Big Business
Big business basically owns our government right now. There are people out there saying that you can not tax the "job creators" and yet taxes are at their lowest levels in years, but unemployment remains high. Where are those "job creators"? Banks and oil companies have recently reported record profits, but how have they come by those profits? On the backs of-from the wallets of-the American consumer! You and me! Banks have closed branches and cut jobs, raised fees and cut services, toughened loan requirements (a good thing) but also refused to loan to stable, eligible small businesses. Banking is such a profitable enterprise that now even my insurance company (like insurance companies don't already make enough money) is offering banking services. We need to re-regulate the financial services sector of our economy back to the levels imposed after the Great Depression. Banks were stable for over 60 years while being regulated, but within 10 years of the beginning of deregulation the entire banking system almost collapsed. Regulation means stability.
We are currently paying around $4.00 per gallon for gasoline and that will probably go higher. Who is making the profit off of that? Not the guy that owns the gas station but the oil companies and the commodities speculators. Commodities speculators. They have nothing to do with the supply chain. They add no value to the product. They buy and sell things that they never actually possess, and yet they make huge profits from them. What is the tax rate on those earnings? Less than on my income from work! The profits from investments, Capital Gains, are taxed at
15%. My income from being a teacher puts me in the 25% tax bracket. These speculators, making millions of dollars while not contributing any value to the product, are not even taxed the same as a teacher, and yet they are artificially driving up the cost of gasoline. This directly and immediately drives up the cost of living for all of us, which in turn drives down the quality of living. I believe that Capital Gains should be taxed at a higher rate.
We are currently paying around $4.00 per gallon for gasoline and that will probably go higher. Who is making the profit off of that? Not the guy that owns the gas station but the oil companies and the commodities speculators. Commodities speculators. They have nothing to do with the supply chain. They add no value to the product. They buy and sell things that they never actually possess, and yet they make huge profits from them. What is the tax rate on those earnings? Less than on my income from work! The profits from investments, Capital Gains, are taxed at
15%. My income from being a teacher puts me in the 25% tax bracket. These speculators, making millions of dollars while not contributing any value to the product, are not even taxed the same as a teacher, and yet they are artificially driving up the cost of gasoline. This directly and immediately drives up the cost of living for all of us, which in turn drives down the quality of living. I believe that Capital Gains should be taxed at a higher rate.
