Trump’s America – Episode # 138- Almost There

By Arthur Piccolo

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 13, 2019: Didn’t I write about this in last week’s episode?  Sort of but …

not in the wider context of INEQUALITY in America which I have written before and will again is the core issue at the very root of every other problem in America that candidates for President and everyone else discusses.

Ever increasing INEQUALITY in wealth and power in America (and everywhere else of course) … and there is no separation between wealth and power they are completely intertwined.

Why again this episode specifically? Because INEQUALITY is in the headlines again this week and I could not resist. In fact, one of the more modest of these headlines is my favorite of all. From Wall Street Journal …

“INCOME INEQUALITY HOLDS BACK U.S. ECONOMY”

Why is this headline so powerful more so than it might seem is because it and the article that follows proves that we all suffer from the fact that inequality is bad for the U.S. economy yes even the rich and powerful lose.

Unfortunately, that is not of great concern to the rich and powerful but should be as I will explain but in the here and now and today the rich and powerful already have so, so much of both while the rest of us have none, downturns in the economy have zero impact on the rich and the powerful.

Still it’s time to call in WSJ and provide some tidbits from this article …

“When it comes to money, America has always had winners and losers, but the widening gulf between the rich and the bulk of U.S. households may be making almost everybody worse off. That includes investors.”

DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA ……. oops I mean America!

Back to the WSJ article … “It reflects shifts in the economy by which upper-income tiers are capturing more of the economy’s gains. The top 20% accounted for 52% of household income last year, compared with 49.4% in 1999. A similar dynamic is going on with wealth; Federal Reserve data show a growing share of U.S. net worth accruing to the rich.”

The problem is it just keeps getting worse and it will NOT stop! If we don’t fix this core problem, stop kidding yourselves we will NEVER fix all the other problems plaguing all or some Americans if we do not.

Allow me and WSJ to continue …

“There is a heated debate over where income and wealth inequality stem from, with factors including globalization, the collapse of unions, changes in tax policy and rising demand for high-skilled over lower-skilled workers all seen as potential drivers. But the effects of inequality are just as important.”

WHAT DEBATE? It is none of these so-called reasons above which if you are smart enough and I hope my readers are, notice that these so-called reasons for extreme inequality do not place the blame on the rich and powerful. They are just “innocent” (sic) by standers benefiting from it.

WAKE UP … It is their inexhaustible GREED for wealth and power that is the problem. The only solution to such unnatural pathological GREED is to address that disease and find a cure for it before it destroys them and us.

Here is the very good news. The cure exists if we just apply it.

It has a name the U.S. TAX CODE which has been corrupted beyond belief and is now so diseased it will destroy America and our future. All we have to do is replace it with a new U.S. Tax Code for the 21st century …

in which the key mandate of the Tax Code is to STOP out of control INEQUALITY IN AMERICA so that taxes are applied both to income and wealth to both individuals and business to produce more not less equality for ALL Americans not just the precious greedy (sic) few.

Well smarty pants how exactly are we going to do that since the rich and powerful wrote the U.S. Tax Code and they are not about to give it up to the rest of us to rein in their GREED …

You might even think I did not even read the episode I wrote last week proving just how CORRUPT the U.S. Tax Code is and how there is no provision of any tax legislation no matter its good intent that the rich and powerful cannot and will not rig to their GREEDY advantage ….

The solution is to be found in one simple word that makes the rich and powerful cringe tax SIMPLIFICATION which means TRASHING the endlessly long and complex U.S. Tax Code and replacing it …

With a few basic tax rules: 1) tax all kinds of income equally, 2) tax individuals and companies proportionally to their income, 3) do NOT tax individuals for their income that is basic to their necessary living expenses which means ending the so called payroll tax, 4) capping the amount and kinds of tax free giving the wealthy are allowed, 5) implement a progressive annual wealth tax for fortunes of $10 Million and above and likewise 6) maintain meaningful inheritance taxes for estates over $10 Million.

A NEW U.S. TAX CODE based on these provisions and a Tax Code that does NOT allow complex provisions that will negate these basic tax rules. That any and all tax legislation must include an independent report that details how such legislation will impact equality and inequality in America.

The wealthy and the powerful will still be wealthy and powerful just not to the same GREEDY degree that is unfair and destructive to all the rest of us. And ultimately will even destroy the rich and powerful too and America.

Who is going to do all this? We are if we are STRONG enough to do so.

When are we going to do this? The 2020 elections, if we ever are!!!

(This series dedicated in honor of the late Liu Xiaobo & Jamal Khashoggi)

EDITOR’S NOTE: About The Writer: Arthur Piccolo is a professional writer and commentator and often writes about Latin America for New Americas.