Stealing From the Poor to Subsidize the Rich

The following chart is from the FU Corporate Media website. While it gives a pretty good sense of how much gratuitous money the rich take home in tax breaks and subsidies and how much the safety net is being sliced up to pay for it, the chart does not tell us how or why this is happening, or how to change it.

 

The fact is that the rich have always used the political system to protect their property and wealth. They are the only ones with the wealth to win a political campaign. They control the flow of information to the public. They use their wealth and lobbying power to push through legislation favorable to their interests. They make sure that the laws are written and enforced to maximize their profits. And they do it through both parties.

Voting cannot change this. The rich never give away anything unless they are forced to. When strikes and direct action cuts into their profits, they may make a few concessions, throw a few bones, whatever the minimum they think it will take to get their workers back on the job and their businesses making money again. However, the same system remains in place, with the wealthy making the rules for their own benefit. They might have to wait a little before they can grab back what they conceded, depending on the strength of the labor movement, but they remain wealthy all the while.

This is what has been happening for the past 30 years. As unions have become weaker and represent fewer workers, the bosses realize they can demand more work for less pay and get away with it. They attempt and succeed at policies that would have seemed preposterous not too long ago, like financing 4 wars simultaneously while also granting and maintaining huge tax cuts.

Teachers Arrested Protesting Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

"Jackson Potter, a Little Village High School of Social Justice teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union, and another woman identified as Amber Smock from ADAPT were both arrested after leading 150 to 200 people -- about half of them teachers -- to march and rush in to Lincoln Park's Grossinger City Cadillac dealership as part of a rally for tax increment financing (TIF) reform." (See Progress Illinois website for the full story).

Solving state and federal budget crises will require lots of actions like this (along with strikes and other job actions), and the courage of people to get arrested (and even face state violence).If not, the budget crises will continue to be used as justification for slashing wages and benefits, gutting social programs and continuing to reward greedy businesses with tax breaks and corporate subsidies.

 

Toddlers To Pay for Corporate Tax Break in Iowa

Iowa, one of the few states that does not have a budget crisis, actually has a $318 million surplus that they want use to give corporations a tax break. The problem is that next year they will need that surplus to keep other programs intact. Therefore, in order to pay for the tax break, they will have to make some cuts and preschool is first on their chopping block. The bill also cuts family-planning services and attempts to make state employees pay more for their health care premiums.

“Philosophy” vs Facts

The benefits of preschool are well-documented. Preschool helps prepare young children for school by advancing their literacy, social skills and overall school-readiness. Iowa Republican and House Appropriations Chairman, Scott Raecker, doesn’t see it this way. Whether to spend money on preschool or on tax breaks is a “philosophical debate we’ll have to have,” he said.

The Rand Corporation, which is certainly on the business tax break side of any philosophical debate, begs to differ. Their research shows that every dollar spent on high-quality preschool programs generates a benefit to society ranging from $1.80 to $17.07. “Early childhood intervention programs are designed to mitigate the factors that place children at risk of poor [educational] outcomes.” They also found that the more money that was spent of preschool programs, the greater the benefits.

Class War

Of course, no one really needs to get so upset by all this. Kids from upper middle class to wealthy families will continue to get quality preschool, along with quality K-12 education. If the free public schools and inexpensive preschools in their communities aren’t up to their high standards, they will simply spend the money to send their kids elsewhere. They will be sufficiently educated to run their parents’ businesses and take on the high-tech demands of the future.

The rest of our children will also still be educated, although perhaps not to the degree we think they should. And they, too, will be sufficiently educated, not to run the economy, but to buy and consume its products and services and to take on the low skill jobs that are available. If not, then the bosses can always hire immigrant labor from countries that invest more in educating their youth.