Entitled hogs at the trough

No, not the single mother trapped in a structural area of low employment and even lower opportunity. No, not the laid-off worker getting unemployment insurance that they paid into every year they worked. No, not even the recent college grad forced to defer payments on the out-sized pile of student loan debt because there are no jobs.

Yes, circumstances count. Bushie jr. took the ship of state and rammed it into the rocks, then threw all the loot overboard and left the passengers to the cannibals.


The real problem in our economy is that the supposedly "self-reliant" business community who impetuously claim "they built it" all by themselves have captured the very government they claim to despise and hoover off as much lucre as they can.

Aided by guys like this:


From commondreams:

Corporate Subsidies: We spend $59 billion on social welfare programs, but more than $92 billion on corporate subsidies. According to the Environmental Law Institute, fossil fuel industries alone get more than $70 billion in subsidies, with most going to the oil and gas sector. Yeah, we certainly can’t afford to deprive Exxon of its record profits just to give money to needy kids.
Sheltering Off-Shore Profits: Corporations are given $58 billion a year in tax breaks for “deferred” taxes for off shore profits. Yep. Sure want to encourage US companies to hide profits off-shore. Can you say “job creators?”
Capital gains: Rich folks make the majority of their money in the form of dividends and capital gains, which are taxed at only 15%. This allows them to avoid some $59 billion in taxes per year.
Carried interest: Hedge fund managers avoid at least $2.1 billion in taxes a year. This sweet deal – not available to the ninety-nine percenters, by the way – lets hedge fund managers and other selected fat cats take what amounts to ordinary wages and have them taxed as if they were capital gains. So instead of being taxed at 35% (39.5% if we eliminate Bush’s tax cuts for the rich) it’s taxed at 15%. Ayn Rand would be proud. Thomas Jefferson, not so much. This amount – $2.1 billion – is roughly equivalent to the entire budget for the Administration on Aging. Wouldn’t want to deprive millionaire and billionaire hedge fund managers of their windfall just to help a lot of old geezers.
Bank Bailouts: Then there’s the $700 billion bank bailout – to rescue banks from problems they themselves created. Yes it got paid back; and yes, we had to do something. But the reason this money was little more than welfare was because the banks got to do what they wanted to with it. It could have come with strings – we could have insisted that they write down mortgages to market value or allowed refinancing at lower interest rates or longer amortization periods. We could even have given the money directly to stressed homeowners, instead of the banksters who caused the problem. Any of these approaches would have prevented defaults, slowed – or even reversed – the precipitous declines in real estate values, and given low and middle income consumers some ability to consume, which, at the end of the day is the real “job creator.” And we most certainly could have insisted that banks money loan out the money to small businesses and home buyers.
 

So, you want to fix the American economy? Make these hogs live by the same rules as the rest of us