(Originally posted to Facebook October 26, 2011)
Dear Taxpayers,
Quite like my "Open Letter to the 53%", this letter goes out to all of those individuals who end the year with a net loss on their taxes (i.e., no refund and, possibly, paying additional taxes beyond what was taken from their paychecks). The "You Don't Deserve My Money" crowd or, perhaps, the "My Taxes Aren't Your Entitlement" posse. You rant and rail against the "handouts" given to those not paying their "fair" share of taxes in a state of unbridled hypocrisy, while ignoring the greatest "entitlement" threat out of either blatant, possibly feigned, ignorance or, perhaps, allowing your own common sense to become so constipated by your partisan ideals that your eventual intellectual defecation is so saturated with red, even your family practitioner won't touch it (and we, the concerned, consider that to be a "Bad Thing").
Feeling insulted? A bit offended? Perhaps your dander is, as they say, up?
Good. Then you're paying attention.
Allow me to start with an example that will likely raise your dander further.
This year, after filing all the requisite information, my final tax responsibility left me with a net profit of approximately $600 (i.e. my return was that much over what I had paid on my income tax, social security tax, medicare tax, etc. combined during 2010). My applicable deductions and credits allowed me to receive $600 of the taxes paid by others.
"Great Scott! You're freeloading on my dime," you might exclaim. Certainly, you would be well within your rights, minus your poor impersonation of Christopher Lloyd's "Doc Brown" character. I pay no taxes... a negative income tax, so to speak. To the "Entitlementers", as I shall now address you, I am amongst the worst sort of scum there is, an individual tax payer who profits from the system.
Now, where is the hypocrisy, you might ask? Obviously, I've just proven your point that the NIT is the bane of your hard-earned, taxable dollars.
Well, let's look at the next facet of your belief system. All of these whiners, these 99 Percenters, these dead beat protesters are attacking your capitalist system, your corporations, your corn-fed American Heroes of Industry. You champion the corporate system... I mean, hell, it isn't the fault of the "Too Big To Fails" for investing in AIG's mortgages nor is it the fault of other TBTF's for making poor decisions in managing their companies. If Joe Protester hadn't taken on that hefty mortgage (gambling on the same outcome of the system as the TBTF's), they wouldn't be in the position they were in now, burdening the government by stealing the taxes you earned the right to pay.
I mean, those companies wouldn't dare do anything to demand some sort of "entitlement" to your share of the taxes. They make billions of dollars, so they're obviously paying even more of a share than you, right?
Remember where I may have possibly insulted your collective intelligence in my opening paragraph? When I cited your hypocrisy in how your beliefs in the system work?
Yeah, you remember. You remember and you've read this far so you can find some way to counter, to turn the tables, to score that game winning point.
And now you've reached the point where I start telling you about your Great American Heroes and how the Cobra Agents of Entitlement actually seem a good bit less evil and more like a reasonably disgruntled citizen base.
Over the the last few years (and, yes, I'm only going back that far... let's say you wouldn't want me to fuel up my Delorian and fire up a decade or two ago), multiple corporations have paid far less than the statutory 35% in taxes and have had years in which they had a NIT... a net profit on their total taxes (i.e., a tax return, for a corporation).
Over that last three tax years (2008-2010), let's look at some of the corporations tax liabilities:
General Electric had a liability of negative 4.7 billion dollars. That's a total of 4.7 billion credited to the company... actually paid to them. They haven't paid any net taxes at all on nearly 7.7 billion dollars of profit.
American Electric Power had a negative liability of about 550 million on a three year profit of 5.8 billion. This is the parent company of Appalachian Power that we in Virginia have watched demand price increases from the State Congress to offset a loss of profit. Seriously. Let *that* soak in for a moment, eh?
Wells Fargo is at the lower end... "only" 680 million of negative liability on a nearly 49 billion profit. Still, take a moment to consider that the banking industry is now adding additional fees to cover a loss of profits expected from recent legislation limiting ATM and other fees. They've had a net profit on their taxes over the last three years, but that isn't enough?
That's just three out of dozens, with the top dozen corporations taking in a whopping combined 171 billion dollars of tax *profit* over the last three years.
The reason for this? Refundable, or Non-Wastable, Tax Credits. These are credits that are payable to the corporations, even if their net liability drops below zero. We owe this beauty of the system to the Non-Refundable, or Wastable, Tax Credits, which will only drop liability to zero, but not below. However, combine the two and you have corporations using Non-Refundable credits to lower their liability to a point where the Refundable credits will almost guarantee a profit.
A profit... from your tax dollars. The tax dollars you say aren't entitled to anyone, no matter how poor. Everyone should pay their fair share, right? It's American, damn it! Tax the freeloaders for freeloading and get'em away from my dime! God Bless the Corporations!
Seriously?
Let's not even get into the assorted bail outs that both the TBTF banks and corporations have used to give themselves additional bonuses, apparently for doing a bang up job on the economy. We caught them in the act of gang-banging the economy and they're taking royalties like some sort of executive Ron Jeremy.
Both the tax credits and the bail outs were designed as incentives to help fix the system: more money for the financial institutions to loan in order to build small businesses (i.e. create more jobs), funds for growth (i.e. to create more jobs), backing stockholder investments to increase confidence and investing (i.e. yeah, you know), money to keep some corporations and banks from crashing completely and taking the country with them (i.e. damage control to prevent the loss of, fuck it, you know which word I'm going to use). As far as credits go, we're talking using more environmentally friendly technologies, researching low to no profit (but beneficial) technologies, paying taxes for overseas commerce, etc.
Those are you tax dollars going to these companies. Does your entitlement mentality raise any alarms at this? Because it should. The very corporations you defend are the greatest burden on the tax system. Many of them pay less than half of the statutory 35% corporate tax... many more actually receive tax returns. Neither of those seems to be a "fair" share, do they?
This is why I felt a need to insult your collective intelligence. You needed the proverbial slap in the face, the challenge to your honor, the kick in your balls. I did not do it because I felt an overwhelming desire to just insult on principle (though, that has happened); rather, I did it because it would raise your dander enough to read the rest... and, thereby, raise your awareness.
An ambush of the intellect, so to speak.
Your entitlement concerns are valid, I give you that. But you are villianizing the wrong people or, at best, ignorant of the greatest threats. You are the shepherds searching for mites on one sheep while wolves devour the rest of your flock.
I agree the system should be fair. I agree that your much vaunted entitlements are a threat and a burden to the system.
I also agree that you should be fully informed and aware of where the guilt actually rests.
All I ask... it's simple... look to your Corporate Heroes and see what really resides within those profit-infused hearts of theirs.
Sincerely,
The Belief in a Better System
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