February 6, 1995 A populist revolt over the bail out of Wall Street speculators after the devaluation of the Mexican peso forced Bill Clinton to use his executive powers to rescue the Wall Street Welfare State. Three weeks ago, the bailout appeared to be a done deal with the leadership of both parties predicting swift passage. When a coalition of anti-NAFTA Democrats and first term Republicans refused to acquiesce, heavy hitters from America’s ruling class – The New York Times, the Federal Reserve Board, and past Presidents – bludgeoned the American people with apocalyptic warnings. The public didn’t buy it, with polls showing over 80 percent opposed to the plan. When Mexico devalued the peso six weeks ago, Wall Street bondholders saw their investments tank 40 percent in one week. This accelerated the flight of foreign capital from Mexico’s central bank and Mexico had no chance of repaying the $16 billion in junk bonds that were are due this year to the Big Boys on Wall Street. Thus, just like the Savings and Loan bailout five years ago, our financial elite demanded that the hard working middle class taxpayer come to their rescue before they fell behind on … [Read more...]

The United States is becoming a Third World country – where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class have to work like dogs to remain middle class. Health care is unaffordable, private sector pensions are sparse, inflation is rampant and jobs that pay a living wage are few and far between.  One percent of the country now controls 50% of the wealth and while CEO’s typically made 15 times the wage of their workers in 1960, it is not unusual now to see a CEO pulling down 400 times this wage today. The main culprit is the low tax rate on the superrich. What is needed is a tax of 90% on wages and capital gains over $5,000,000 annual income. While this may seem extreme, this situation existed during the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower (a Republican) – after adjusting for inflation. The low tax rate on the superrich has encouraged them to pillage the country. Leveraged buyouts (using taxpayer-backed money) of viable companies enabled investment bankers to raid pensions, slash health benefits, reduce wages and move jobs overseas. Elite athletes become multimillionaires while billionaire owners of sport franchises punt the cost of stadiums to the taxpayers.  … [Read more...]