Hon. Bernie Sanders / US Congress & USAction / TrueMajority & Hon. Jan Schakowsky / US Congress – 2011-04-18 23:49:07
http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=207
Guide to Corporate Freeloaders
Senator Bernie Sanders
1 EXXON MOBIL
Exxon Mobil’s 2009 profits totaled $19 billion, yet according to its SEC filings, the company received a $156 million rebate from the IRS plus, it didn’t pay any federal taxes.
2 BANK OF AMERICA
Bank of America made $4.4 billion in profits last year. This was after it received a $1 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS.
3 GENERAL ELECTRIC
General Electric has made $26 billion in profits in the United States over the past five years. It also received a $4.1 billion tax refund from the IRS. GE has cut a fifth of its American jobs in the past nine years and is boosting jobs overseas — where tax rates are lower. And where it can continue evading US taxes.
4 CHEVRON
Chevron’s IRS refund last year totaled $19 million but its 2009 profits came to a whopping $10 billion.
5 BOEING
Boeing received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers. It also received a $124 million refund from the IRS.
6 VALERO ENERGY
Valero Energy made $68 billion in sales and received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS. Over the past three years, it has received a $134 million tax break thanks to the oil and gas manufacturing tax reduction.
7 GOLDMAN SACHS
Goldman Sachs paid 1.1% of its 2009 income taxes. Yet it made a profit of $2.3 billion. And guess how much it received from the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department? $800 billion.
8 CITIGROUP
Citigroup profits last year totaled more than $4 billion. But it paid zero dollars in federal income tax and received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury.
9 CONOCO PHILLIPS
Conoco Phillip’ profits from 2007 through 2009 totaled $16 billion. But it was still awarded $451 million in tax breaks because of the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.
10 CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
Carnival Cruise Lines is apparently getting pretty good business: its profits over the past five years totaled more than $11 billion. Its federal income tax rate, however, came to just 1.1%.
‘Pay Up!’ Flashmob at Bank of America 4/15/11
US Uncut
Tell Congress to Return Fairness to Tax Code
Darcy Scott Martin / USAction / TrueMajority
(April 18, 2011) — There’s a revolution going on in America. Today, while millions of Americans were mailing their annual tax payments, USAction/TrueMajority members are working with US Uncut to stage one of the largest Tax Day protests in American history (Check out the photos).
All over the country, citizens are demanding to know, “If we can pay our taxes, why can’t America’s richest corporations and CEOs pay theirs?”
It’s a fair question that many people are starting to ask, and the media and Congress are taking notice. Major news outlets are reporting on the protests in the streets,1 and now progressive champion Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has introduced a powerful bill to make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. (2)
Congress needs to hear from you. Tell your Representative to sign on for tax fairness.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there. The GOP and the mainstream media tell us we have a deficit problem because we spend too much money on education, jobs and the poor. In fact, just last Friday, House Republicans passed a budget that would end Medicare as we know it and end health care and other important services for tens of millions of Americans. But the truth is that we have a revenue problem — one that we can fix by making corporations and millionaires pay their fair share.
Rep. Schakowsky and 13 other Representatives in Congress have had the courage to sign her bill, which is a good start.[See story below.] If we want this bill to become law, we need your Representative to help too. Find out if your Representative supports making millionaires pay their fair share of the taxes, and if not, then tell them to get on board right away.
Together, we’ll build a more fair tax code and a stronger America.
(1) http://www.thenation.com/blog/159986/gop-spreads-corporate-tax-disinformation-america-fights-back
(2) http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/taxing-the-rich/?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://schakowsky.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2877&Itemid=16
Schakowsky Introduces Bill to
Tax Millionaires and Billionaires
Office of Hon. Jan Schakowsky / US House of Representatives
The most popular way to reduce the deficit, according to 81% of Americans?
Put a surtax on federal income taxes for those who make more than $1 million per year.
— NBC/Wall St. Journal Poll, March 2, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC (March 16, 2011) — Today Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), member of President Obama’s 18-member Fiscal Commission, introduced the Fairness in Taxation Act, which would create new tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires. Original co-sponsors include co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), as well as Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
Income inequality in America is the worst we’ve seen it since 1928. Wages have stagnated for middle and lower income families despite enormous gains in productivity. Where has all the money gone?
“In the United States today, the richest 1% owns 34% of our nation’s wealth — that’s more than the entire bottom 90%, who own just 29% of the country’s wealth,” said Rep. Schakowsky.
“And the top one-hundredth of 1% now makes an average of $27 million per household per year. The average income for the bottom 90% of Americans? $31,244. It’s time for millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share, which is why I introduced the Fairness in Taxation Act. This isn’t about punishment or revenge. It’s about fairness. It’s about avoiding budget cuts that harm middle class families and those who aspire to it. We can choose to cut education, job creation and health care, or we can choose to ask those who can contribute more to do so.”
The current top tax bracket begins at $373,000 in income and fails to distinguish between the “well off” and billionaires – like the top 20 hedge fund managers whose average income last year was over $1 billion.
The Fairness in Taxation Act asks enacts new tax brackets for income starting at $1 million and ends with a $1 billion bracket. The new brackets would be:
• $1-10 million: 45%
• $10-20 million: 46%
• $20-100 million: 47%
• $100 million to $1 billion: 48%
• $1 billion and over: 49%
The bill would also tax capital gains and dividend income as ordinary income for those taxpayers with income over $1 million. If enacted in 2011, the Fairness in Taxation Act would raise more than $78 billion.
Support for Schakowsky’s Fairness in Taxation Act:
“I think very wealthy people like me should pay substantially higher taxes, since we have done exceedingly well in the last few decades,” said Katharine Myers, a millionaire from Pennsylvania whose income comes from royalties from the Myers-Briggs personality test, created by her mother-in-law, which she has managed with Peter Myers since the 1980s. “Our taxpayer-funded government contributed to my success.” Myers has been a supporter of United for a Fair Economy and its Responsible Wealth project for many years.
“It’s time we treated multi-millionaires the same way we treat working families — by creating a tax bracket to match their income,†said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “There’s no reason to treat the wealthiest one percent of the country any more specially than anyone else, and right now that’s exactly what our tax system is doing. The Republican war on working families means cutting from the middle and handing the savings to the top. Instead, let’s have everyone pay their fair share to create jobs and get the economy moving again.”
“Millionaires and billionaires should be giving to charity not getting it,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “The middle class is shrinking and deficits are rising because Republicans are giving a pass to special interests who aren’t paying their fair share. This bill is part of a plan to level the playing field.”
“A tax system where families earning several thousand dollars are taxed at the same rate as millionaires is unfair, and unsustainable,” said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD). “The Fairness in Taxation Act is a common sense solution to eliminating this inequality and balancing the federal budget. At a time when House Republicans are demanding that working families, teachers, and firefighters bear the burden of reducing the deficit, millionaires should be required to contribute their fair share.”
Groups that have endorsed Schakowsky’s Fairness in Taxation Act:
United for a Fair Economy,
Citizens for Tax Justice,
Citizen Action Illinois,
US Action,
Campaign for America’s Future,
Wealth for the Common Good, and
The Agenda Project.
“Congresswoman Schakowsky has shown that there is another way,” said Steve Wamhoff, tax expert from Citizens for Tax Justice. “Her proposal would make the federal income tax more progressive by introducing higher rates for taxpayers with income in excess of $1 million. Millionaires have benefited disproportionately from the tax cuts enacted over the past decade, so it seems entirely reasonable that they share in the sacrifices needed to get our fiscal house in order.”
“The budget cuts being debated in Washington shamefully require middle class families to pay the price for the recklessness of the Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers who broke our economy,” said Brian Miller, Executive Director of United for a Fair Economy. “Instead of punishing middle class families and de-funding America, the Fairness in Taxation Act asks those who have benefitted so heavily from the economic bounce of Wall Street to share responsibility for getting our nation’s finances on track.”
“Any sensible program for deficit reduction must begin with changing the massive tax cuts for the very wealthy,” said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future. “Those tax give-aways were a major cause of our current deficit. In an era of excessive inequality we should end Bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. We need progressive revenues not just to bring down deficits, but also to finance investments in job and sustainable growth. The introduction of the Fairness in Taxation Act is an important step that will be popular with the American people.”
