Why isn't their enough political will for taxing the rich and corporations?

[Hardkill]

Why have progressives and liberals been unsuccessful with their movement on taxing the rich and corporations a lot?

I get that most Democratic and Republican politicians are still heavily influenced by corporate and wealthy donors who don't want their taxes raised, but why aren't most Americans not outraged by this?

Given massive economic equality that has been constantly growing since around the 80s, why hasn't there been enough of a widespread social activism by the poor, middle class, working class, liberals, and progressives like what happened around the turn of the twentieth century? 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Hardkill

[Spiral]

Tldr: it’s a difficult and complex issue.
 

If you tax the rich, they often leave for greener pastures. If they stay they care less about making money especially if you take more than half. Which creates fewer jobs and less prosperity. Furthermore it promotes tax evasion. Lastly they are powerful and influential which makes it more difficult to ‘go against’ them.

 

[Devin]

The rich put up a tough fight, and

 

[Hardkill]

I 

16 hours ago, Spiral said:

Tldr: it’s a difficult and complex issue.
 

If you tax the rich, they often leave for greener pastures. If they stay they care less about making money especially if you take more than half. Which creates fewer jobs and less prosperity. Furthermore it promotes tax evasion. Lastly they are powerful and influential which makes it more difficult to ‘go against’ them.

 

 

6 hours ago, Devin said:

The rich put up a tough fight, and

 

I don't entirely buy that.

Yes, most Americans are not so informed, but back in the early to mid 1900s the tax bracket for everyone was so much better than it has been since the 1980s and Reaganism/neoliberalism.

Back around the turn of the 20th century, the Populist movement, William Jennings Bryan, and Teddy Roosevelt were able to successfully pressure the government to dramatically reduce the massive economic inequality in America. By 1913, the progressive movement was able to successfully push the government to establish the 16th constitutional amendment, which allowed the government to institute the very first progressive tax system. 

Look at this picture below showing Teddy Roosevelt squeezing all of the money that the fat greedy pigs like the guy on the left had stolen from the poor, middle class, and working class.

 

Actually Bill Clinton and the Democrats in the 90s did an excellent with passing a reasonably good progressive tax system into law that led to the very first budget surplus since 1969. The last time there was a budget surplus in the US was in 2001. 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hardkill

[Ulax]

@Hardkill There are a lot of very rich groups and people in the US who put a lot of funding into manipulating the populace into the believing in neoliberal views.

Lots of big donor funding for people like Ben Shapiro, fox news etc. I think Noam Chomsky's ideas around manufactured consent could prove insightful for you on this issue.

[Hardkill]

19 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Hardkill There are a lot of very rich groups and people in the US who put a lot of funding into manipulating the populace into the believing in neoliberal views.

Lots of big donor funding for people like Ben Shapiro, fox news etc. I think Noam Chomsky's ideas around manufactured consent could prove insightful for you on this issue.

Oh yeah, I've heard of that book. 

I'll actually read that book. 

Thanks for reminding me about that.

[Ulax]

@Hardkill You're welcome mate

[Leo Gura]

Because people are distracted by petty culture wars.

[Hardkill]

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Because people are distracted by petty culture wars.

You know, that’s what Cenk and TYT have been saying recently. I wasn’t sure if that was true or not before, but now it is apparent to me that there is enough of a consensus on this matter that that is what is really going on.

[Leo Gura]

Most people are extremely politically ignorant and fundamentally uninterested in policy and governance. Most people treat politics as a tribal sport. Serious policy is hard to pass that way.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

38 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Most people are extremely politically ignorant and fundamentally uninterested in policy and governance. Most people treat politics as a tribal sport. Serious policy is hard to pass that way.

So, how did the Populist movement during the late 1800s succeed with pressuring the government to come up with ways to dramatically reduce economic inequality, eliminate unjust working conditions for employees in America, and pass a constitutional amendment that allowed all women the right the vote, and more?

How did the labor unions successfully influence FDR to pressure Congress to pass all of his New Deal policies?

How did MLK and the other civil rights movement leaders succeed in ending the Jim Crow laws?

How did Gandhi and his movement succeed in freeing India from the British empire?

How come the feminist movements have been successful?

How were liberals and Democrats able to get the government to institute Medicare and Medicaid, then expanding medicaid to those with disabilities, tie COLA to social security, expand the ACA act further, and have Medicare begin to negotiate prescriptions for the first time ever?

Btw, why have more and more red states been passing Medicaid expansion into law?

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hardkill

[Devin]

       Rebuke the culture war morons on your own side, they need to quit being pandered to for fringe votes, and start being corrected. That's the tribal part, letting them slide because they vote with you.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Devin

[Leo Gura]

33 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

So, how did the Populist movement during the late 1800s succeed with pressuring the government to come up with ways to dramatically reduce economic inequality, eliminate unjust working conditions for employees in America, and pass a constitutional amendment that allowed all women the right the vote, and more?

How did the labor unions successfully influence FDR to pressure Congress to pass all of his New Deal policies?

How did MLK and the other civil rights movement leaders succeed in ending the Jim Crow laws?

How did Gandhi and his movement succeed in freeing India from the British empire?

How come the feminist movements have been successful?

How were liberals and Democrats able to get the government to institute Medicare and Medicaid, then expanding medicaid to those with disabilities, tie COLA to social security, expand the ACA act further, and have Medicare begin to negotiate prescriptions for the first time ever?

Obviously there is inevitable progress and serious things get passed.

[Hardkill]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Obviously there is inevitable progress and serious things get passed.

But how did each of those movements succeed in bringing about such changes?

How did they persuade the people to not get distracted by such petty culture wars?

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hardkill

[Leo Gura]

@Hardkill First off, many of those movements were culture wars.

It's a lot easier to get people riled up over unequal treatment of blacks, women, and gays, then it is to get people riled up over tax percentages. It's not even clear what the proper tax rate for rich people should be. That's a wonk issue.

[Hardkill]

28 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Hardkill First off, many of those movements were culture wars.

It's a lot easier to get people riled up over unequal treatment of blacks, women, and gays, then it is to get people riled up over tax percentages. It's not even clear what the proper tax rate for rich people should be. That's a wonk issue.

Okay, I see what you mean with the first part of your answer. 

As for the second part of your answer, what was wrong with the kind of tax system we had in the mid 1900s, when it was much more fair for everybody before Reagan became president?

Even, rich liberals and Democrats like Warren Buffett have said that the tax rates for the rich and corporate are grossly unfair to everyday people. 

There will be a day of reckoning for all of the greedy right-wing rich pigs like Carl Icahn and Robert Mercer who have been destroying the middle and working classes and have been trying to kill our democracy.