This one caught my eye the other evening – the reappearance of former Computerland CEO William Millard, and the apparent cat-and-mouse game to hunt him down and collect some $100 million in taxes.
I’m not entirely sure why these mysteries fascinate me, though certainly the larger-than-life personalities have much to do with it, including the sort that builds an empire (Millard) and then (allegedly) exempts himself from conventional accountability like, say… taxes.
The past decade has certainly seen stunning scandals to do with financial abuses, and mind-boggling sums of money involved.
Tawdry tales that come to mind?
Of course Bernie Madoff (2008) and Enron (2001) are biggies that most of us recall – certainly two of the most talked about (and devastating) financial scandals of the first decade of the millennium.
Now let’s contrast the robber baron mentality – might I indulge in that term? – with financier-billionaire Warren Buffett, who speaks about the need for shared sacrifice, and agrees that the wealthiest Americans (including himself) should pay more taxes.
Oh, did you miss that one? It’s a rather extraordinary New York Times opinion piece that appeared about a month back.
Didn’t read it?
You should.
Then, pop by the Daily Finance, with its catchy headline claiming that taxing the rich makes the populace happier. (What’s not to love about that, unless of course you’re in the top 1%? And if your country functions more efficiently and securely, isn’t that good for you, too?)
Recession Depression?
I’m no economist, but I can read and I can think and I do worry.
To cite the Daily Finance article specifically:
“Those who argue against higher taxes often fear that an increase will slow economic growth. But history dispels that myth.
The article goes on to say:
The debt ceiling deal… does nothing to increase revenues. Additionally, the spending cuts come primarily from programs that support low- and middle-income households. The richest Americans? They’re virtually exempt from chipping in to resolve the nation’s budget problems…
Of course this article in the New York Times on recently released poverty rates reminds us that some 46.2 million Americans are in now living in increasingly dire circumstances, also known as poverty.
Hello?
46.2 million people.
Doesn’t this piss you off? Or do you need to put that data into perspective first? 46.2 million people is 15% of the 307 million people in our country.
Data Perspective
Another perspective for that data? Let’s see. 46.2 million people equates (roughly) to the entire populations of:
- Los Angeles (9.8 million)
- New York City (8.2 million)
- Atlanta (4.2 million)
- Chicago (2.8 million)
- Houston (2.1 million)
- the entire state of Florida (18.8 million)
Think about that. Seriously.
Or, if you prefer, the number of Americans living in poverty equates to the entire populations of Texas (25 million), New York (19.4 million), and we’ll throw in Wyoming (564,000 ), Vermont (626,000), and Washington, D.C. (602,000) to round things out. That’s about 46.2 million people, isn’t it?
Close enough for government work, right?
It’s not about politics, it’s about human beings and common sense
However you seek to grasp the enormity of 46.2 million people in poverty and what it means to our future, it seems to me you would agree that’s a great many people – roughly one out of every six – quite possibly your neighbors, your siblings, your children, and even you.
As for the missing mogul which began my morning musing, is that $100 million in back taxes a drop in the bucket when it comes to what we need?
Even if it is, it sounds like a sizable drop to me, and might offer a small dent in programs to educate on obesity and other health care issues, make healthy foods more accessible in schools and on our tables, support alternative energies that could even (dare I dream it?) encourage jobs in new sectors – rather than sending production offshore.
Still, I wonder how many (millions?) of tax dollars are spent chasing missing tax dollars.
Do take a look at both articles. They’re illuminating.
- Do you read these articles and shrug them off if you aren’t at the poverty line or below?
- Do you read them and shrug them off if you aren’t unemployed?
- How hard is it to understand that (estimated) 16.2% unemployment /underemployment and 46 million citizens in poverty isn’t good for the country?
Aren’t we smart enough to figure this out? Apparently, Mr. Buffett is.
See full article from Daily Finance: http://srph.it/nWl920
Population data has been pulled from a variety of 2010 and 2011 census sources on the web.
Great article filled with facts that make sense. I try and help as much as I can by mentoring and giving.
One person at a time, Madge, right? Mentoring and giving make a difference. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Stories of tax evasion make me deeply angry. Especially someone who has enough to owe 100 million. Pathetic. I was taught that with everything we have comes responsibility. There is no value in having ‘it all’ if those around you are suffering. Taxes are good. I happily pay mine. I want a world without hunger. I want a country with well educated children. I want (dream big) a country where basic medical needs are met. I expect roads and electricity and water and I know those who can must pay for it all.
I often wonder if the people who are pissed off are those who are living in poverty and can do nothing about it. (Like me.) Because when I read this, I get angry. Very angry. Here I am, supporting my husband’s dream to be a doctor, and we can’t even afford health insurance for me and the kiddos nor can we afford the co-pays for him to see the doctor (through the insurance that we had to purchase before starting school). On top of that, we will be going $300,000 in debt. Why? To chase a dream of helping individuals who really need it. Unfortunately, every way we turn we will be screwed–by government, with their increasing influence on how and when we’ll get paid, despite not footing the bill for school and then expecting doctors to sacrifice. I am not saying we won’t live comfortably, we will, but after years and years of sacrifice. And we will only live as comfortably as we feel fit.
But, our family is fine. No, really, we are. When I think of those who do not have the opportunities that we do? Who do not have the support we have? I get very sad. I feel helpless. Yes I want to make a difference, but how much difference can I really make when there is this constant selfishness associated with capitalism? When the people with the money refuse to spread it out among their employees and take pay cuts–we are talking like a thousand here and there, with many of them averaging half a million if not more in yearly income–rather than supporting their selfish greed of profits, profits, profits.
Am I being overly dramatic? Perhaps. But, as you said, when 46 million are in poverty I don’t think we can be dramatic or loud enough.
… when 46 million are in poverty I don’t think we can be dramatic or loud enough.
I think that covers it, Amber.
The anti-tax and anti-government support rhetoric really irritates me. It’s so horrible and cruel. I’m sorry but the Republicans are really shooting themselves in the foot embracing this really nasty attitude, I think. I’ve never tended to be really completely one party or another but the Republicans have gone so far in one direction, they’re nowhere in my reach right now. No where near it even. They come across as cold, heartless, selfish, racist, classist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, and everything else.
And the REAL rub is the underlying Christian thing. Jesus Christ would be HORRIFIED by the talk these idiots are spewing. Plain and simple. GROSS.
Our government has a revenue of 2.17 Trillion dollars. We do not have a revenue problem, we have spending problem. Just like the woman who has overcharged on her credit card for $100 shoes she does not need, the US government spends on the most ridiculous things, and wars are not one of them. The two wars have cost 1.3 trillion( 1/11th the national debt). Our problem can be blamed on federal policy pushing homeownership through risky subprime lending. To Fannie and Freddie. To greedy bankers, unscrupulous lenders, naive (and greedy) homebuyers. There are a million reasons we are in debt and increasing taxes is not the answer, it is to cut spending. Just like a household that has credit card debt…tightening your belt buckle is the answer, not spend more or take from your neighbor. I wish people would realize that the government does not belong in the healthcare arena…have you been to the post office lately? They know how to make a business fail.
There is enough pork in the budget that needs to be cut. Before we spend ourselves into bankruptcy, we need to cut spending, not add more entitlements, or increase taxes.
I am not a republican……..I am Libertarian (minimum government, maximum freedom)
Have you ever been without a job, Joely, or family to turn to for help?
Have you ever been sick or injured and unable to see a physician, because you haven’t the money – or if you do see a physician even with some sort of insurance, he or she is incompetent or the uncovered expenses are more than you can beg, borrow, or steal?
Have you ever lived outside the U.S., where health care is considered a basic human right? After all, if you have a population that is ill or failing – forgetting the “humanist” side of things – where is the logic of what that population is able to do as part of the machinery of a society, a productive, civilized and functioning society? And when I say machinery, I mean (for example) health care, education, transportation, and other systems that work differently from ours (more efficiently, and no, not perfectly), but from which we may take some lessons.
It is very easy to say that government overspending is like “a household with credit card debt,” (did you actually say “a woman” who overspends???) – but yes, it’s about where that spending goes and it shouldn’t be cut from programs that concern basic human rights, in our own country. What if that credit card debt (your analogy) was the only way the household could eat or keep clothes on children and a roof over their heads for a little while longer? What if that debt is at least in part due to uncollectible child support monies for years? What if that debt is the result of accident or illness and subsequent medical expenses? What if that debt is due to an increasingly impossible employment picture?
Like you, I believe that this is an extremely complex situation with no single cause (certainly) and a long time in building. But entitlements?
Again, I say basic human rights. And common sense. And incidentally, I have 30+ years of paying a whole hell of a lot of taxes despite a small amount of earnings to “entitle” me to exactly that. But even if I didn’t, I would like to believe this is a country that thinks it’s wrong to throw people away.
That is the America I was raised to believe in. That is the America I would like us all to believe in again.
RIGHT ON! An irony is that riches don’t really do anything for the rich. I was talking with one of my hiking friends today who happens to be quite wealthy (totally self-made wealth and “one of my favorite capitalists” as I put it). She is quite upset with what is happening with her children and grandchildren. One child was complaining heartily that he needed a better job. He’s a VP – with loads of incentives and stock options – in a major international firm. But he’s thinking of changing jobs because he needs more income (million or two a year isn’t enough). Typically, he considers himself “middle class.” Their children (my friend’s grandchildren) have no idea of the value of money and also have their full share of personal problems that they don’t know how to deal with. We’ve all read the research – although poverty hurts, above a certain middle class level, additional money doesn’t bring any added happiness that people anticipate — no help that way at all.
Ah Paul. “One of your favorite capitalists.” Love it!
I hate to call upon poor old “Maslow” again, but as you allude to (in your own much more elegant way), beyond a certain middle class level (those basic needs, and a little self-actualization?), “additional money doesn’t bring any added happiness.”
But nor can we barter (it seems) for mortgage payments, doctor’s visits, school books, or food. And last I heard, my creditors don’t accept great links and page views as currency… (more’s the pity, no?) 😉
Joely,
How about we take a look at the cost of insuring the uninsured compared to the cost of the two useless wars we have been engaged in since around 2003. We’ve spent 1.29 trillion on wars… loss of American lives, Afghani lives, Iraqi lives, flushing money into the economies of foreign countries to help their citizens while an estimated 45 million here in our country go without health care coverage. The estimated cost of insuring those without insurance for 10 years would be 1 trillion.
So, you are damned right, we have a spending problem. The problem isn’t that we are spending, the problem is what we spend it on. If we don’t have a revenue problem then the solution to some of our problems is to take the revenue we do have and start spending it more wisely. Our government is concerned about the basic human rights of all people except the people who live in this country. Just think what our revenue would be today if we had not gone off half-cocked into Iraq and Afghanistan? Sobering!
I’d much rather part of our national debt was for saving lives right here at home instead of a foreign country.
I’m a homeowner who nearly lost her home due to a loss of income. I’m neither naive nor greedy and home ownership wasn’t pushed off onto me with some sub-prime loan. I don’t like the idea of banks being bailed out due to their own greed but, I don’t have a problem with our government helping homeowners stay in their homes. If the only way to do that was bail out banks and other lenders that is the price we HAVE to pay to keep families off the street. If you can’t grasp that concept then maybe the word “greedy” applies to you also.
“or take from your neighbor”
The core principle of this country used to be “neighbor helping neighbor.” Heard these words before… “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
This country used to be a refuge for people who were tired, poor or homeless. Now it is a country of many, many who are just that, tired, poor and homeless who have fallen through the cracks because of people who have forgotten what it means or don’t understand the concept of “neighbor helping neighbor.”
Before we spend ourselves into bankruptcy we do need to cut spending, on ANYTHING that is keeping this country from being able to offer it’s own citizens the securities that are basic human rights. And, sorry but for some that means “entitlement” programs.
That is what I do at my house anyway. I don’t spend money on anything that doesn’t promote the welfare of the folks who belong to my family. The good ole U.S.A. needs to do what the average American family does and take care of their own first.
If that means me paying more taxes so some child has food and a roof over their head I’m willing, because that not only promotes another person’s welfare but my own also. And therein lies the problem, most today look at the poor as takers instead of folks in need and all that does is promote greed and more suffering for the poor.
I find it amusing that you assume to have any idea of what entitlements I am referring to. Just a few things that could me cut in the Stimulus package:
3.4 million dollars to provide safe passage for wildlife under a Florida Bridge, 8,000 Social Security checks that have been mailed to people who are dead,The National Endowment for the Art is in line for $50 million,$650 million for activities related to the switch from analog to digital TV, including $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations” that they need to go out and get their converter boxes or lose their TV signals$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities,. The list goes on and on and what bothers me is no one asks how this money is spent. I can guarantee the money is mismanaged. If a CEO ran his company like the US government they would have been bankrupt long ago.
And secondly, your assumption that I do not understand what it is like. I grew up without much. My father made $15,000 /year at best. I had a wonderful mother who stayed at home, and they paid for health care. I joined the Army to pay for my school and I presently am living quite well. I am not overweight, I dont do drugs, I volunteer and I live in a community that is in the city that has more people taking entitlements than any white suburban family could imagine. They go to crap schools and are fed food that makes them overweight and people want to give the government more money to mismanage this mess they created. The poor black communities where hurt the worst by the mortgage crisis and as far as I see, the government did nothing short of creating the ghetto. My community is getting better because of charter schools(private sector) and the people who live in it that fix it up and take time to spend with the people who need help.The system is a mess and it needs people to fix it, but throwing more money at it is not the answer.
Lastly on health care, I am a nurse practitioner, I can tell you there are millions of obese, drug addicted, criminals, and more sucking away your health care dollars. UPMC, a nonprofit hospital,(they don’t pay taxes) has UPMC’s operating revenues grew by $955 million to $9 billion, with an operating income up $166 million to $406 million. Why should the people of the United States be asked for more money? They have enough money to make it right, but they just don’t use it.
(I used the” woman” credit card example simply because I am a woman)
Thank you for clarifying Joely. I wasn’t assuming, I was asking.
As for some of the programs you mention, I would agree (personally) that I would choose others over (some of) these. Then again, I don’t agree with the war in Afghanistan and that’s a rather hefty line item…
But here’s the issue I return to. There are other working models of health care delivery that could be looked at. 45 million uninsured Americans? And what of those of us for whom “regular employment” is long since a pipe dream? And without it, we slip more and more quickly into poverty and illness, for lack of health care.
Yes, the system is a mess. But ignoring disproportionate financial responsibility for that system, and for fixing it, isn’t an answer. It worsens the problem, in my opinion.
What a well written yet sad article. We live in times that I find challenging, like no other time that I, at the age of 57, can remember. I vividly recall a conversation I had with my parents, at 45 years ago, when I asked about the tax system in this country. “But Dad, why do you have to pay taxes?” I asked. And a simple answer came, without my Father missing a beat; “Because if you pay taxes, it means you’ve made money.” People used to be proud of making money, and contributing to the betterment of our country and society. Today the top earners look for every way out of paying taxes. So today, our country is crumbling, our people are homeless and jobless and there is a great divide in our country, one that has created anger and vindictiveness and out and out hatred. We have returned to times when bigotry permeated and people were proud of their bigotry. It is not only a bigotry of color but of the haves vs. the have nots. The haves don’t give a damn about the have nots and resent the very idea of paying one more dime in taxes. Pay the taxes and jobs will be created. Pay the taxes so we don’t have people sleeping in the streets. Pay the taxes so we educate today’s children so tomorrow’s adults will become scientists, teachers, etc. Support education so we don’t have ignorance permeate our society, like those who don’t understand global warming, like those who believe one can become “retarded” after an inoculation. Pay the taxes so people who have no health insurance because they are incapable of providing it for their family, get the most basic of needs – health care. I don’t recognize the America I see today. And it is certainly not the America my father fought for in the Pacific. This is a country filled with haters, and that is a country I do not want for my children or grandchildren.
I love Buffett!
I’ve been painfully poor… bore all four of my children at home (one on Sept 15, 1978) because we couldn’t afford to have them anywhere else. Raised them in poverty. (They turned out great but it was so hard.) I’ve been single, without a job… dealing with all the humiliation, rejection and fear that comes with that.
I’ve worked at a minimum wage job when the gas to get to work put me further into debt than staying home doing nothing would have done. I was so proud to have a job!….any job.
I’m working a job now that I could love except it’s so demanding on me physically that I hurt all the time. I work because I have to. I live on the edge of going under and am always afraid. And, I pay a ridiculous amount of taxes every year because I work and have no deductions. I resent the hell out of it!
We do seem adrift, without a moral compass. And I don’t think, as inefficient as government can be, that we can rely on the private sector on its own to eradicate poverty (which should be our goal, though one we’ll never achieve). I applaud the efforts of volunteers, though — they make a big, measurable difference. But one in four kids on food stamps? Something is very wrong.
Libertarians mystify me. Their dedication to personal freedom seems to ignore the interdependence on which our society is built. They promote a kind of social atomism that lessens the likelihood of concerted action by citizens in groups. And the policy prescriptions I am hearing from both Republicans and libertarians these days would, in my view, lead to a deep economic depression. There is more than a little historical evidence that will support the assertion.
I am hearing a lot of anger out there and much of it is justified. But I fear that some of the people who have the least to gain from Dr. Ron Paul’s Rx have been persuaded to abandon their brothers and sisters in favor of the economics of extreme free markets which would suit the super-rich very well. But that would leave poor Joely to duke it out in a society that has descended into a world that only provides for most of us a life that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. (Thank you, Mr. Hobbes.)
Government is the common man and woman’s tool for asserting the human community. Call it socialist if you will, but I call it a humane, democratic social order. I have heard about all I need to hear from the feral right. It is time for us to get back to building our country as we built it before — hard work, shared values, development of a commonwealth, and a fair shake for everyone.
Joely: If you truly believe in minimal government, I do not see how you can support two foreign wars. As to healthcare, every other advanced western nation enjoys universal health coverage at half our cost. Something is very wrong here, and I don’t think fat people are responsible.
Timmy: You go!
I am not wrong, I just have a different solution. I never said I don’t want to help my neighbor. I find it odd that when I say I don’t want to pay more taxes I get so many personal attacks. There is plenty of money, but there are also plenty of elected officials who will never change the system because they will lose votes. There should be shorter terms.
On health care: Have you ever gotten a bill from your insurance company that tells you what they paid and what they were billed. The difference is astronomical. An x-ray billed at $3000 and the insurance company pays $200. Most people would be able to pay the rate the insurance companies pay but NO we get billed at a higher rate and the hospital does not pay taxes to our local government because they are “nonprofit”. Don’t you think that needs to be looked at?
I simply do not believe in the government making so many spending errors and then asking me for money to fix it.
On the war issue, I was simply pointing out that it is not the bulk of the debt. There are so many places it is misspent and I was simply trying to enlighten people on how our money is spent.
I actually am quite surprised that my point was taken so poorly and misunderstood. It surprises me that so many people do not question how their money is spent. My only analogy is this: when you see someone in need and you give you them money to help them out, and let’s say they go and spend it on: a purse, alcohol, gambling, or an over priced consultation fee to tell them how to spend it. If that happened you would rethink how you gave your money and try to do it more effectively the next time. That is all I am asking the government to do, and the health care system.
Again, I am not a war monger, homophobic, socialist hating person. I just want people to be responsible and fair and that includes our graft ridden politicians who would rather spend millions on a bridge for turtles in order to get reelected, rather than put the money where it truly needed and let the private sector worry about the turtles.
Big Little Wolf,
Thanks for the great discussion. As always you make us think outside the box and that is what I love about blogging.
Yes, it is a good discussion, Joely. And an important one. And helpful – I think – that we can exchange views in this way. Thank you for participating.
Yes, Warren Buffet has it figured out. Too bad our politicians can’t figure it out. Then again, too bad our elected officials, the ones who are supposed to represent ALL of us, can’t figure out they’re supposed to be there to do what’s best for their COUNTRY. Not themselves. Not their parties. We’re about to become the most poorly educated country in this world, with a huge portion of our population living in poverty, with absolutely no influence whatsoever in the world. Consider that not that many years ago it was all okay. Consider that.
Joely, I agree with so much of what you say regarding government mismanagement and overspending. But I begin by trying to fix the problems. We can manage better. We can govern better. We may even be able to run government more like a business. But first we have to better define the business we are in and get some agreement on how we best achieve our goals.
It is tempting to apply a standard business model to government but that can’t really work because, like it or not, one of the government’s jobs is to print money to capture the growth of real wealth in a way that can be easily exchanged through commerce. Businesses can grow assets by borrowing. And that first borrowed dollar has to start out somewhere. At its best government does not print money as an attempt to ‘create’ wealth but rather to allow public and private sector growth and productivity.
I see government as a very important institution that requires our constant attention. We don’t invest enough of ourselves as individuals to see that it operates openly and honestly. Turnout is poor in all cases and the elections with higher turnout have generally picked up the less informed voters.
At the heart of our difficulties, I see a number of key problems: the declining performance of our educational system, the essentially uncontrolled purchasing of political influence in a system that has been corrupted by the pay-to-play behavior of special interests and politicians, and a constitution that does not reflect our democratic ideals. These are all things that we can fix. And, while the libertarian way is rooted in some laudable values, I think it goes too far when it attacks the self-control that is at the foundation of our liberty. There is a line in America the Beautiful that captures the idea for me:
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
Just “hangin’ out bein’ free” won’t get it done. It takes hard work on the part of an informed citizenry and a commitment to changing things to make our government work. I hope you will join the effort to perfect it and not just try to “get it off your back” or “drown it in the bathtub”. We desperately need to get our anger headed in the same direction. When we do, we will have a better world.
Oh my goodness! You got me at the numbers. Those figures and examples really put things in perspective.
But the comments so far on your post? Enlightening, entertaining and educational. (It’s why I love coming here!)