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Sobering News on Tax Day for America’s Middle Class |
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| Salary gains for the past five years have gone to the highest-paid workers, like Katie Couric, who makes $15 million a year as “CBS Evening News” anchor. |
Have you hit the “send” button on your electronic tax filing yet?
Just in time for tax day, some in the news media are highlighting what we frequently note here: The rich are getting richer and more of us are just getting by.
Yesterday’s Parade magazine, that all-American national weekly tabloid, features a multi-page article on the discrepancy between our growing economy and our not-growing wages. In sum, writes reporter Lynn Brenner:
Most Americans didn’t see the long economic boom reflected in their paychecks.
Instead:
The salary gains of the last five years have gone to the highest-paid workers.
The most striking part of the feature is the row upon row of photos featuring famous people and their salaries—sprinkled in between people who represent the rest of us. There’s Katie Couric, paid $15 million a year to keep “CBS Evening News” in third place, behind NBC and ABC news. Just below Couric we see Angela Pratt in Wichita, Kan., a foster-care recruiter who makes $23,000 a year. Want to bet which job is harder?
Deborah Mensch, one of those over-paid government employees living high off the taxpayer trough, gets $14,000 a year as a seasonal park ranger in Montana. Over in Greenwich, Conn., Edward Lampert pulls in a cool $425 million as hedge fund manager.
And so it goes. Writes Brenner:
“People are worried about the future,” says Gary Fearn, who earned $9,000 last year as a minister in Pueblo, Colo. For many Americans, being employed no longer means being free of financial insecurity.
Brenner makes another point we’ve made here: U.S. workers’ productivity is growing while our paychecks are not.
Workers’ productivity grew an impressive 18 percent between 2000 and 2006—but most people’s inflation-adjusted weekly wages rose only 1 percent during that time. This was the firs economic expansion since World War II without a sustained pay increase for rank-and-file workers.
But just because our salaries aren’t keeping up with those of hedge fund managers, TV news anchors—or even the cost of living—don’t expect a break from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The New York Times reports today the IRS is increasingly auditing middle-class taxpayers.
Since 2000, authorities at the Internal Revenue Service have nearly tripled audits of tax returns filed by people making $25,000 to $100,000 as part of a broad change in audit strategy.
Audits of these middle-class taxpayers rose to nearly 436,000 last year, up from about 147,000 returns in 2000. For these 61 million individuals and married couples, who make up nearly half of all taxpayers, the odds of being audited rose from 1 in 377 to 1 in 140.
5 Comments
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Great catch you guys, especially that Parade covered something serious like this.
HEY!!!! I have a CRAZY idea>>>>> Let’s back a “Bill” that would save the tax payers some money, Sound like a good IDEA!!! Probably too good of an Idea. Well I have written my Senator and Rep. in Indiana about this “Idea for a Save the Taxpayers Money BILL”
Well here it is, Some people that have jobs have to take a Urine sample periodically to keep their job, and of course pay taxes right! Well here’s a Crazy Idea, pass a “Bill” that would require people to get Welfare Benefits to pass a URINE TEST! WOW I’ll bet we could all save a lot of tax money, what do you all think!!!!
This is the America we live in today. If you are in the top 1%, and you FUDGE ON YOUR TAXES,,,,,and if you do get caught,,,,,,undoubtedly you will only have to pay a very minimal amount on the amount owed to the IRS,,,,,,,,,however if you are of the working class YOU WILL PAY THE FULL AMOUNT OWED TO THE IRS,,,,,,,,,,PLUS A PENALTY. I myself had an insurance settlement,,,,,,,,and i had to pay MEDICARE $65,000.00 out of my settlement. THANKS TO KING GEORGE AND HIS CRONIES.
This is all a part of the brutal destruction of the middle class by government and Big Business by importing and exporting slave labor. The big money is being funneled to the Muslim, Hindu or Chinese countries whic eventuall will bring about the destruction of America along with the middle class.
We live in a Capitalist country, and when Capitalism is unrestrained, the rich ALWAYS get richer at the expense of the poor. Jobs ALWAYS migrate to the cheapest employment sector.
This is why I advocate the formation of a LABOR PARTY in this country. The AFL-CIO is the best place to start, and our message must make it clear to people that unless you are an OWNER, you are LABOR. period. You are expendable, and your fancy salary can disappear to Calcutta TOMORROW unless you VOTE LABOR. There hasn’t been a better time to make this point since the Depression. Unions are fine, but if we REALLY WANT TO SAVE OUR JOBS AND WAY OF LIFE, WE NEED TO RAISE THE STAKES AND START PLAYING HARDBALL. 98% of the population is LABOR–but they keep voting Republican and supporting the very people who are busy cutting their throats. Let’s unite, bring in all these one-issue fringe groups and get something going that can effect REAL CHANGE. Blogging is all very well, but meanwhile in Congress they are busy passing the BILLS that are going to ship out YOUR job next week.