IT HAS STARTED.....

[FrenchieCat]

There are about 75 or so Activists at the end of my Block (where our offices are....corner of Grand Avenue and McCarthur Blvd right at the beginning of Lake Merritt, close to the Grand Lake Theater)....with a giant sign that reads.....

TAX FAIRNESS! Tax Richest 1%

It is 5:00 p.m. here in the Bay Area, maximum traffic time.....
and this intersection is quite a major one.
I took some photos, but can't upload till I get home.
I couldn't go over there to get the scoop (who are these folks, etc...?) because I am manning our offices by my lonesome. :(


ps. I saw Angela Davis about 1 hour ago, in the little cafe/deli where I get my lunch most days. It is my 2nd time seeing her there this week, so I think she is taking a yoga class nearby, because she was with a young woman who had yoga gear in hand! She's in her 60s, but doesn't look bad at all! I smiled at her, and she smiled back. :)

[monmouth]

1. Angela is looking at 70 hard...LOL. I had the pleasure of meeting her

way back in the day. She was always a good looking woman and I heard her speak quite a few times. Lucky you!

[FrenchieCat]

3. I didn't want to do the groupie thing.....

figured if we ever talked, it would have to be based on something other than me
rushing her with baited breath. I'm sure she appreciates that. :)

[monmouth]

6. I'm sure she does, you got the smile which says to me "thanks."..LOL...n/t

[patrice]

2. I hope one of them has one of those little clicker-counter thingees, so s/he can count

the honk-rate.

I did that once in front of Senator Robertson's office; came up with close to 400 honks in about 1.5 hours. That's what a good high-traffic corner will do for your issue.

[FrenchieCat]

4. The traffic here never stops.....as many folks are going to the Lake to walk...

or getting on the Freeway, etc....

Guess these folks understand that if you want change,
you have to show up to make it so! :applause:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FrenchieCat]

8. hahahahah! RW talking points!

That's all you got?


The top 1% reported to the IRS an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $1,685 billion dollars, amounting to 20% of the total reported household income that year, and around 12 percent of GDP. On this sum they paid $392 billion in taxes, an average tax rate of 23%.

The Journal (your talking points) writes that it is impossible to get enough income out of the top 1% to close the deficit, and invites us to undertake the "thought experiment" of taxing all of the income this group. In other words, the Journal claims that even the total income of the richest taxpayers wouldn't close the deficit. This claim is nonsense.

If the tax rate were 100% rather than 23% (and assuming in the Journal illustration an unchanged AGI), the extra revenues would be $1,300 billion, or 9 percent of GDP. Even allowing for other taxes already paid by the richest 1%, the incremental federal tax revenues would be at least 6 percent of GDP. Since every baseline scenario by the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget shows a deficit between 2013 and 2021 that is less than 6 percent of GDP, the total income of the top 1% would close the budget deficit entirely.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/how-the-wall-street-journ_b_851285.html

NEXT.....

[pat fender]

11. Somebody didn't read the whole article he linked.

PS:

Jeffrey, it isn't 1.685 BILLION dollars it is 1.685 TRILLION dollars.

The guy can't even get the incomes right.

[FrenchieCat]

14. silly little troll!

he goes on.....

It's really hard to understand what the Journal was thinking in writing its flawed editorial. Whatever that might have been, they have done us a huge service by drawing attention to the astonishing incomes received by America's richest taxpayers, coupled with the declining rates of average personal income taxation paid by this group.

Despite the media machine of the corporate sector and the relentless messaging conveyed by some of the world's richest people, including the Journal's owner Rupert Murdoch and his ally David Koch, the American people are coming to understand the outsized incomes and wealth of the richest Americans and the need for them to pay more in taxes to help close the budget deficit.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

15. Is the bridge extra humid this time of year? nt

[namahage]

16. "Pat,"

It's a COMMA, not a DECIMAL POINT.

Comma: ,
Decimal point: .

1,685 =/= ("not equal to") 1.685.

Consider the top 1% of taxpayers. Even in a year that the Wall Street Journal acknowledges "was a bad year for the economy and thus for tax receipts," the top 1% reported to the IRS an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of

$1,685

billion dollars, amounting to 20% of the total reported household income that year, and around 12 percent of GDP. On this sum they paid $392 billion in taxes, an average tax rate of 23%.

[FrenchieCat]

17. That's the problem with running with talking points not meant to be correct or understood....

only repeated. :rofl:

[Control-Z]

9. ...

:rofl:


Enjoy your stay!!

[NMDemDist2]

10. you're taking tax advice from the Tea Party activists?

Michael Vogler

Government Affairs & Corporate Development http://www.taxfoundation.org/staff/show/192.html

is this guy...

Michael Vogler - District 10 coordinator, Patriot Action Network (aka the astroturf Tea Party)

http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/group/vacongressionaldistrict10repfrankwolf/forum/topics/michael-vogler-district-10?commentId=2600775%3AComment%3A1863262&groupId=2600775%3AGroup%3A378314

"WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF PATRIOT ACTION NETWORK?
PANetwork is designed to be the social networking platform for Grassfire Nation and citizens who oppose the the rising tide of socialism. This platform is designed to provide a place for grassroots conservative citizen-patriots to network and develop strategies and action items to restore nation to limited government." http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/notes/FAQ_%28Facts_and_Questions%29

welcome to DU, hope you enjoy your stay......

[patrice]

12. Isn't it possible that the reason we haven't seen jobs out of these folks is because they

CAN'T afford to create any? They have themselves so over-extended to those above them that every dime that we have paid to pay their way all of this time has gone to keep THEMSELVES employed???? . . . has gone to protect their own holdings from hostile and/or foreign take-over?

Just askin', really!

[patrice]

19. IOW, please tell us what you actually know about the size, composition & ownership of the Derivative

Crash of 2008.

[pacalo]

13. What do YOU plan to do "in the year two"?

:silly:

[southernyankeebelle]

7. Let's hope this groups all across the nation meets in front of congress to let them here it up

close and personal.

[FirstLight]

18. thank you frenchie!

It's always cool to hear updates from O-town :)

Is the Grand Lake Theater still showing movies? I used to love going there...

A Skyline buddy and I were just talking today about how many cool people have come from our hometown, talent in music, etc...
looking forward to more updates! rock on!

on edit:

do you think KTVU will cover the activism or show the sign?

[FrenchieCat]

21. Grand Lake is still showing movies! And of course, in the big theaters......with the organ

coming up from the floor! :)

I didn't see any media there at all...
although, if there is a next time, I think I'll call the media
and ask that they come and cover it. Thanks for the idea! ;)

[FirstLight]

20. K&R

hope you got some pics, too Frenchie :hug:

[bigwillq]

22. K and R (nt)

[handmade34]

23. Damn...

Angela Davis was here in Tempe a few days ago and I couldn't make it... I'm making a new sticker for my car, think I'll steal your sign

TAX FAIRNESS! Tax Richest 1%