What would happen if they gave a war and - - only one side came?
They did.
And now for something completely lame, a bedtime fable of the one sided war.
A long time ago in an economy far, far away there were --- Class Wars. The first Class War of my life has already been fought, and my side, the peasants, lost. The war started long ago as a mere incursion, a small foray, into the lines of a complacent foe, a land of peasants. Over time, both good and bad, the peasants had relaxed their guard as they admired the wealthy and seemingly friendly earls and dukes of the next door nation. Once those incursions met more with admiration than resistance, the earls and dukes knew that they had a chance at victory; all they needed was a ruler with the will to carry the battle forward with full force. With the help of the admiring peasants, they found him - the charismatic Ronald Reagan. Without hesitation their new ruler attacked the weakest flanks, gullibility and trust, and when he told the peasants that they would experience a "morning in America" that would rival the best of times, that the invasion and occupation would be peaceful and that no one would suffer, many were convinced that it would be to their benefit to succumb.
As the full invasion began, Ruler Reagan promised the earls, dukes and their minions that there would be enormous rewards when the peasants were properly subjugated. To encourage the earls and dukes, the ruler told them that he would lower their annual tribute to the rulers kingdom. He said that he would break up the trade unions and that the peasants would be convinced to work more for less. He also told them that they would have complete access to all the resources of this new country, and they would be able to act without the restrictions that had protected the peasants before the new ruler seized power. The earls and dukes were ecstatic; they would have everything that they wanted, and they would have to give the peasants almost nothing. Life would be good for the chosen ones.
They had won the war and times were good for the rulers, earls and dukes alike. But times kept getting worse for the peasants. Although the peasants had lost their class war, they weren’t even aware that there had been one. They were too busy just trying to scratch a living out of the land.
During the third debate, John McCain warned his audience of a class war. He spoke as if it were immoral, unethical, and evil. He also warned "Joe the Plumber" of the evils of Obama’s plan to take Joe’s money and spread it around. He indicated that redistributing the wealth was a sinister plot that was un-American and unpatriotic. All other American wars seem to be brimming with patriotism for McCain, but not this one. Finally, McCain has met a war that he doesn’t like.
First of all, the Class War has already taken place. If there was another one, it would be Class War II. The peasants have already lost Class War I. Second, if the first class war was not immoral, unethical, and evil, a second one would be no more evil than the first. Third, raising the taxes on the wealthy while lowering it on the middle and working class would technically not be a redistribution of the wealth. It would actually be a re-redistribution of the wealth. The original redistribution began to take place during the Reagan years. Prior to Reagan’s redistribution those people who benefited the most from the capitalism paid the highest tax rates. Historically, the working class paid a much lower rate because they could least afford it. They were the backbone of the system from which the rich derived their wealth, and prior to Reaganomics the wealthy seemed to be more willing to share. If the taxes are altered as Obama suggests, it would actually be returning the money to the middle and working class from whom it was taken during the previous redistribution, the first American Class War.
Using the tax tables, and income and wealth distribution, here’s a short history of the the first modern American Class War. Note how the change in the tax tables affected income distribution. This is where Reagan’s Class War tax policies changed the dynamics of future American economies.
SOURCE: US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Demographic Supplements
First, peasants, let’s take a look at the tax tables and income distribution shortly after the first incursion in 1983, but prior to the major Reagan redistribution of wealth, the first American Class War. Then we will take a look at the 2004 Tax Tables. This will provide a basis for examining the changes that Ronald Reagan initiated. Finally, we’ll look at how these changes in tax rates effected changes in net worth and income from 1983 to 2004.
Married Filing Jointly 1983
Marginal || Tax Brackets
Tax Rate || Over || But Not Over
----------------------------------------------
0.0% || $0000 || $3,400
11% || $3,400 || $5,500
13% || $5,500 || $7,600
15% || $7,600 || $11,900
17% || $11,900 || $16,000
19% || $16,000 || $20,200
23% || $20,200 || $24,600
26% || $24,600 || $29,900
30% || $29,900 || $35,200
35% || $35,200 || $45,800
40% || $45,800 || $60,000
44% || $60,000 || $85,600
48% || $85,600 || $109,400
50% || $109,400 ||
Married Filing Jointly 2004
Marginal || Tax Brackets
Tax Rate || Over || But Not Over
----------------------------------------------
10% || $0000 || $14,300
15% || $14,300 || $58,100
25% || $58,100 || $117,250
28% || $117,250 || $178,650
33% || $178,650 || $319,100
35% || $319,100 ||
Between 1983 and 2004 the net worth dramatically shifted as follows:
The top 1% net worth went from $8,315,000 to $14,786,000 - a 77.8% change.
The next 4% net worth went from $1,375,000 to $2,645,000 - a 92.3% change.
The bottom 40% net worth went from $54,000 to $22,000 - a minus -58.7% change.
From 1983 to 2004 the income change was nearly as drastic
The top 1% income went from $689,000 to $1,169,000 - a 67.6% change.
The next 4% income went from $180,000 to $258,000 - a 43.1% change.
The bottom 40% income went from $16,800 to $17,500 - only a 4.3% change.
Note that Barrack Obama only intends to raise taxes on those who earn $250,000 or more. That’s the top 4% whose net worth increased by 92.3% and income increased by 43.1%. During that time, the peasants, saw their net worth drop by half and their income remain nearly unchanged.
While the engine of the United States economy is the middle and working class, the upper class is starving that engine. The middle and working class purchase the bulk of the goods and services and without them the economy can not progress.
Thus, while Linda Chavez, on Bill Moyers show, claimed that a "rising tide lifts all boats," it doesn’t appear to lift them equally, and in some cases it appears to leave the small boats stuck in the mud. In addition, a lowering tide leaves the boats who earn their livings in the shallow waters stuck in the mud more often. The ships ply deeper waters where the lower tides have much less effect. That’s not a positive prospect for the peasant boats.
An additional, more disturbing, element of income distribution:
Joe the Plumber is lucky; he’s white. Joe, if you are an African American or a Hispanic American, or Asian American your loss of income would be even greater.
Here are the numbers.
Decrease in median income from 2000-2006 in
-- White American households: $745
-- Hispanic American households: $1,043
-- Asian American households: $1,381
-- African American households: $2,766
[U.S. Census Bureau. Aug. 2007]
Median income of
-- African American households in 2006: $31,969
-- Hispanic American households in 2006: $37,781
-- White American households in 2006: $50,673
-- Asian American households in 2006: $63,900
[U.S. Census Bureau. Aug. 2007]
Living in poverty in 2006
-- African Americans: 24.3 percent
-- Hispanic Americans: 20.6 percent
-- Asian Americans: 10.1 percent
-- White Americans: 8.2 percent
[U.S. Census Bureau. Aug. 2007]
Now that a Democrat who espouses lower taxes on the working class and higher taxes on the well-to-do might be elected president, the ruler, earls and dukes are in a state of panic. They may have to give back the territory that they surreptitiously acquired during the peasants somnambulism of American Class War I.
The ruler, earls and dukes are busy digging motes, pouring hot oil into cauldrons on the castle walls, storing and hoarding supplies, securing their precious gold and jewels in vaults, and dawning their armor. And if the peasants get too close, the royalty will be shouting , "Raise the drawbridge. Archers to the parapets. Dukes and earls to the all-you-can-eat buffet and plotting room. Someone grab a shovel and dig up Ronnie."
Just a side note: If I hear one more pundit say that Herbert Hoover’s big mistake was raising taxes, I’m going to start chucking tea into the harbor. Harkening back to Hoover is just another scare tactic from the neocon right to protect their stash of loot and make sure that their taxes aren’t raised. When Hoover raised taxes, he did it in the absence of other actions. This is not the Great Depression and economic theories are not the same. While this will be a horrible time for everyone, the top 4% are certainly capable of paying much higher rates. Besides, I expect that wealthy people and corporations will, instead of spending and investing their income, hoard it. The only way to wrench it out of their greedy grips is to tax it so that it can be used to pay for jobs programs, to pay down the debt, and to lower the taxes of the working class. This isn’t the lazaire faire era of Hoover.