We're Not Broke, Just Twisted: Extreme Wealth Inequality in America

[nanoduckie]

whats the song? :D

[fakesmith797]

WOLFPAC!!!!!!

[RadicalStarFilms]

@CRUSHuWITHmyWALLET The problem is capitalism globalised but the state did not... hense this issue...

[dujaa74]

American Justice or FBI cover-up? - Because things are far worse in US Government than the American people want to admit as only a victim could understand. We lost everything, our home, land, possessions & nearly my life all to public corruption & murderous criminals. We became homeless refugees in our own nation the United States of America. Stop me when I lie FBI. My family and I just want true justice, nothing more nothing less. xxx.change.org/petitions/ameri­can-justice-or-fbi-cover-up

[nyctoo]

So uh, what is the riches fair share in taxes? The top 1% already pays 40% of all income tax. The bottom 50% of America doesn't even pay income tax.

[stupidtrooper501]

@nyctoo yes but the rich pay less payroll tax, sales tax, etc. apart from that most of those 50% don't pay income tax because they are too poor. lastly income tax is only one fifth of all the revenue for the government. besides care to explain how Romney is estimated only have 15% tax rate on his income?

[nyctoo]

@stupidtrooper501 Romney gets his money for 15% because of the capital gains tax. That is money he receives from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property. Guess how be bought those things originally? He bought it with the money he earned that was taxed via the income tax. So basically he is taxed on investing in something that will become successful, and then it does, and he profits. WTF are you talking about other wise? He rich pay payroll tax and sales.

[stupidtrooper501]

@nyctoo the rich only pay payroll tax up to the current limit of about $100,000 that means that after you earn $100,000 the rest is payroll tax free, and that's IF you earn your money through salary. Romney wouldn't invest in little start ups that may or may not succeed as a smart investor he would instead go for companies that are successful so his money is spent recklessly.

[stupidtrooper501]

@stupidtrooper501 sorry "so his money is NOT spent recklessly"

[nyctoo]

@stupidtrooper501 How is his money spent recklessly if he was investing in successful companies? If he made money, it seems smart to me.

[stupidtrooper501]

@nyctoo i can assure you most corporate start ups are not very successful that's why they are classified as high risk investments. if he (romney) is investing in successful companies it because he is investing in companies with good track record, something that start ups don't have.

[nyctoo]

@stupidtrooper501 And to add to that, small businesses started by the middle class would be crushed if the capital gains tax were raised. Businesses like Facebook wouldn't exist because the rich would be more frugal on what business would be successful for them to invest in. It would crush the small business sector and stifle innovation.

[stupidtrooper501]

@nyctoo the middle class and small business would not be crushed by an increase in capital gains tax because most small businesses are proprietorships so Mr. rich couldn't buy socks for small business M because they don't exist. another point is that after 2009 thought the stock market stabilized the US still lost jobs. lastly it is actually the government that does a better job of investing in small companies because the gov is not as interested in the returns as investors are

[nyctoo]

@stupidtrooper501 More government? Haha, no thanks. Everything the government does besides war, fails. Let the free market work itself out, and it will, well, until the government comes along and fucks it up.

[stupidtrooper501]

@nyctoo funny thing is the more the market is left alone the more it fucks up, how else do you explain the the 2008 crash. oh right it was freddie mae and fannie mac that caused it and not the market shift from long term safe investments to short term risky investments, deregulation of CDCs and the lack of a crackdown on predatory lending

[muguguymen]

uh, ron paul 2012? unless you know someone else that would shake things up?

[dediger007]

In addition. One way to strip power from the Banks is to stop using their currency. Each State in the United States has the power to issue their own currency... They should do it and side step the central banks. People should start to barter amongst them selves... ignore the $. create your own standard. Understand that you are sovereign and not controlled by some outside force!

[dediger007]

This short documentary speaks as though paying taxes will fix the difference between the rich and the poor. That is not the case. Abolishing current Central Banks and initiating a non-debt silver based system with a Republic that is controlled by the populous through direct democracy is the real solution. Current bank controlled dictatorships need to be overturned!

[MaskedFoxie]

The problem is that money talks big in this country... even if you could get all the citizens to vote against them, money would still somehow speak louder than the majority's voices.

...other than making changes very slowly, the only other effective option is a good old-fashioned revolution. ...which we haven't had one of those in a while, so I hope we'd be good for it.

[Ericwvb2]

The "financial transaction tax" would only work if it was added to all stock exchanges all over the world simultaneously. Otherwise, trading activity would simply shift to the exchanges without this tax.

[SnowDog2003]

Gad, you're all just a bunch of thieves...

[xxthread]

great message. would have been better without the intense music. but nevertheless gets its point across.

[abmindprof]

also eliminate the "carried interest" tax rate.

[umberwolf]

Republitards want wealth-care instead of healthcare... and they are so greed-crazy they don't even care if people know the truth. Just because we don't use noble-titles in the U.S. it doesn't mean there aren't any robber-barons.

[climber333]

Maybe we could start a new movement 'Wealthcastration'.  So few of them, so many of us.

[Melotha]

Look, I know the topic is serious, but...

...Wealthception?

[BonesTheCat]

Sure, the wealthy need to step up more, but EVERYONE is to blame for the current issues with economies. Blaming one set for all our woes is naive. Credit card debt, loans we couldn't pay, commercialism, etc etc is ALSO what got us here.

IF we all worked and saved and spent within our own economy's we wouldn't be in such shit.

[7Charleston]

Iceland, Greece, Arab Spring, Spain... now USA!

People of the world, RISE UP!!! #ocuppyWallStreet

[buccaboo9]

Love the message but the Inception score is way too bombastic, at odds with what's on screen, is distracting. Re-score with something more supportive and message will come through more clearly.

[deadlyorgans]

oh...you forgot... END THE FED AND STOP CORPORATE WELFARE.. Support Ron Paul. Obama is a corporatist and so are all the other democrats and republicans

[basilmemories]

@deadlyorgans Which is why he supported that the uninsured should just die when faced with a long but needed treatment plan ahead? And why members of the Tea Party cheered at the thought of the poor and uninsured just dying off instead of receiving care? Despite the fact that insurance isn't affordable for a sizable portion of America, a good number of which are hard workers and not people trying to game the system.

[deadlyorgans]

@basilmemories You don't have to agree with Ron Paul's stance on health insurance (although state plans are something he would be okay with), but you realize that Obama is a corporate whore... who put more power in the hands of the big drug companies and corporations... screwing us worse.. making us buy insurance from these private companies... and expanding the wars.. draining our economy. Maybe we'd have more money if we ended the war.. and end the war on drugs to help the impoverished.

[basilmemories]

@deadlyorgans No, actually I don't. See here's the deal: Obama is getting raked over hot coals by his own people, because despite protestations by the right, Democrats are more center-leaning than people like to say. Bush? Never got this treatment by his own party. If Republicans had come together and said this? I'd chalk it up to just being how things work. Self-policing. But not only did Bush cut taxes for the rich, he did so with a nearly-unified front of Republicans behind him.

[deadlyorgans]

@basilmemories Still, the only non-corporate one is Ron Paul. He's anti-corporatism. This is what's wrong with the economy...big corporations ("too big to fail"), bailouts, & the military industrial complex. You may not agree with Paul's stance on healthcare (I don't agree), but ending expensive wars, wars on drugs, & corporate welfare will help more than Obama's spending ideas right now. The best part about the USA is we, the states can create health insurance plans if we push for it.

[robshaps]

@deadlyorgans Exactly. End corporate welfare. End the federal reserve. End the wars. End the war on drugs. Then we'll have money to pay for other shit.

[abmindprof]

@deadlyorgans Also, he's a homophobic fundamentalist Christian who supports the return to the gold standard based on failed early 20th century economic theories and a bizarre gold fetish.

[deadlyorgans]

@abmindprof Homophobic my ass (no pun intended)! He's way more for gay rights than homophobic Obama. He believes gay marriage is fine. In fact, he doesn't want the government interfering with that, nor does he think the church and state should have anything to do with each other (so forget his fundamentalist stuff you're thinking about... it wouldn't even matter).

[abmindprof]

@deadlyorgans search for the paul homosex Craig Kevin vid. He clearly thinks DADT is fine and that there is something wrong inherently wrong with homosexuality. You get no credit for being a moderate Xtian jihadist even it disturbs the even crazier ones.

[deadlyorgans]

@abmindprof First of all, most of your sentence didn't make sense (jihadist?).. and I can't find jack on 'craig kevin.' Second, I'm Jewish by background and agnostic. Lastly, take a look at Ron Paul's answer about gay marriage: watch?v=QGaBAb_oS84

Obama doesn't come close on civil liberties. Also watch his answer here: watch?v=ws7Zp41fByE

[MsZippity]

This should be projected on the side of a building in every town across America. Dead on. FIGHT BACK. Hold hands!

[NoDestinyLive4Now]

The storm has hit the shores of America and is spreading...

[7Epitaph]

This is beginning to sound a lot like our revolutionary roots.

[JesusNonEnviromental]

Give the Govt another 4 Trillion in taxes and they'll spend 10 Trillion

[getplaning]

@Debking79 Yes, dear, of course the US has borrowed money, for as long as it has been in existence. But take a look at the growth of the government's liabilities since 1980 and who you owe that money to, and stop being such a TOOL.

[paulbruenger]

I find it funny how people always want to put more tax burden on the rich, who mind you pay 90% of all income tax in america. Oh my God I did say it The rich in all fact pay way more taxes than the poor and middle class. If it was such a closed club, how come there have been tons of self made millionaires. The trickle down method is bull.

[MENJAGVETJUINTE]

@paulbruenger Yeah but the rich take 100% of their money from the labor of the ordinary people. It's no less than right that the common people get some back, if not all. Unfortunately there's a gigantic government in the way that thinks it acts in the best interests of the common people just because it holds election once every few years.

[BillGoose1313]

I don't have a problem with "the wealthy" - it's this disturbing trend of "ultra-wealth" which bothers me. Having millions is no longer enough now people want 100's of millions or billions in their portfolio and they're obtaining it through destruction of the country rather than building it up the way the wealthy did at the turn of the century.

[itsmesteph11]

You idiots, we don't need EQUALITY.

[billepayne]

If households today with $1 million incomes paid another 231 billion into the system, we would still be trillions short; if corporations increased their cost of doing business by paying another $485 billion in taxes, those costs would be borne by every man, woman and child in America to the tune of over $1500 additional; the 5 reforms (well, 4 of them, anyway) don't deserve the honor of a response. Wealthy people don't steal or enslave anyone. The government does a fine job of that.

[noelortega]

@billepayne Those are all really good points, and yes, we need to change a lot more things before we reach equality, and taxing the super rich and large corporations are steps in the right direction. We also need to remember that our gov't is a plutocracy, which is why it seems evil, but if we had a real democracy it would be 100x better. We can change the corporate charger to make their bottom line be a public benefit. We can also chance the constitution to take corporations out of gov't.

[billepayne]

@noelortega Please explain to me how: raising the cost of doing business to corporations, thereby raising the cost of goods and services to us; rendering the corporations less (or un-) competitive (especially if they export); providing incentive to move business (and jobs) overseas, hide cash in tax haven countries (there's about $11 trillion sitting overseas right now); and generally fueling inflation will help the situation. You want to seize a corp's profits? You want communism, not democracy

[n33oh]

2012: Time for Americans to walk like EGYPTIANS

(in solidarity against the super wealthy stealing from and enslaving us thru unequal tax laws!)

[KateAnneNYC]

Estate taxes are paid by only the top .3 (three-tenths) of 1% (per Senator Bernie Sanders of VT). BUT the rightists use the term DEATH taxes to scare folks into hurting themselves. When Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, the very wealthy paid a 91% tax rate and we did not have a deficit. Now the tax rate on corporate gains is a mere 15% -- unfair.

[thecosmos003]

Stupid video is stupid...

Of course, there will always be inequality and it will become even more apparent as the world becomes overpopulated.

What is fair share exactly? There is vague or no detail in these ideas linked with sensational music and editing...

Does the video producer know that these rich people pay the most in taxes? Are they expected to be paying for everyone on the planet? I really don't understand this logic...

BTW I'm not rich...

[wa5519]

@thecosmos003 You're not wrong. The question now becomes this: "Is poverty acceptable?"

Fair share in my opinion is Human Value- Remember that millions of people in both hemispheres live by only getting $2 USD a day, or less. Last I checked, we still have to pay for food and millions can't.

Take the NYC Subway and you'll see panhandlers on all trains

[pinballsmile]

Pooled at the top? Surely that is counter to the 'trickle-down' theory we've been sold for decades?

Nothing can pool at the top, a system has to be designed to make it go there. The downfall of humanity will be our inability to see the 'other' as a part of 'us'.

SHARE. You bastards.

[ftarzanin1]

@pinballsmile pooled at the top ... no more like pumped to the top.

[PeachMcD]

The cure: a constitutional amendment clarifying that corporations are NOT PERSONS. Corporations have no conscience, no limit to their lifespan, and no purpose except to amass profit. Calling them 'persons' and giving them constitutional rights was the undoing of democracy and the beginning of fascism (which Mussolini defined as the "melding of corporation and state."

[hellboundmatt]

@PeachMcD Better yet an amendment barring donations in large amounts of any sort. Like the UK

[plutoship]

The general populace has no clue how to fight the beast that is killing this country - the problem is people and their unrelenting urges to hoard and to dominate others. This applies as much to the uber-wealthy as it does to the idiots who were stealing TVs from damaged stores during Katrina.  Until we get beyond this human weakness we'll continue to see long cycles of nations rising, dominating, stagnating, falling. America is not exempt from this; a 235 year-old experiment still unfolding.

[ricker2345]

The average millionaire buys a used car, lives in a house worth less than $500K, owns and operates their own business and works 60+ hours a week, learned from their mistakes and took huge risks to get there. You can't become rich in this county by being mediocre or living beyond your wage.

[ccbgraphics]

@ricker2345 Yes, but the definition of "millionaire" is someone that has a total worth of $1 million or more. Which, if you make good money and invest smart, over the course of a lifetime, many people do amass that much for retirement/equity in their home. This film mentioned million-dollar INCOMES, as in, that's their paycheck or what they earn in interest, etc., not what they've saved in a bank or have equity in their house. Just what they're bringing home IN ADDITION to that.

[noelortega]

@ccbgraphics well put... yes, this is about incomes...

[tommybass40]

The rich are killing us, plain and simple, and their bought and paid for puppets in Washington DC allow them, even help them, to kill us. The problem is, the filthy rotten rich will not stop raping us until we all rise up and stop it....but it's going to get a lot worse before we wake up and then it will be too late.

Maybe that Harold Camping guy's End of the World prediction for tomorrow is true.

[noelortega]

@tommybass40 I hope things don't have to get worst before they get better... but you may be right...

[ricker2345]

@noelortega Unfortunately I think it will, this is a cycle that gets repeated in our world history over and over.

[noelortega]

@13bayou most people would love to get a job, but that fact is that there aren't any jobs out there that pay a livelihood...

[noelortega]

@13bayou some people have two or three jobs and they still can make ends meet...

[noelortega]

@getplaning I completely agree with your frustration, but there is no need for that kind of language. Lets have an open debate about it and be civil... Lets not dip to their level...

[13bayou]

@veronicaodden so what you are saying is these people are a drain on society. If they don't have enough income to pay taxes then they should get off their butts and do something about it. It's freekin ridiculous to live in a country like America and be poor.

Did they not get an education? Its free you know.

By the way, schools are funded by local taxes, not federal income taxes, so once again, you don't know what you are talking about.

[noelortega]

@13bayou yeah -- most people can't even make a living from their jobs so they have to work two or three jobs...

[getplaning]

@13bayou You're just angry because you got caught lying. Grow up.

[dorksied]

The thing that seems to escape the super wealthy in this country... is history. Throughout history, when the few have risen in power to establish a fascist state, crushing the poor under the boot of tyranny, it was tolerated for a time, before the frustration and anger of the populous is pushed to a boiling point... at which time, they rose up and slaughtered their oppressors. There will be violence. There will be blood. And, to the average citizen, I suggest you prepare for it. Its coming.

[noelortega]

@dorksied if history has something this teach us it is this...

[getplaning]

The wealthy have worked for years )successfully) to shift their tax burden off wealth and property and onto labor and industry.

But here's the real kicker.

Before, the wealthy paid taxes in a progressive tax system. The rich were still rich, and there was no deficit.

Today, the government BORROWS money from the rich in the form of BONDS, which must be paid back, with interest. Not only are they no longer paying, but you are now paying THEM.

[GL0BEmaster]

@getplaning OK, now I'm really mad. And these fucks are calling US parasites? FUCK!

[noelortega]

@GL0BEmaster I agree! I'm also really mad...

[Debking79]

@getplaning YOU LIE!!!  The U.S. has borrowed money since The Revolutionary War.

Sincerely,

IExposeLiarsANDfools

ps google "united states debt since 1780" and STOP LYING!

[getplaning]

@13bayou This is a common lie put forth by dishonest hacks like you. 45% of Americans don't make enough money to attract income tax. But they still pay plenty of other taxes, including federal payroll taxes. Between gas taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes and other taxes the tax burden on the poor is more than twice that of the top 1% Americans making less than $13,000 pay 11% of their income in state and local taxes, compared with less than 4% for those who make $229,000 or more.

[getplaning]

And these same lying hacks will tell you that General Electric and Exxon Mobil pay billions in taxes when they pay NO INCOME TAX.

[ricker2345]

@getplaning I agree, becuase of tax shelters and what they called "creative accounting" we need to find out what creative accounting entails.

[tuber123asd]

@13bayou You're out of your fucking mind. Where's your evidence to support the "fact" that the bottom 45% pay NOTHING? Provide a source.

[veronicaodden]

@13bayou they probably don't pay income tax... Because they have no income ;0 and yes income tax goes to fund schools, I have learned something about it, so watch yourself before you go mouthing off yourself, there, Mr.

[mburger93]

Great Job Guys!

[noelortega]

@mburger93 thanx!

[MCPetruk]

Did you get this music from a Tim Pawlenty campaign video? Or a Michael Bay movie? Just sayin...

[veronicaodden]

@13bayou Why is it crazy to ask that the wealthy pay the same amount of tax the lower and middle classes pay? Cut spending that supports the most vulnerable members of society, or helps educate our children? Yeah, because increasing poverty is just a brilliant idea. Keep going on that one.

[noelortega]

@veronicaodden Yeah, great questions! The US is twisted...

[noelortega]

@13bayou the music is from Zack Hemsey - he made the music for Inception. EPIC MUSIC!!

[noelortega]

@13bayou Yeah, we need a combination of both cutting spending on military and raise taxes on the supper rich...

[laurenmichellekinsey]

Wonderful video! Beautifully done. Everyone in America needs to see this. I will share, and hope others do as well.

[noelortega]

@laurenmichellekinsey THANX!! and yeah share the vid with your friends!