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"""" Why do we continue to have such contempt for a group of people that have become a financial success? """""

Because few of them are self made.

Because they use some of that money to purchase our elected officials and corrupt our democratic form of govt., all in the name of enhancing their own wealth.

Because they are taxed at a higher rate yet they retain armies of lawyers and accountants who scour the tax code for loopholes so what they actually end up paying is a pittance compared to what they should be paying.

Because they own and or control major corpoations that extort huge tax breaks and outright tax waivers from communities so they won't pull out of town, then place their profits offshore so they can't be taxed on a federal level. (why I don't purchase Stanly Tools).

Because as members of the small elite group that fills the boards of these corporations, (Most individuals who sit on a board of directors actually sit on more then one and are the CEO, CFO etc of one of those corporations.) they award themselves huge compensation packages. and golden parachutes that are compleatly unrelated to the performance of the company. (In 2002, the average CEO compensation package equaled 10.83 million dollars. Median CEO pay raises in 2002 averaged 6%. More then double the average workers pay raises for the same period.) Even though there have been some publisized pay cuts recently among the wealthiest executives, most executives recieved pay raises during the past bear market.

Because rarely do they return anything of value to the communities they profit from that is close to comensurate with what they have made from same.


Those are just some of my reasons.......other then that, I could care less what they do

1 percent of families owns approxamatly 39 percent of total net wealth in the United States.

The top 10 percent owns 72 percent of total wealth.

The bottom 40 percent of american families owns less then 1 percent.

(From the "Survey of consumer finances" sponsered by the Federal Reserve Board. 1983 data but the disparity has only gotton worse.)

I don't begrudge the rich their money. I am however highly offended that they are able to have such a disproportionate influance on public policy in a country that used to believe that...

"ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL etc........."

Those bottom 40 percent of Americans couldn't get into see their congressman on a bet but I can assure you that a member of the top 1 percent could.

Perhaps we should rewrite our constitution to read....






"Money talks and suckers walk!"

Spiney,
"All men are created equal"
CREATED is the key word.
Nobody is preventing the bottom 40% from climbing the ladder.
Nobody, that is, but themselves.

In that statement I was referring more to corporations then individuals. I should have been more clear.

""In your opinion, what exactly are we required to return? I work hard, support my family, pay taxes, what more am I required to do in your opinion? """

As an individual? Whatever your moral compass dictates. IMHO, you are not required, (your word, not mine) to return anything.

"""How much, in your opinion should I be "allowed" to leave my new son? Keeping in mind the whole freedom thing please. Please respond, I'm VERY curious in your opinion on this matter. Thanks. """

Again, as an individual, you should be "allowed" (your word, not mine), to keep whatever your moral compass dictates.

I view Corporations differantly. I don't think they and those who run them should be able to exploit the whole "FREEDOM" thing to destroy local enviroments, and leave the locals to clean it up. (For example, Addington Enterprise's 6,200-acre Starfire mine -- has damaged or destroyed the water supplies for an estimated 700 families. ) YOU MAKE THE MESS, YOU CLEAN IT UP!
I dont think corporations should be able to force their employees to use unsafe work practices then use their profits and influance to weaken regulations and limit the liability that they would have to pay. (You may remember in 1989 when Chicken Magnate Bo Pilgrim was caught handing out $10,000 checks on the Texas Senate floor just prior to a vote on workers compensation. Something that has a big effect on his industry.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, poultry processing is one of the most dangerous occupations around, with injuries occurring at a rate of 12 per 100 full-time workers. Other sources estimate the injury rate to be as high as 30 percent. He still buys his politicians, just not as flagrantly as before. )

Enron didnt pay any taxes the past 4 out 5 years! They also asked for and recieved federal subsidies.

A rare exeception that one..... Just like these huh?
McDonalds (to advertise overseas)
Gallo Winery (to advertise overseas)
Plush Colorado Ski Resorts
Weyerhauser
Georgia Pacific
Walt Disney (Also received special patent
extensions to keep product prices inflated and
uncompetitive -- granted by "y'our" government)
Martin Marietta
Mining Industry interests
National Meat Association
Energy and Petrochemical Industries
Pepsico's Frito-Lay
Anchor Glass Container Corp.
Federal Express
Nucor
Kidder Peabody Group, Inc.
Nebraska Beef, Ltd.
Mercedes-Benz (bends?)
Time Warner (Ted Turner gave a big
chunk to the UN...?) Check out Bill
Moyers' "Free Speech: For Sale", on
video (1-800-336-1917), where it is
shown that the
broadcast-media-monopoly and cartel
was given $70 + billion in public
airwave channel rights free of charge...
by y'our gov't.
General Electric (GE)
ABB Instrumentation Inc (subsidy of
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Lt., the giant
Swiss and Swedish power generation
and distribution conglomerate)
General Motors (who takes the goodies
then moves its operations south)
Intel
Allied Signal
Eastman Kodak
Caterpiller
Union Carbide
Georgia Pacific
Microsoft
Hughes Aircraft (now part of Ratheon)
Motorola
Boeing
Corporate farmers
Sugar industry subsidies
RCA (now part of GE)
Searle & Co.

Mcdonalds is probably the single most profitable restaurant in world history.



They can't afford their own advertising?

Spiny, do you believe corporations would pay taxes? Actually pay them by lowering their profits? Or do you believe they would raise their prices a commensurate amount? Who would pay in the end?

Here's how I view it. Corporations should be allowed tax breaks on operating expenses. i.e., a trucking company buys 30 trucks. They amortize them over 3 or 5 years. At the end of this time, they are fully amortized, they can sell them and buy new ones and amortize them. The trucks manufacture benefits because they sell more trucks, so they hire more people. Those people buy more goods, more goods means more trucks are needed to ship the goods, so the trucking company buys more trucks. In the mean time, all of those gainfully employed individuals from both companies are paying taxes. Revenue increases... It’s capitalism my friend, simple, efficient, and powerful.

Where it gets screwed up is when people try to make fiscal policy (taxes) to benefit their constituents. I.e., tax the rich, feed the poor, until there are no rich no more. Grow the economy, give the poor jobs, don’t give them money, give them jobs!