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Interesting, though, that he proposed no non-government solutions to that problem, but merely brought up government solutions for different problems entirely.
Koch wants a return to the big business agnosticism practiced by the federal government in the latter 1800s, when the states were progressive but the Supreme Court was packed with corporate lawyers.
True, and in the 1890's Americans were wise enough, and unafraid enough
to break up the huge monopolies which grew into monstrosities. Unrestricted
capitalism always perverts by its nature into tyrannical oppression. After the
law imposed break-ups of the railroad, telegraph and oil monopolies, new, more powerful
monopolies in banking, medicine, technology, entertainment and information
(in all industries, because the monopoly which owns the banks owns them all)
emerged in the following decades, advanced by wars and mutated into
into a transnational, unelected shadow government.
The tip of the spear of resistance to these monopolies rests not in America,
which is incapable of doing the right thing again, but is increasing with power
in other countries, such as the new left in South America, the Degrowth
movement in Europe, and the patristic self-sufficiency of Russia.
Last edited by Snowball7; 02-22-2016 at 07:27 AM..
Still this not address the fundamental question being raised. Is more government leading to greater concentration of wealth and power?
That's the thing, what does "more government" even mean? The overall size of government is going to grow as the population does. But does that count as growing government if the amount of money spent as percentage of GDP drops or the number of employees per the population declines? Does more government mean additional regulations, and if so, specifically what regulations? I bet Koch industries would love to remove a lot of provisions within the clean water act, which might be good for their bottom line but disastrous for the communities where they have paper mills.
Does it mean removing regulations on investment banks or lowering taxes on investment income because we've been going down that road for 40 years and that has only fueled the hyper-concentration of wealth. The only actual point that Koch makes is that the wealthy use government to create regulations to benefit them. That does not mean that removing (all?) regulations will somehow make things better.
Does it mean removing regulations on investment banks or lowering taxes on investment income because we've been going down that road for 40 years and that has only fueled the hyper-concentration of wealth. The only actual point that Koch makes is that the wealthy use government to create regulations to benefit them. That does not mean that removing (all?) regulations will somehow make things better.
That's the thing, what does "more government" even mean? The overall size of government is going to grow as the population does. But does that count as growing government if the amount of money spent as percentage of GDP drops or the number of employees per the population declines? Does more government mean additional regulations, and if so, specifically what regulations? I bet Koch industries would love to remove a lot of provisions within the clean water act, which might be good for their bottom line but disastrous for the communities where they have paper mills.
Does it mean removing regulations on investment banks or lowering taxes on investment income because we've been going down that road for 40 years and that has only fueled the hyper-concentration of wealth. The only actual point that Koch makes is that the wealthy use government to create regulations to benefit them. That does not mean that removing (all?) regulations will somehow make things better.
There are two aspects of government which increases the power of the Plutocracy: laws and money. Almost all laws bring passed nowadays in one way or another send money to private industry. In some cases such as the Wall Street bailouts, $trillions were sent. Thus you have wealth transfer from the middle class to the rich.
There are two aspects of government which increases the power of the Plutocracy: laws and money. Almost all laws bring passed nowadays in one way or another send money to private industry. In some cases such as the Wall Street bailouts, $trillions were sent. Thus you have wealth transfer from the middle class to the rich.
On the surface, I know it appears that way. But carefully consider this...
There's $27 trillion in American workers' and retirees' pension plans and retirement accounts, and $227 billion in American families' 529 accounts.
The top 0.01% has an aggregate net worth of just under $6 trillion. The top 0.1% excluding that top 0.01% has an aggregate net wealth of just under $5.68 trillion. Combined, the total net wealth of the top 0.1% is just under $11.68 trillion, less than half of the $27.227 trillion American workers, families, and retirees have invested, so the purpose of those bailouts was actually to backstop Main Street Americans' retirement and education savings/investments.
That said, the above info has two ramifications that people aren't considering.
1) It still doesn't negate the fact that "Too Big to Jail" Wall Street defense attorney Eric Holder let Banker/Wall Street criminals walk (we've discussed that in the elections forum).
2) Bernie's proposed tax on Wall Street transactions will actually hit Main Street Americans the hardest as their aggregate net investments are much higher than those of the wealthiest elite.
It's my understanding Koch advocates for free trade agreements which puts his money at odds with a lot of people, regardless of their political ideology.
Koch Enterprises is a part of the corporate trend to " ban the box", the question regarding prior convictions common on job applications to, in theory, give convicted felons a better chance of qualifying for a job. Instead, the question is posed further in the interviewing cycle and is revealed during background checks.
I'm not convinced delaying the big question results in more ex offenders being hired. Sounds more like it may better protect employers from potential claims of discriminatory hiring practices.
The top 0.01% has an aggregate net worth of just under $6 trillion. The top 0.1% excluding that top 0.01% has an aggregate net wealth of just under $5.68 trillion. Combined, the total net wealth of the top 0.1% is just under $11.68 trillion, less than half of the $27.227 trillion American workers, families, and retirees have invested, so the purpose of those bailouts was actually to backstop Main Street Americans' retirement and education savings/investments.
That said, the above info has two ramifications that people aren't considering.
1) It still doesn't negate the fact that "Too Big to Jail" Wall Street defense attorney Eric Holder let Banker/Wall Street criminals walk (we've discussed that in the elections forum).
2) Bernie's proposed tax on Wall Street transactions will actually hit Main Street Americans the hardest as their aggregate net investments are much higher than those of the wealthiest elite.
That's certainly an interesting spin on your statistic that about 3 million people have a combined net worth that's total roughly half the net worth of over 100 million people. You also ignore that the net worth of a large portion of that 100 million people is largely wrapped up in home ownership. Among 45-54 year old the average amount saved is $101,000. Any tax on financial transaction would have a de minimis impact on their retirement.
I think we need to realize the game will always favor the rich and the best thing is to emulate the rich as much as possible. If you got a 401K at least do not be so stupid as not to invest up to the point where your company stops contributing to your 401K. My company matches the first 3% and half the second 3% and I bet three quarters of the guys I work with do not put 6% in their 401K.
The wealthy get most of their wealth from capital gains.
Most people in the country make money by working. The idea that everyone can become a day trader and live off capital gains "like the wealthy" is absurd. That is the mentality that drives so many to think that what is good for Wall ST. is good for the country, which is nonsense. This mentality tends to come from people who hear lots of get rich quick scheme infomercials on talk radio, "no money down real estate!!", "pay $100 to come to my seminar where I'll tell you how to time the stock market!!"
The game does not have to favor the rich to the extent it does and the government should play a hand in leveling the playing field, just like it did when Teddy Roosevelt was President.
That's certainly an interesting spin on your statistic that about 3 million people have a combined net worth that's total roughly half the net worth of over 100 million people.
It may look like spin to you, but...
1) It is in fact true that letting Wall Street crash (by letting the domino effect roll out) would decimate many tens if not hundreds of millions of Main Street Americans' retirement and education savings/investments, while similarly only negatively impacting those 3 million elite rich.
And 2) Pension fund and retirement account investments, in aggregate, are significantly more than the wealth holdings of the elite rich and therefore will be taxed the most under Bernie's transaction tax proposal.
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