improvements made to that building even though he is leasing it to a corporation he owns. Closing this loophole will lower deductions Bill Gates can claim from property depreciation. Improvements that increase a building’s value can be taxed, but not surprisingly, there is a way around this as well. If the Microsoft Corporation deems that the workspace does not meet their work requirements and chooses to make improvements to the leased space, the Microsoft Corporation can write off these improvements as business expenses. As a landowner, Bill Gates did not pay for any improvements to the property himself, and therefore, can still claim property depreciation while the Microsoft Corporation gets a tax break for business expenses. The current US tax structure is systemically inequitable.

Not only do corporations and wealthy individuals enjoy a plethora of ever increasing tax loopholes, but they are taxed at a reduced rate on capital gains made in other countries. Capital gains loopholes are justified by the idea that keeping tax rates low will return money to the US economy. Unfortunately, the Job Creation Act backfired. In the article Eat the Poor, author David Cay Johnston explains that “A corporate tax rate that is too low actually causes job loss” (p.11) He goes on to explain that the “Job Creation Act let over eight-hundred companies return profits to the US at a 5.25% tax rate instead of the normal 35% tax rate” (p.11). In other words, the US government allowed these companies to skip out on taxes after they had outsourced thousands of jobs, making the assumption that extra money brought in at a lower tax rate would somehow create jobs. This has had the opposite effect on our economy. We have lost revenue that would have been generated from outsourced business and lost jobs at the same time. The Job Creation Act actually encourages companies to outsource their jobs because labor is cheaper and tax rates are lower in many other countries. Johnston to explains, “Almost one-hundred thousand job losses can be linked to the Job Creation Act of 2004” (p.11). The federal government is coming up with more and more tax cuts with idea that they will stimulate the economy, when they simply need to sew up the holes they have created in the first place. Instead, we are creating new holes in our tax structure and wondering why the US tax bag fails to hold water.

Agricultural “ag tax” loophole.

Another great example of a tax loophole pertains to land tagged as agricultural property. Colorado offers huge property tax discounts to farmers in order to offset real costs of maintaining a functioning farm. While, I don’t disagree that many small farmers could not function without these tax breaks, it is extremely easy for non-farmers to exploit this particular loophole. According to an article in the Denver Post titled Close overused ag tax loophole, “There is no minimum acreage for land (in Colorado) to be considered used for agriculture purposes and there are no minimum time limits for its agricultural use or production values.” (2010, Denver Post). This means that wealthy homeowners can allow cattle to graze on their land for less than a week and receive an agricultural land designation. The Denver Post provides an example, stating: “A commercial lot valued at $425,000 would normally pay a little over $11,000 dollars in property taxes. If designated as agricultural land the property value changes to $38 and the property tax decreases to 95 cents.” (2010, Denver Post). Oregon and other states have similar laws that allow landowner’s to legally avoid paying property taxes. With tax loopholes such as these, it is easy to see why our country is experiencing problems generating tax revenue.

Big Oil and natural gas company loopholes.

            Natural gas and oil companies claim a large portion of US tax breaks as well. According to author Sima J. Gandhi in the article Eliminating Tax Subsidies for Oil Companies, “oil companies currently claim four billion dollars a year in federal tax relief” (2010, AmericanProgress.org). Natural gas and oil companies are producing record profits. According to Daniel J. Weiss and Valeri Vasquez in the article The Facts of Big Oil’s tax loopholes and windfall profits, “oil companies’ profits have increased 38% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010. While banking record profits Oil companies only pay federal tax at a rate of 17.6% annually compared to the 20.4% of average Americans” (2011, ClimateProgress.org). Despite hefty tax breaks, gas prices continue to rise in the US and big oil and natural gas companies make larger unprecedented profits while average Americans tighten their belts.

One tax break Natural Gas and Big Oil companies receive is titled “Intangible Drilling Costs.” Vague titles seem to be a norm for tax loopholes. This loophole allows oil companies to deduct virtually all of their expenses including employee wages, equipment, repair costs shipping and almost everything that oil companies purchase to drill for oil. According to author Sima J. Gandhi, “this tax loophole alone will cost the US approximately $7.85 billion over the next ten years” (2011, AmericanProgress.org). Another tax exemption for oil companies includes the “deductions for tertiary injectants.” This term is included in US tax code and literally refers to the chemicals that the companies use to extract oil and natural gas from the earth. Fracture drilling is a common method of extracting natural gas and has serious environmental consequences. Tertiary injectant costs can also be included under the “intangible drilling costs loophole,” but there is a new category called “tertiary injectant deductions” to ensure that the company will not have to pay for the chemicals they use daily. Gandhi goes on to explain that “Another allowable deduction is called percentage depletion allowance, allowing oil and gas companies to deduct 15% of the total revenue that has been generated by well as long as it is still producing some oil” (2011, AmericanProgress.org). This is very similar to the aforementioned property depreciation deduction. Imagine a well that formerly produced oil valued at five hundred million dollars. This well no longer produces oil at the same rate did six months earlier. A skeleton crew can be kept working on the site and as long as they can produce any measurable amount of oil from that well, the company is allowed to deduct 15% of the five hundred million dollars from their tax bill. Other tax deductions available to oil companies include: passive investments, domestic manufacturing tax deductions, geological and geophysical expenditures, foreign tax credit, enhanced oil recovery credit and marginal well production. According to Gandhi, “All of these deductions will total about $45 billion over the next ten years” (2011, AmericanProgress.org).

German tax structure: Policy and success

            Germany provides an excellent example of a balanced tax structure that promotes business and economic growth, while protecting the poor and middle class at the same time. Germany has seven clear categories which have taxable income and these include: agriculture and forestry, trade and business, independent personal services, employment, capital investment, rents and royalties, and other sources of revenue. These categories are subject to different tax rates based on the needs of the economy and their effects on job creation. Income taxes are individually based. Individuals that make less than EUR7,664 ($10,964) do not have to pay less than 15% in income taxes. Individuals that earn between EUR7,664 ($10,964) and EUR52,152 ($74,606) pay a 15% income tax rate and individuals that earn over EUR52,152 ($74,606) pay a 42% income tax. These amounts are doubled for all married couples who file jointly. Understandably, these rates are applied to protect the poor and middle class and make the wealthy carry a larger portion of the tax burden. German tax laws also tax corporations while promoting economic growth. All German based companies and companies who have branches in Germany must pay 25% of their total profits. According to the Lubek Business Development Corporation (LBDC) in the report German Tax System, “The corporate tax rate is 25% without regards to distribution or retention” (2005, p.4). This means that the company must pay the 25% tax rate even if they reinvest the money into their company. This straight forward approach makes collecting taxes from large corporations much less complicated. Dividends and profits are taxed at a higher rate when they are paid to individuals. According to the LBDC, “This is called the half-income method. Only half of the total amount paid can be taxed and therefore only half of a company’s expenses can be deducted on their tax return” (2005, p.4). While the tax rate is high, it still encourages German companies to reinvest in their companies because the profits are taxed at the lower rate of 25% when they reinvest profits in the company. Germany’s gross domestic product has been growing even with the increased tax rates and the current tax system provides many services for the people of Germany.

            The German tax structure pays for education, health-care and social-welfare. Tuition is not required to attend most German Universities. Students are admitted based on merit and desire, while options exist for vocational or trade schools for students looking for an education directly applicable to a specific trade. German citizens all benefit from universal health care. Workers are required to sign up for a health care plan which is financed by each workers income tax and is deducted from their paycheck. According to Kaiser EDU in their online section pertaining to International Health Systems, “Nearly all 82 million people of the German population are covered by health insurance, with the only exception being some wealthy individuals who opt for private health insurance,” (2010, p.1). The income tax covers long-term care, accident insurance and all other health insurance. Furthermore, most German hospitals are publicly run while private practices and personal doctors tend to be private practices. German residents pay higher taxes, but their government provides services to justify the higher taxes.

 The opposition argues that providing these government services would discourage people from working and ultimately lead to greater unemployment and the eventual demise of the country. Sweden is currently facing this issue because their welfare system pays too much money to unemployed individuals. While this idea makes sense at face value, the statistics collected on the Germany tax structure do not support this hypothesis. According to New York Times author Judy Dempsy in her article titled German Unemployment Down for 12th Straight Month, “Unemployment  declined in Germany from 7.7 percent to 7.5 percent in one month alone,” (2010, p.1). Weekend shifts are being added and companies are thriving. The US’s current unemployment rate is currently sitting at 8.7 percent and the trend has been increasing unemployment rather than reducing it. In addition to falling unemployment rates, the German gross domestic product has been increasing. This is a strong indicator that their current tax structure is encouraging people to work and businesses to expand. The graphic below shows the regular growth of the German GDP from 1970 to 2009 with an over three trillion dollar increase

(World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2011)

over the last 40 years. The German system is working effectively and provides an excellent example of sustainability and success in a tax structure.

Final thoughts and conclusions

In conclusion, tax reform is an obvious need and should be a priority in the United States. I do not expect that change will happen overnight, but we must start closing tax loopholes that make the poor and middle class carry an unfair tax burden in relationship to wealthy individuals and corporations. While some tax breaks are necessary to business, the idea of tax breaks to stimulate the economy has been taken to extremes in the US and the system does not work.  Every year schools face more, budget cuts, our health care system threatens to bankrupt the country and we rely on foreign loans which send our country deeper and deeper into debt. Limiting itemized deductions that are available to the wealthy should be a priority. Closing loopholes such as the property depreciation deductions, and clearly and logically defining exemptions such as agricultural land, is essential in reaching a balanced and equitable taxation system. Oil companies cannot be allowed to pay reduced tax rates via tax deductions while they are raising prices and recording record profits. Excuses no longer remain for not implementing new reforms when there are clear successful examples of balanced tax structures like Germany that can provide successful financial models for the United States. The time for reform is now and the wealthy won’t help us. Every American has the responsibility to spread the word and help implement a progressive and equitable taxation system.

Works Cited

Battersby, M. E. (2002). Depreciation deduction available for leased property. Urology Times pp. 43-44. Retrieved on May 14, 2011 from www.urologytimes.com.

Dempsey, J. (2010). German unemployment down for 12th straight month. [Electronic version]. New York Times, 1.

Denver Post, The. (2010). Close overused ag tax loophole. The Denver Post. [Electronic version] Retrieved on May 10, 2011 from http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_16577628

Fischer, K. (2007). In Oregon, regional colleges struggle to overcome shortfalls. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(37), A16-A17. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere on May 14, 2011.

Gandhi, S. J. (2010, May). Eliminating tax subsidies for oil companies. Center for American Progress. Retrieved on May 15, 2011 from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/05/oil_company_subsidies.html

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We are at a point where it is impossible to take care of ourselves with the supply that we have.  Add to this the dollar that is basically worth nothing and you get foreign countries charging whatever the market will bear.  While our appetite for petroleum products grows each year, our increase in oil production remains stagnant.  The US has the capability to generate 17 million barrels of oil per day but the country usage averages 22 million barrels per day.

Not all of the 17 million barrels stay in the states, either.  Laws and regulations have made it necessary to have over 100 different designer fuels.  The handful of pipelines that we have cannot handle all of these different blends.  Companies are then stuck with barrels that refineries cannot accept but other countries will.  So off it goes, cutting into the supply even more.

Environmentalists have brought new oil production in the states to a standstill.  There have been two new refineries built in the last 50 years and the existing ones are in need of serious updating, also not allowed.  New drilling is not allowed.  The EPA just turned down Shell Oil’s request to drill off the coast of Alaska because it might harm the whales.  Royal Shell spent $4 billion to the US for leases and plans then waited 5 years for a permit that would normally take 45 days.

We have lost much of the drilling in the Gulf of Mexico due to the operations that were ceased there.  Oil companies can not afford to suspend drilling for an indefinite time period when so much has been invested.  No one wants to go through the agony that was placed on BP over an oil spill that costs billions of dollars.  The fact is that oil spills take place all over the world and nature always sets it right but the U.S. cries about everything.

Congress is now trying to punish Exxon Mobil for making a profit to present to their shareholders.  Profits have not always been there in the past but you don’t hear about this.  These are companies that do not have to do business with the United States and the risk is becoming larger and larger for them.  Besides, Exxon Mobil is not an American company.  Who are we to tell them how to operate their business?  Besides, if all the oil companies were to pull out of the U.S., who would pump and refine our oil then?

We have had no foresight to see where these kinds of actions were taking us.  It takes 5-7 years to get an oil line and refinery up and running.  Alternative fuels are too high priced to be of significant value and the same with alternative energy.  It takes 20-30 years to see any type of return on these methods.

All we can do is bite the bullet and find a real go-getter with some backbone to clean up Washington.  If we are lucky, we may begin to see a change in the next decade or two.

How the Oil Company’s make so much money off those of us who use our cars for everything is that they know we are a lazy bunch, and we’ve become too dependant on the Oil Companies for everything we do. Of course we need Ambulances on the roads, the Police Cars, Firetrucks, all Emergency Organizations, but if we as a nation were to park our cars for just two days, the Oil Companies would be begging us to use their products, they’d have far too much in stock. The key here is to stifle them. Let their stocks build up, and everyone will soon see the prices of Oil and Gasoline dropping to affordable levels. Its highly unlikely that this will happen, even car-pooling doesn’t have that much effect because we the people, don’t work together.

In Canada, the prices vary from Province to Province, but generally speaking we are in the same bad boat as the rest of North America, living off the Oil Companies, too darned lazy to walk a few blocks and so we bitch about the high prices we pay for nearly everything important to us, but none of us do anything about it, such as parking our cars for a few days. When we will stand together, we will win this war of high prices we pay at the pumps and the Oil Companies won’t be in such a hurry to jack prices up again as long as they see that the people of both Nations are sticking together, and refusing to be used by them.

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Look, lets face the facts. The President of the United States hates oil, oil companies, and probably frowns at vaseline petroleum jelly. Such is his distaste for this product for Americans, even though he burns more fuel on Air Force One than any President in history. Regardless that he goes out for hamburgers with the Vice President which probably takes a motorcade of 50,  Obama wants WE, the American people to live with higher and higher gas prices so that HE can concentrate on the fallacies of totally electric cars, windmills to create electricity, and yes the lunacy of high speed trains throughout the country. This President lives in a fatasy land. How many Americans are aware that currently we are the THIRD leading oil producer in the world and havent even scratched the surface of whats out there. How many realize that even with four dollar gas, the oil companies make pennies on the dollar and the rest go to taxes and regulations. Above all our enemies abroad make billions, and use the money to tryand destroy us

As our economy teeters to the very brink of a major collapse, having four dollar per gallon oil will lend a helping hand to tip us off the cliff. The President and the Secretary of the Interior seem totally out of touch and are rather enjoying this increase so that Obama can say “told you dudes that we need those windmills” If indeed oil prices rise to that level, the economy will face its second recession in 4 years. This time it might not ever recover, and neither will Obama’s chances for reelection.

Like it or not, each of our hard earned dollars have lost a great deal of purchasing power within the economy of the United States of America. That means that we all have to spend more dollars in order to purchase the same amount of goods and services prior to the economic downturn.

Then again, if we do not have those extra required dollars because our income has not kept pace with the rate of inflation, if we wish to maintain our standard of living, we must borrow money in order to keep pace with the rate of inflation. That means that those who borrow money just go deeper into debt until all of those bills remain unpaid and we subsequently go bankrupt. Well, the worst is yet to come.

Market pressures and the greed of oil company executives are preventing the price for a barrel of crude to drop below $85.00 per barrel. There is no shortage of crude oil and those oil companies continue to earn record profits. As businesses continue to fail and more and more people become unemployed the economic situation of the United States of America can only become worse.

The next round of price increases will, most likely, create another two or three million homeless people and you better believe that I will not be one of those people. That is the same kind of thinking employed by every person who has a business and wants to remain in business. As inventory costs rise, so too will the price of the products that are sold by those businesses. As a result, food prices are now higher than a kite in a hurricane.

So, you better believe that prices will continue to rise for food, shelter and utilities until the elected politicians within the Government of The United States of America put an end to the greed of the people who are trying to own and/or control the World’s natural resources. There is no shortage of crude oil and natural gas so why do we have to pay more for those commodities?

The insane greed of the few has caused economic hardships for the many. Then again, it could be an organized attempt to bankrupt the United States of America or gain control of the Government by the owners and the controllers of those huge multinational corporations or the leaders of unknown countries. There are many forms of terrorism and economic terrorism is as bad as any other.

As such, I have reduced the miles that I drive by 90%. I use less electricity by simply not cooling my home during the summer, as long as the temperature within my home is less than 85 F.  During the winter I bundle up and heat the interior of my home only warm enough to prevent the water pipes from freezing.

Yes, I only heat the water within my hot water tank when I need to wash myself. So too, when making coffee, instead of leaving the coffee maker on to keep the coffee hot, I put that coffee into a thermos bottle where it remains hot for several hours.

There are better ways to spend your hard earned money and I am certainly not going to give most of my hard earned money to a group of filthy rich, insane and truly greedy, heartless, self-serving and selfish monsters who could truly care less if we all simply drop dead.