The hypocrisy over deficits and calls for shared sacrifice can be illustrated with one simple statistic. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, 25 of the most-well-paid chief executives got higher compensation than their companies paid in federal taxes. There’s a class war on, as Warren Buffett has noted, and his class is winning it.
The drive for austerity, with its attendant manufactured crises, carries with it a host of mini-outrages making this point. Americans learned after the fiscal cliff negotiations ended that the final agreement, ostensibly to pass “tax hikes for the wealthy,” extended huge corporate handouts. These included special breaks for NASCAR, help for Hollywood movie studios, $3 billion a year for General Electric, support for mining and railroad companies, and even a push for electric scooters.
Outrage over this story flamed everywhere, from the floor of the House of Representatives to cable news networks, including ESPN. The anger at these corporate subsidies was justified because breaks like these are a symbol of a budget process designed to shift money and power to people who already have too much of it.
The real story of the fiscal cliff negotiations, and the coming debt ceiling debate, are corporate tax cuts and the CEOs who love them. There are many corporations that don’t pay taxes. They then pass along some of that increased profit to their CEOs, who also shelter their income from the Internal Revenue Service. It’s a veritable circle of life.
As David Cay Johnston has shown recently in his excellent book, The Fine Print, the middle class is at a double disadvantage. One, we actually have to pay taxes every year on our income. Two, we have to deal with a frightening overly complex tax code.
